Blog Assignment #1

 Jordan Peele’s Get Out which premiered in 2017 initially presents a rather mundane and relatable story that many minorities can resonate with/ The film in its entirety offers a new perspective of horror that highlights the ongoing issues of racial dynamics that Black Americans experience on a regular basis while simply existing in white spaces. The premise of the film follows a young black man (Chris) who meets his white girlfriend's (Rose) family for the first time in a secluded rural area. This film overall does an excellent job of portraying the awkward microaggressions African Americans can expect to experience moving through predominantly white spaces. For example, when Chris initially meets Rose’s parents upon arrival at their family's home, Rose’s white father immediately makes racially motivated comments and incorporates black slang into his vernacular, and Rose claims that he doesn’t usually speak this way. I believe that this scene (as well as others following it) showcases how in a failed attempt to relate to black individuals in various social situations, white people can counteract their intentions and ironically present themselves as racist. Racism is a spectrum. This film perfectly encapsulates microaggressions--most notably at Rose’s family's annual parties (that actually is auctioning for Chris’s body). Interaction after interaction with Rose’s family friend, Chris is confronted with uncomfortable stereotypes such as the size of his male organs. This scene in its entirety was quite reminiscent of a slave auction. A major theme conveyed throughout the film is the sunken place. The sunken place is a dream-like state of unconsciousness where Chris under the trance of Rose’s mother by her teacup, slips into a physical and psychological state where he no longer possesses free will over his body and to an extent his mind. While this function serves in the film as a necessary aspect to transplant the brains of white people into black victims, the sunken place conceptualizes on a macro level black oppression and subordination. Reminiscent of the color line theory by W.E.B DuBois, that black people are innately and naturally inferior to white people on every attainable level. White people have an almost arguable divine appointment of superior status and are entitled to whatever they want out of this world. From cultural appropriation, equity, and even in the film's case literal black bodies--Get Out showcases the complex social dynamic of white privilege and black oppression.