# Get Out: Peele's new horror movie \[open spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605 "2017-03-20T12:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/21 "2017-03-26T20:19:36Z")
I just came back from seeing it, and thought it lived up to the hype. For anyone who (like me) has a weak stomach for gore, the last half hour features some bloody violence. (Up until that point it’s a non-violent suspense movie.) However, by this stage in the movie you have an idea of what’s coming, and can look away if need be. My trick is to focus on one of the upper corners of the screen; my peripheral vision gives me a good enough idea of what’s going on while sparing me the details. From what I could tell it did not seem gratuitous or extreme for a horror movie. A minor thing that impressed about _Get Out_ was the handling of the main character’s cellphone. It’s a cliche of modern thrillers/horror movies that for some reason the characters [can’t use their cellphones](https://youtu.be/XIZVcRccCx0) to call for help. In _Get Out_ Chris isn’t able to fully charge his cellphone, but he is using it for most of the movie. When it finally goes dead on him, it’s at a tense moment but doesn’t really make much difference to the plot. While Chris _could_ have called 911 at almost any point in the movie – and near the very end he actually does – it’s made clear that the authorities wouldn’t believe his story. And once blood has been shed, Chris knows he’s more likely to be seen as a criminal than a victim trying to defend himself. In the end, it’s a relief to Chris when the police _don’t_ show up. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It seemed with Georgina that the real woman was fighting to get out from under the grandmother. Perhaps Georgina was one of the first attempts at this surgery, and wasn’t as successful as later ones? When the procedure is explained to Chris he’s told that due to the parts of his brain left intact his consciousness will to some extent still be “in there” and he’ll be able to perceive what’s happening around him. We see not just with Georgina but also Walter and Logan/Andre that the original person still has some very limited ability to react. We actually see the two men regain more active control over their bodies than Georgina does, although with both of them they’re first triggered by the camera flash. > [@ShadowFacts](#): > > My thought is that the deer is operating on a couple of different levels. First, it’s just a good scare when they hit it with the car. Gives the audience a jump and unsettles Chris a bit. Second, it reminds Chris of the hit and run that killed his mother. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what purpose this served other than helping make him a little more susceptible to the hypnosis later. The accident with the deer also helps to explain why Chris is second-guessing himself for much of the movie (he’s knows he’s been shaken up and is perhaps being oversensitive) and why he stops to help Georgina at the end even though he knows this is dangerous for him. > [@](#): > > Finally, deer = black people in the eyes of the Armitages. They are trophies to be hunted, then “stuffed” with another consciousness. Remember Bradley Whitford’s rant at the beginning about how much he hates deer and wants to see them eradicated? Replace “deer” with the n-word there and it takes on a whole new (disgusting) flavor. I’d add to this that the Armitages and their friends are capable of admiring the physical beauty and strength of black people, but only in the way that one might admire the beauty or strength of a wild animal. Late in the movie it also struck me that “[buck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Buck)” has been used as a slur for black men. While Chris is neither rude nor stupid, a racist might well see him as a “black buck” type because he’s muscular and is dating a while woman. The woman at the party who feels his arm and asks Rose if it’s “better” with him seems to be fetishizing him as a “buck”. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/22 "2017-11-29T23:58:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Dangit!The gardener’s freakish midnight run at Chris? That’s actually granddad, the sprinter who lost to Jesse Owens. His girlfriend’s freakout at the cop who wanted to see Chris’s ID? She didn’t want Chris to show up in the system in case of a missing persons report. So much stuff fits together so well. > \ > But yes–excellent movie! Holy crap, I didn’t catch either of those things. Man that movie was tight. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/23 "2017-11-30T01:25:34Z")
I really like your analysis, **Lamia**! The whole movie brings to mind Paul Mooney’s quote: “Everybody wants to be black, but nobody wants to _be_ black.” > [@Dewey Finn](#): > > One plot oddity I wondered about; would the grandparents be happy to be transplanted into the bodies of black people so that they could serve as family servants? Perhaps they only played that role for outsiders, but otherwise didn’t do the grunt work? They were playing up the servant routine to put on a show for Chris. However, if you think about it, they were also acting like how stereotypical old people act. Like Grandpa out there mowing the grass with a manual mower just because he can. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/24 "2017-12-02T22:57:25Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I really like your analysis, **Lamia**! Thanks. 🙂 It was funny for me to see this thread bumped, because I was talking about it IRL the other day. Something that’s stuck with me about the movie is, as I mentioned above, the fact that it’s a relief when the police _don’t_ show up at the end because it’s clear to the viewer that this would not go well for Chris.\* I’m not a horror fan and don’t watch a lot of horror movies, but I’m familiar with tropes. Some of these tropes are rather sexist (e.g. damsel in distress) but, the type of female character I’m most likely to identify with in a slasher flick – a white woman with brown hair who’s sensible, reasonably intelligent and brave, and not overtly sexy or “girly” – has a good chance of beating the (usually male) killer. She’s likely to be the “[Final](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinalGirl) [Girl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_girl)” who will manage to elude the killer until the end of the movie, where she’ll either be rescued or may even kill the killer herself. The “Final Girl” would be happy to see the police arrive. So would Rose Armitage. At the end of _Get Out_, it briefly looks like she is going to be able to pass herself off as a “Final Girl” and get away with everything. She fails only because the authorities don’t show up. It’s stuck with me that while I’m not as beautiful or wealthy as the Rose character, this is a privilege we share. Not just in the movies but in real life a white woman can reasonably expect that she’s more likely to seem like an innocent victim to the authorities than a black man. Unlike Rose I am certainly not looking to abuse this aspect of white (female) privilege, but that’s not the point: it’s there, whether I want it or not, and black men have to live with that. > [@](#): > > They were playing up the servant routine to put on a show for Chris. However, if you think about it, they were also acting like how stereotypical old people act. Like Grandpa out there mowing the grass with a manual mower just because he can. Yeah, and some of their weird “zombielike” behavior, like Walter running around the yard at night and his awkward conversation about Rose with Chris make perfect sense when you realize they have the brains of the Armitage grandparents. \*An alternate ending was shot where Chris is in fact arrested and goes to prison, but it comforted by the knowledge that he stopped the Armitages.) ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/25 "2017-12-12T14:00:10Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > \*An alternate ending was shot where Chris is in fact arrested and goes to prison, but it comforted by the knowledge that he stopped the Armitages.) I saw this last night, I enjoyed it, though I was looking for a more traditional horror movie. I did like how Chris fought back and had brains, which isn’t normal for a lot of movies. But would he have gone to prison for what happened? There has to be plenty of evidence around to back up his story. There’s the recordings and such of what they were planning on doing to him. I’m surprised I haven’t heard of this movie outside of the horror circles. I don’t think any of my friends have seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/26 "2017-12-12T16:48:04Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > I saw this last night, I enjoyed it, though I was looking for a more traditional horror movie. I did like how Chris fought back and had brains, which isn’t normal for a lot of movies. But would he have gone to prison for what happened? There has to be plenty of evidence around to back up his story. There’s the recordings and such of what they were planning on doing to him. Weigh that evidence against the fact that a lot of very wealthy people in very powerful positions have a vested interest in not having the scheme uncovered, and add to THAT the bias of the judicial system against black men, and I’d say Chris had a very good chance of dying in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/27 "2017-12-12T17:19:33Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Weigh that evidence against the fact that a lot of very wealthy people in very powerful positions have a vested interest in not having the scheme uncovered, and add to THAT the bias of the judicial system against black men, and I’d say Chris had a very good chance of dying in prison. I’d say you’re right if it was just the family who was dead, but there’s a lot of evidence that seems to be too hard to get rid of. There’s the white guy with part of his skull removed, or at least cut in to. Both of the older black people would show some signs of brain work. That’s some major cover up to think that those people could roll in before any cops got there, take everything away, and not have anyone suspicions seems a bit much. That’s a lot of people to have in on it too if any cops show up. I’m not saying it would be easy for him, but it would be a lot easier in this case over it just being a small family in on it. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/28 "2017-12-12T18:05:00Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > I’d say you’re right if it was just the family who was dead, but there’s a lot of evidence that seems to be too hard to get rid of. There’s the white guy with part of his skull removed, or at least cut in to. Both of the older black people would show some signs of brain work. > > That’s some major cover up to think that those people could roll in before any cops got there, take everything away, and not have anyone suspicions seems a bit much. That’s a lot of people to have in on it too if any cops show up. I’m not saying it would be easy for him, but it would be a lot easier in this case over it just being a small family in on it. That’s a lot of evidence, all right. Which is exactly what they said about the Rodney King case. And so many more. That’s why this movie resonates with audiences. The details you talk about are exactly the sorts of things that black audiences expect to see dismissed as outlandish or swept under the rug. If the cops find Chris at that scene, the safe bet is that he’s going to jail, and will probably be killed in there through the connections of the powerful people involved in the scheme. For a lot of people, this is VERY close to their daily reality. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/29 "2017-12-12T18:17:30Z")
For me, it feels a part in the details of the last twenty minutes…It’s so smart and engaging and then in the climax the hands are just thrown up and Peele says “Eh, it’s a horror move, go with it” How did he get the cotton in his ears? His hands are literally strapped down. If Chris had been established as a contortionist…sure… but he wasn’t. And how does he get so much cotton into both of his ears to block all sound and have it go unnoticed by the son? The answer: plot reasons. Why is the surgery started before Chris is prepped? The answer: plot reasons. Daughter can’t hear fight scene going on 20 feet from her because of headphones… but can hear light thud from a car hitting a woman 50 yards away. It just becomes a mess of cliches and garbage in those final minutes which gets kind of redeemed by the great misdirect of the flashing police lights on Chris and the butt-puckering realization that it is probably going to be the racist cop from earlier… but OH- It’s his buddy and the movie ends on a joke. And you get to sigh in relief. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/30 "2017-12-12T20:50:44Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > How did he get the cotton in his ears? His hands are literally strapped down. If Chris had been established as a contortionist…sure… but he wasn’t. And how does he get so much cotton into both of his ears to block all sound and have it go unnoticed by the son? The answer: plot reasons. I’m in a chair with arms. I just tried it out: even if I keep my wrists touching the arms of the chair, I can bend down and touch my fingers to my ears. Presumably if I had enough motivation I could shove a crapload of cotton deep inside each ear. And it’s not clear that sound must be 100% blocked; having it muffled may suffice. > [@](#): > > Why is the surgery started before Chris is prepped? The answer: plot reasons. > Daughter can’t hear fight scene going on 20 feet from her because of headphones… but can hear light thud from a car hitting a woman 50 yards away. I’m not sure about all those. The surgery is a hot mess; I excused that because the surgeon is clear a first class nutcase. With the music, maybe the thud happened during a break between songs? I don’t remember. I don’t think any of these are the giant plot holes you think they are. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/31 "2017-12-12T21:45:58Z")
Bet Peele’s white wife and white in-laws loooooved this movie. “So, THAT’S what you think of us, huh Jordan? Yeah, take a flying f— and don’t ever set foot in our house again.” ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/32 "2017-12-13T01:12:09Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I don’t think any of these are the giant plot holes you think they are. Never said they were plot holes. They are story weaknesses and make something that had been building quite well into…stock cliches. You can make any excuses you want… but the fact that you have to make excuses means they are real flaws. Also while we’re at it… the blind art dealer wanting Chris didn’t really make sense. “I want your eye”…that’s not how that works…we all know that right? Unless that is an unexplained aspect of the transference–that since the original person is still there, the new host can tap into old skills. It would have made more sense for Chris to be an up and coming photographer and the art dealer/failed artist was taking him over in order to be the success that eluded him. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/33 "2017-12-13T02:53:47Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Bet Peele’s white wife and white in-laws loooooved this movie. > > “So, THAT’S what you think of us, huh Jordan? Yeah, take a flying f— and don’t ever set foot in our house again.” FYI, his [wife’s Tweet about the film](http://www.vh1.com/news/308285/get-out-chelsea-peretti/) said, “we all cried for weeks we were so hurt to see our family secrets exposed in this documentary”. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/34 "2017-12-13T03:53:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > FYI, his [wife’s Tweet about the film](http://www.vh1.com/news/308285/get-out-chelsea-peretti/) said, “we all cried for weeks we were so hurt to see our family secrets exposed in this documentary”. Nice try. “Fiction” or not, Peele has shown what he really thinks of his white friends and family. If they delude themselves that he doesn’t really despise them, that’s their choice. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/35 "2017-12-13T03:57:13Z")
Yes, I’m sure that Jordan Peele believes that white people are transplanting brains into the bodies of innocent black people. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/36 "2017-12-13T05:39:23Z")
Jordan Peele is half white. I doubt he’s coming from where you frothily want him to be. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/37 "2017-12-13T12:18:27Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > Jordan Peele is half white. I doubt he’s coming from where you frothily want him to be. I know he’s half white, but he wouldn’t be the first mulatto to idealize his black heritage while secretly hating the white family that actually raised him. Barack Obama looooved his drunken bum of a deadbeat dad who never cared about him at all, but was quick to throw his white grandmother (the woman who actually raised him) under the bus as a racist during the 2008 campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/38 "2017-12-13T13:47:05Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Never said they were plot holes. They are story weaknesses and make something that had been building quite well into…stock cliches. You can make any excuses you want… but the fact that you have to make excuses means they are real flaws. Uh, no. The fact that I “made excuses” means that you made flimsy criticisms, not that they’re real flaws. The idea that a defense of a movie necessarily means it’s a flawed movie is absurd, as I’m sure you’ll see on reflection. > [@](#): > > Also while we’re at it… the blind art dealer wanting Chris didn’t really make sense. > “I want your eye”…that’s not how that works…we all know that right? Unless that is an unexplained aspect of the transference–that since the original person is still there, the new host can tap into old skills. It would have made more sense for Chris to be an up and coming photographer and the art dealer/failed artist was taking him over in order to be the success that eluded him. We know the original person is still in there. Why is it a stretch (excuse me, an “excuse”) to think that the blind art dealer believes, whether correctly or superstitiously, that he’ll be able to access that original person’s aesthetic sensibilities? But wait, I’m disagreeing with you again. More proof of the movie’s flaws! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/39 "2017-12-13T13:55:57Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I know he’s half white, but he wouldn’t be the first mulatto to idealize his black heritage while secretly hating the white family that actually raised him. > > Barack Obama looooved his drunken bum of a deadbeat dad who never cared about him at all, but was quick to throw his white grandmother (the woman who actually raised him) under the bus as a racist during the 2008 campaign. This is kind of a repulsive view of race relations. The idea that Peele’s white family will be mad at him for saying that some white people are racist is ridiculous, and shows a deep lack of understanding of how a white person can think about racism in a nuanced fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605/40 "2017-12-13T14:21:40Z")
**[Moderating]** OK, some discussion of race relations is obviously going to be part of this thread, and it’s fair to ask how that relates to the director’s own family. But this: > [@](#): > > Quoth **astorian** : > > I know he’s half white, but he wouldn’t be the first mulatto to idealize his black heritage while secretly hating the white family that actually raised him. > > Barack Obama looooved his drunken bum of a deadbeat dad who never cared about him at all, but was quick to throw his white grandmother (the woman who actually raised him) under the bus as a racist during the 2008 campaign. is quite clearly over the line for political potshots. And on looking back over the previous posts, it looks like **astorian** was bringing up the line of discussion he was just for the purpose of leading up to this potshot. That’s enough, I think, to make this an official Warning. Do not drag political potshots into CS (or indeed, into any other forum other than GD, Elections, or the Pit). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-out-peeles-new-horror-movie-open-spoilers/782605.md?page=3)