Reel Talk: Get Out & The Power of Perspective

Over the past week, almost all of the movie world has been talking about Get Out the socially conscious horror film from comedian Jordan Peele. The reviews have been great, audience reactions have been generally positive, and the film won the weekend box office handily. However, if there's one downside to success in exposure it's that more eyes always lead to more criticism. The overwhelming critique is that the movie isn't scary enough and my immediate thought was...."well not to you." *Note this is not a judgement*

There's a multitude of reasons for these varied reactions including a slower pace, Peele has stated the film is inspired by the slow burns of The Stepford Wives and Rosemary's Baby, only a handful of jump scares, and minimal violence and gore. However, the biggest reason for this disparity, at least in my opinion, is personal perspective.

Why Good Horror Works

The best horror movies, ones that will actually make you scared in your own home afterwards, work because of a personal psychological connection to the threat in question. An unstoppable killer in your home, a loved one being possessed by a malevolent spirit, or something deadly hiding in the dark are all inherently terrifying. As long as the basic premise works, the filmmaker just needs to provide a setup that isolates the hero from options and easy help and provide a logical escalation and scary situations. Depending on your personal foibles and film preferences, i.e. what scares you or if you prefer atmosphere over gore, this will determine that depth of connection.

So what sets Get Out apart from a lot of movies?

Get Out's Viewpoint

Get Out is getting a lot of attention from film critics and cultural analysts not just for tackling issues of race, but also for telling it's story from a black man's perspective (a generally ignored demographic in horror films and yeah double that for women of color). Yes the film's premise is scary all by itself, and plenty of people can relate to feeling uncomfortable around a bunch of new people, especially when they share a connection to your significant other. You're really worried about making a good first impression, but could very well hit across a quirk or comment that's hard to ignore, insulting or irritating.

However, the bigger element, especially for Get Out's Chris, is racial.

He knows that a black man paired with a white woman is always going to treated differently, especially if they don't have prior knowledge of his race, so an undercurrent of added tension is inevitable. To make matters worse, everything about the surrounding area screams white culture. The family's home is on a remote lake in Upper New England and the community is almost entirely rich and white (a group of people not known for holding progressive views). Chris is even hassled by a local police officer before he even gets to the driveway. He feels both isolated but in the spotlight all at once.

And as I discussed in my review, once Chris interacts with the other black people in the community, including a maid and a gardener, and they don't think the situation is scary and weird, that's his indication that something is wrong.

While I believe plenty of people can relate to the discomfort of being in a new unfamiliar place where you're the center of attention, the racial aspect does mean that not every audience member will react the same way or feel the same level of discomfort. But that's ok

Inclusion=A Wider Spectrum of Reactions and Connections

I think a lot of people tend to discount how much inclusive TV and film can mean to the audience. Take a movie like Moonlight. Not only is the film a window into the life of a young African-American gay man, but it also presents a drug dealer Juan as an admirable and conflicted father figure. When asked about what drew him to his now Oscar-winning role as Juan, Mahershala Ali noted that he knew people like Juan growing up. Drug dealers that were good people just trying to make end's meat with limited means.

Or the viral social media story about a Mexican immigrant connecting with Diego Luna's character in Rogue One because he too speaks English with a Mexican accent.

Or perhaps all of the little girls that proudly wore Ghostbusters costumes because the new team is entirely female. The list goes on.

Get Out may not be a movie that works for every audience due to its perspective, but representing that perspective is important. Does that make people who weren't as scared by it wrong? Nope. It just means it doesn't connect to their experience and that's fine. As long as we don't undercut the importance of the new/different perspectives, we can all connect to different things in different ways.