USA TODAY International Edition
Jordan Peele tackles horror of racism in ‘ Get Out’
Genre offers comedian a chance to try a ‘ social thriller’
Jordan Peele wants to make social thrillers great — and creepy — again.
The comedian and actor tackles race and culture with the horror film Get Out ( in theaters Friday), his directorial debut that aims for the cultural commentary of Rosemary’s Baby or George Romero’s zombie- laden Dead series. The most macabre inhabitants of his movie aren’t monsters, devil babies or ghouls, though: They’re white people.
“I definitely take a devilish glee in putting something that’s not politically correct into the mainstream,” says Peele, 38, laughing.
He and Keegan- Michael Key regularly featured sketches with social relevance on Comedy Central’s Key & Peele, and Peele takes that to the next level with Get
Out, in which African- American photographer Chris ( Daniel Kaluuya) reluctantly attends a family gathering at the homestead of his white girlfriend Rose ( Allison Williams). His paranoia worsens when the very few black people there act really oddly around him and the purpose for the visit becomes terrifyingly clear.
Get Out started as a film that explored “the fears of being an outsider,” Peele says. And then he realized it should be about race. “It just seemed to be a very taboo piece of the discussion to talk about something so horrific as racism in any type of genre other than a film about slavery or something.”
Kaluuya understands it’s a timely subject but “there’s consistently been racism. Black people have been feeling it for centuries,” he says. “Jordan’s now in a position and of a skill set to execute this particular genre and to talk about probably the most horrifying thing in human society.”
Peele married comedian Chelsea Peretti, who is white, last April, though he started writing
Get Out before they met and says the movie is “the experience of being black in this country.” It seems to be resonating so far, at least with critics: 100% of the reviews are positive on aggregate site RottenTomatoes. com.
One of the more supernatural aspects of Get Out is the “Sunken Place,” a vacuum where Chris’ consciousness is taken and forced to watch his life unfold, unable to take action. Peele calls it a metaphor for “the suspended animation of how we look at race in America” that also is symbolic of the lack of African- American representation in the genre. “We’re a loyal horror movie audience, but we’re relegated to the dark theater to scream at the protagonist: ‘ Get out of the house! Call the cops! Do the smart thing!’ ” Williams says
Get Out has the potential “to give white audiences or audience members who’ve never experienced any of this firsthand an opportunity to be with a protagonist who’s black and going through it. That in and of itself to me was kind of a radical notion, even though it shouldn’t be.”
Today’s tumultuous political climate has inspired Peele, who has four ideas he wants to write and direct starting in 2018.
“I feel a greater sense of duty than I ever have,” Peele says. “Art, genre and comedy are important pieces of the conversation and can often incite cathartic moments for all of us.”