Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Get Out movie: Director Jordan Peele discusses black and white people experiencing the film differently

I had to recognise that black people would be watching this movie and having a different experience'

Christopher Hooton
Thursday 16 March 2017 10:56 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Surprise hit Get Out is a unique kind of horror, in which the fear at the centre of it isn’t the paranormal or the dark but racism.

We can all relate to others’ situation of course, but the film has a unique poignancy for black viewers, as protagonist Daniel visits his white girlfriend’s parents and has to smile through their overbearing, creepy attempts to show progressive they are.

Director Jordan Peele was conscious of the fact Get Out would play differently to audiences varying in ethnicity.

He told NPR:

"This was an exercise in ... making a movie that is meant to be inclusive. ... In any good story, whoever you are, you should be able to relate to the protagonist. At the same time, I had to recognize that black people would be watching this movie and having a different experience ... than white people would. ...

Get Out - Trailer

"Often when I thought about a specific scene or a specific moment I'd think, I hope the black audience here is [saying] 'You know what? This is my experience. I've never seen it done in film like this, that's awesome.' And at the same moment I might recognize that there would be a lot of white people who would watch the scene and either recognize these moments as something that maybe they've done, or that they've seen someone do."

Get Out opens in UK cinemas 17 March. You can read our review here.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in