Representation of White Supremacy in The Movie "Get Out"

That moment when report for “Get Out” Horror movies are “narratives built on suspense, surprise and shock” (Corrigan & White 332). Director Jordan Peele made “Get Out” a psychological horror film which is demonstrated in many scenes such as the chat between and Chris and Missy that leads to an unexpected outcome dealing with the mind of Chris. That moment when Missy hypnotizes Chris and sends him to the Sunken Place, illustrates white supremacy and the white gaze that occurs in society, as mentioned by Dianca London.

In the scene, Chris is forced to sit down and talk to Missy because it would appear rude not to, especially since she is the mother of his girlfriend. The conversation began with the topic of smoking that suddenly lead to Chris’s past with his mother’s death as the main topic. During this moment, some specific noises start to intensify such as the scraping of the spoon in the teacup signifying the start of Missy’s control over Chris and the scratching of the armchair which illustrates the struggle Chris is having remembering the traumatic event against his own will. This is the first display of hostility towards Chris from the family which is in a way ironic because what is being used to control him is supposed to bring a sense of calmness but instead brings distress and fear.

To continue, when Chris is sent to the Sunken Place, his voice is inaudible while Missy’s is not. This is a hint of racism. It brings white supremacy to the picture. It shows what happens most in society, which is the fact that blacks are underrepresented, and whites are given privilege. Their voice is not heard. Overall, the Armitage family utilizes “physical and psychological violence and violation, supremacist discourse and ideology attempt to dismantle the black consciousness” (London). In this scene, white supremacy is shown by Missy’s control of Chris. Even though they state that they love black people, their actions can be interpreted in another way. She was in charge of Chris’s body ever since she started clinking the spoon in the teacup. She separates Chris from his physical self in this process in order to have complete dominance of his physical and psychological body. She proves herself superior to him once he became hypnotized and vulnerable. We can see his vulnerability with a zoom in shot which shows us in more detail his emotional suffering, with the tears and a blank stare with red eyes. The audience connects to him and fears for what may happen to him.

The darkness consumes him while Missy is illuminated by all the lights which can depict what sometimes happens in the real world in the fact that white people are seen as saviors or good and black people are perceived as bad. Even though it is the opposite in this situation, it is done to prove this point. White gaze is demonstrated with Missy’s judgement on Chris. Missy believes that he is overpowered now because part of him was sent to the Sunken Place which means they have more authority over him than he does himself. It is proved when Chris became paralyzed and she had control of what he could see which was, complete darkness, when she closed his eyes and he could not do anything about the situation. The white gaze is what white people (Armitage Family) see, which is difference. Chris takes notice of the white gaze in the Sunken Place when he becomes distant from Missy especially with the zoom out shot increasing the length of the distance between them in a way to symbolize that they are far different from each other and are on different sides because they do not have equal qualities. She has low expectations of him because he had suspicions but didn’t act upon them and now that he is in her hands, he won’t be able to. Missy sees him as incapable, but she underestimates him. In this movie, they do see blacks as having superior bodies which is why they want to take over their bodies and insert their minds to see what they see but since they are still them, their gaze will still be white. Like I said, the whites think of the blacks as superior in body but not as humans in the film. Just like London states in her article, ‘Get Out’ And The Revolutionary Act Of Subverting The White Gaze, “When race is signified via the white gaze, narratives involving people of color are otherized”.

To summarize, Jordan Peele utilizes form and content of the moment to exemplify the white supremacy and white gaze within the film to illustrate that these problems do occur in the real world.

Discussion Questions:

1. If the roles were changed, how would the situation be interpreted?
2. What other specific shots can contribute to the horror genre?
3. What can be another way to add fear among the audience in this scene?

White gaze is demonstrated with Missy’s judgement on Chris. Missy believes that he is overpowered now because part of him was sent to the Sunken Place which means they have more authority over him than he does himself. It is proved when Chris became p. . .