At the beginning of March, I went to see a movie with a new friend (and since we're going to be on this topic, is Hispanic). We ended up settling on Get Out, the new film by Jordan Peel, half of the famed Key & Peel comedy duo. The movie is about an interracial couple (he’s black, she’s white), going to visit her parents, and during their stay, some freaky, out of this world’s things start happening. VH1 went as far as making a whole list of the symbolism contained in Get Out, and when you look closely, they make eerie sense: the silver spoon, the milk and cereal, the scene with the deer, the list goes on.
SPOILER ALERT
It
becomes pretty obvious early on that the girl’s family, despite
appearing on the outside as both open-minded and highly tolerant are
beyond racist, but dangerous. They are convinced that
African-Americans have special physical characteristics, and in the end want to
do brain transplants to enable that, and even [Rose] is a bit of a
wacko.
END SPOILER
As a product (for the most part) of both suburban and rural America, racism is far from dead. Take a drive to Upstate New York. You'll find in most communities that minority groups are simply nowhere to be found. At one time at my high school (student body of about 250) there were no African-American students, maybe two of Hispanic descent and two of Indian (subcontinent) descent. Guess who had the strangest last name? Hint: I'll give it away--- me!
The suburbs are a little too sterile, which explains why until recently, suburbs were safe seats for conservative politicians. Happily, that is starting to change, and growing up in Brewster, New York, there were enough minorities to remind you that America is supposed to be a melting pot.
The irony in all this is that I went to high school (well, last two years), in a community called Brushton, New York. The village is so tiny it lacks a traffic light, despite years earlier being large enough to probably have had one. However, the things I saw were quite peculiar to say the least, including:
-plenty of vehicles with Confederate flags, despite a snow season from October to April!
-more teen pregnancies than I can count
-distant cousins marrying distant cousins
-last names that could fit in well in Louisiana as well as the New York-Quebec border
-chewing tobacco containers
-mobile homes everywhere
-lack of a defining landscape
-other things I'd rather not discuss because to discuss them make me uncomfortable
Even though I now spend most of my time in the largest city in the United States, I do admit that I am racially/ethnically-blind in a sense. Then again, I do not and will not claim to fully understand the struggles of certain minority groups, because I have not lived the lives they have. Due to my background and upbringing, it is near impossible, save for living with a minority group.
The movie has also changed my (and others) views of TSA agents. I was flying home this week and despite having the inconvenience of having additional screening of my backpack, I made good chit-chat with the female TSA agent. Rod Williams (Lil Rel Howery) had an entire NY Times piece done about his role.
By the way, Jordan Peele, if this movie is not nominated for an Academy Award, I will write to the MPAA and make a case for one. First director AND screenplay writer with a film to gross over $100 million? It's definitely a movie that has my vote. Casting the (now known) Daniel Kaluuya with Allison Williams and Bradley Whitford? Pure genius.
