The film Get Out begins by introducing the audience to Chris Washington and Rose Armitage, an interracial couple. They are leaving to visit Armitage’ parents’ house for the weekend. Chris voices his concerns to Rose about meeting her parents for the first time.

“Do they know I’m black?”, he asks. His girlfriend says she doesn’t understand why this would be relevant. He responds that it seems like something they should know. She tells him not to worry, that her family is super liberal and that it won’t be an issue.

While they are driving to her parents’ house, a deer jumps out and hits the car. Despite the fact that Rose was driving the vehicle, the officer demands the boyfriend’s license as well.

Rose doesn’t understand the reasoning of the request. Chris knows that he must pick his battles and attempts to provide his identification. However, Rose uses her white privilege to diffuse the situation and they leave.

When they arrive at the house, Chris is disturbed to find that this seemingly liberal family – Mr. Armitage pronounces “I would’ve voted Obama a third term if I could!” - has black house workers who act like mindless zombies. Independent.co.uk summarizes the situation at the Armitage home with “He is further unsettled by the white visitors to the house who make gauche, racially-charged and fishing comments, crooning over Chris’s “frame and genetic make-up” and announcing, ‘Black is in fashion.’”

The party guests demonstrate multiple forms of microaggressive behavior or attitudes against African American culture. The first couple that Chris interacts with stereotype him as an African American.

They ask if he plays a sport, and then comment on his fine body structure. One guest even states that he knows Tiger Woods, furthering the microaggression in an attempt to be relatable to Chris. He is introduced to another guest, a woman who complements his body and calls him handsome. Without asking, she grabs his arm and complements it, “Not bad”.

The woman appears to analyze him, similar to the way slave owners would survey the merchandise at an auction. The next man he speaks to declares that while having fair skin has been popular for hundreds of years that the pendulum has swung back stating “Black is in fashion.”

The main character Chris expresses his extreme discomfort by these interactions. The film Get Out highlights racism and its hidden forms through microaggression. It also brings attention to more of the issues against African Americans within our cultures such as eugenics and the slave trade.

So it is a part of our history as well, and there are still issues with race today, unfortunately. I truly hope that as a society we can take a step back and remember that everyone should be treated equal, no matter what they look like. So here's to the future and to more teachable films being created like Get Out.

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