Prize Year
2022
Document Type
Unrestricted
Abstract
Jordan Peele’s horror film Get Out (2017) presents a contemporary form of Black subjugation characterized by the morbid fixation on black bodies. Whereas racist systems of the past, such as slavery, emphasized the overt oppression of Black individuals, Peele’s dystopia focuses on covert Black oppression made possible by white people's obsession with what they perceive as the “superior” prowess and attractiveness of black bodies. Nonetheless, past racist systems and Peele’s own racist structures share the same goal: control of the black body for the benefit of whites. My research, therefore, explores the racial dynamics between the white and Black characters of the film. By drawing parallels between racist practices common before the America Civil War and Peele’s depiction of a future America, this article affirms the Black subjugation introduced in Get Out as a commentary on America’s future, establishing white supremacy as the driving force behind the eradication of Black identity.
Recommended Citation
Camille, Jeffrey, "“Black Is in Fashion”: The Black Body as a Commodity in Jordan Peele’s Get Out" (2022). Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize. 18.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mcleod/18