Berge, van den 0
Get Out: A Hyperreality
Representing Systematic Racism
Final Paper Introduction to Visual Methodologies
Maud van den Berge
AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY COLLEGE 2019
LECTURER: LARA MAZURSKI
, Berge, van den 1
Maud van den Berge
Lara Mazurski
Introduction to Visual Methodologies
13/12/2019
Get Out (2017): A hyperreality Representing Systematic Racism
“Black is in fashion.”
Get Out (2017) is a horror film by biracial director Jordan Peele about how racism
against black people is so incredibly systematically intrenched in US society it can become
violent and marginalizing in a terrifying way. The film is about a black man, Chris, who is in a
romantic relationship with a white woman. They go visit her parents, who live in a remote villa
with their black servants, while claiming they are anything but racist. As the film unfolds, it
becomes increasingly clear that the white people are racist in a terrifying way, since it does not
reveal itself in an explicitly violent, physical manner but in the form of systematic
microaggression. Through the dialogue between Chris and the white people it becomes clear that
they see his body as a commodity and his brain as a thing to be replaceable. This paper will
explore the portrayal of systematic racism in Get Out through analysis of the stereotypes that
exist around black people and the capitalist notions that one needs to be able to participate in
society in a productive way that generates money.
Since Get Out is a horror movie, parts of it – especially the end – are severely dramatized
and thus this paper will focus on the scenes that are closest to reality as these are most productive
when it comes to analysing how real acts of racism are portrayed in this film. The focus of this
Get Out: A Hyperreality
Representing Systematic Racism
Final Paper Introduction to Visual Methodologies
Maud van den Berge
AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY COLLEGE 2019
LECTURER: LARA MAZURSKI
, Berge, van den 1
Maud van den Berge
Lara Mazurski
Introduction to Visual Methodologies
13/12/2019
Get Out (2017): A hyperreality Representing Systematic Racism
“Black is in fashion.”
Get Out (2017) is a horror film by biracial director Jordan Peele about how racism
against black people is so incredibly systematically intrenched in US society it can become
violent and marginalizing in a terrifying way. The film is about a black man, Chris, who is in a
romantic relationship with a white woman. They go visit her parents, who live in a remote villa
with their black servants, while claiming they are anything but racist. As the film unfolds, it
becomes increasingly clear that the white people are racist in a terrifying way, since it does not
reveal itself in an explicitly violent, physical manner but in the form of systematic
microaggression. Through the dialogue between Chris and the white people it becomes clear that
they see his body as a commodity and his brain as a thing to be replaceable. This paper will
explore the portrayal of systematic racism in Get Out through analysis of the stereotypes that
exist around black people and the capitalist notions that one needs to be able to participate in
society in a productive way that generates money.
Since Get Out is a horror movie, parts of it – especially the end – are severely dramatized
and thus this paper will focus on the scenes that are closest to reality as these are most productive
when it comes to analysing how real acts of racism are portrayed in this film. The focus of this
