Kean Students React to ‘Get Out’ Film

By Kiara Mays | Published April 4, 2017

Since its release on Feb. 24, critically acclaimed film “Get Out” continues to dominate at the box office. Having grossed over $147 million domestically and a rare 99% favorable review on Rotten Tomatoes, students at Kean University voiced their thoughts on the Jordan Peele (of Key and Peele), written and directed, thriller/comedy film.

“I loved it,” said Zaiditu Persaud-Alabi, Public Relations major, and senior at Kean. “Once you get past the satirical, comedy aspect of it, there were many important elements.”

“Get Out” follows 26-year- old Chris Washington, a middle-class black photographer and his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage, as they’ve come to the “meet the parents” stage of their relationship.

Rose invites Chris upstate to her parents’ home for a weekend where Chris notices their odd behavior immediately upon arrival. Chalking it up to it being their discomfort with their daughter’s interracial relationship, Chris tries his best to disregard Missy and Dean Armitage’s strange demeanor.

That is until a series of disturbing events leading up to the unimaginable truth behind the Armitage family leave Chris fending for his life and moviegoers at the edge of their seats.

“The ending was completely unexpected,” said Charles Thompson, a junior, and Earth science major. “I thought it was amazing, and it really makes you think.”

By watching the official movie trailer, most wouldn’t have picked up on the fact that “Get Out”, while primarily a horror film, would feature underlying racially charged themes concerning African Americans as well as the ongoing stigma against interracial relationships.

In an interview with Terry Gross (NPR’s Fresh Air), writer-director Jordan Peele said that he considers “Get Out” to be a “social thriller.”

“I think the movie focused on a very important issue, which is both social and racial issues that affect the black community,” said Bre’yanie Pearson, a senior, PR major. “‘Get Out’ is a good movie with so many hidden messages, all relevant to things that have taken place at some point in history.”

Persaud-Alabi also noticed the film featured a major concept coined by African American sociologist, civil rights activist, and historian, W.E.B. Du Bois, known as “double consciousness”. Double consciousness describes an individual whose identity is separated into many facets, making it difficult to identify with one, unified identity.

However, unlike Pearson, who’s seen the movie twice already, and Persaud-Alabi as well as Thompson, who both said they would watch it again, some students didn’t quite see the replay value in “Get Out”.

“It was good, I thought it was super predictable though,” said Cameron Edwards, a junior, IT major at Kean.

“Get Out” is still currently playing in theaters if you haven’t seen it or simply want to see it again.

For those that have seen it, however, what did you think?

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