Week 2 Day 3: Character Subtext #1 – GET OUT

[Sharon Martin]

Chris finds himself the uncomfortable object of attention in a social gathering of white people. Middle aged women admire his body, invade his space by touching and asking his girlfriend “if it’s true” referring to prowess in the bedroom. Finally Chris sees another black man and goes to him. He’s not a brother but acts strangely white. He returns a fist bump with a handshake.

The subtext, not articulated but shown by the pawning behavior of the garden party guests and the white behavior of the only other outwardly black personality in attendance confirms Chris’s wariness of the people and their intentions. His actions are observations, inactions and obvious displays of discomfort.

[Carol Kennedy]

The not too subtle subtext here is racism. From her feeling his muscles and examining his physique characteristic of how slaves were treated, to the woman asking about the stereotype of black men’s size, we understand who is at the party. The other subtext is the interaction between the two black men, with one attempting to be relatable from a cultural standpoint and the other totally clueless about it. The scene brings up so many questions that you almost MUST continue watching as you start to feel like the main character “What the F..k?”

[Adam Kroshus]

What on the surface seems like a relatively tame party has subtle and overt racist behaviors everywhere. The entire purpose of the party is to size Chris up for the future slave auction. We don’t know that until it’s revealed later in the movie. The woman’s overt groping of Chris early in the scene as she looks at her husband is saying his body is healthy, unlike her husband, who needs oxygen—the odd conversation about light-skinned being popular at one time but now dark-skinned is popular. But, the most apparent subtext where something is not what it seems is when Chris interacts with the other African-American man at the party. They have an awkward exchange where the other character says, “Chris was just saying how he’s much more comfortable that I’m here.” Which is not what Chris said. The awkward “handshake” cut at the end of their interaction also implies something is not what it seems. Finally, it ends with Chris saying, “What the F*ck” when he sees the other African-American guy showing off his body for the older white folks; little do we know that this African-American character has a white brain in his body. The movie is all subtext until it’s revealed the true intentions at the end. That makes it eerie.