Trainspotting:Key scene analysis

Get Out Film Review

Get Out is an American horror movie which was written, directed and co-produced by John Peele. This movie tells the story of how an African-American male is taken to the house of his white girlfriend’s parents and the problems that occur while he is there. As well as being very engaging with a lot of action and excitement, John Peele aims to create a movie that addresses deep rotted social issues that affect American society; the main idea that John Peele is trying convey in this movie is the idea that even though slavery was abolished in 1864 in the USA, many black people in America are still trapped in a system where they cannot get out.

In the first scene (to be more specific the very first shot) we see can see a long dark road, but we are unable to see down the end of it. This straight away creates a sense of foreboding and suggests that even if the protagonist in the play overcomes his or her obstacles there is still a long way to go, for not only for him or her personally to go but a long way to go for the demographic that the character belongs to.  The first character that we are introduced to a black man that is dressed in jean, a t-shirt and a leather jacket, who is shown to be on the phone. From the way that the man is dressed and the way that he is talking we can tell that he is not from around the area. In addition to this he seems to be wondering around in an aimless manner, which suggests to the audience that he is lost. The fact that the man is lost on a dark road at what seems to be late at night may be inferring that something bad is going to happen to. After this we see that the man being attacked/ possibly killed by a mask person who remains anonymous. Following this the anonymous attacker rides off in his or her car with the song ‘Run Rabbit’ playing extremely loudly. This, song sung by Flanagan and Allan was written during the time of the second world war. This type of music is often associate with the Caucasian community and so therefore could be suggesting the that the attacker is a white person. Following the scene, a song starts to play as the introduction credits start to roll. The song that is played is sung in the African language Swahili roughly translating to “listen to (your) ancestors" and the song's lyrics loosely mean "something bad is coming. Run." I think that is good to have this as the opening song because even though the audience don’t necessary understand what is being said in the song it does create a feeling that somebody is being warned about a possible danger.

In the second scene, we are fully introduced to the theme of race. The opens with an interracial couple (Rose and Chis) who are discussing about what is going to be like for him as a black man to meet her parents. When asked whether her parents knew he was black or not Rose replied “My parents are not racist. My dad voted Obama twice, and would have voted a third time if he could”. At this point in the movie, as well as letting us get to know what type of character that Rose is, here we are directly presented with the idea that many Americans hold that all racism ended when Barack Obama became president. In my opinion I think that it was very effective the way that this issue was brought up in a convocation because it allows the audience to think about the issue without it not being directly addressed.

As the movie goes on the couple go ahead with going to her parents’ house. Throughout their time there are hints that tell the audience that her family are not normal, and that Chris is in danger. At 35:40, whist on a trip to take a cigarette Chris is hypnotized by Rose’s mother. During this hypnosis’s Rose’s mother speaks about the death of Chris’s and initialises as a way of making him vulnerable. When he is being hypnotized Chris is taken into the ‘sunken world’, which is a pitch-black space of nothingness. Peele uses the sunken place as symbolism for the way in which how the system in the United States is design for the African-American people to fail, and to untimely left with nothing.  After this Rose helps her family to capture Chris and plans to keep him in the sunken world forever. When Chris is in the sunken place he is sitting on a brown sofa chair and the sound of a tea spoon being swirled around a cup is being played repeatedly, which is making him not only physically but mentally. As a reaction to this Chris starts picking at the cotton in the chair and uses the cotton in his ears to stop himself from being hypnotised. At this moment the camera zooms on his hands. This put emphasis on the fact that this is not a thought out moved, rather it is an instinct. The effect of the material that saves him being cotton links back to the cotton fields during slavery.

Overall, I liked this movie because many different social issues were explored, and explored in a way that is entertaining for many different types of people. I also thought it was a really good movie because of the creativity that was put into this movie. Even though I am not really a fan of horror movies, I think that this movie is so much more than just the storyline, and for that reason I would recommend that if people have not seen this movie to go see it (as soon as possible).