Daniel Kaluuya as Chris in “Get Out,” which is Jordan Peele’s directorial debut. (Universal)
Jordan Peele’s satirical thriller movie “Get Out” topped the weekend box office and left many white viewers hurling accusations of racism.
The movie, which the former “Key & Peele” star wrote, directed and produced, earned $33.4 million in ticket sales. The income more than made back the film’s $4.5 million budget and replaced “The LEGO Batman Movie,” at No. 1.
“Get Out” follows a Black man named Chris who is dating Rose, a white woman. When Chris meets her parents, he finds himself in an unimaginably frightening circumstance that goes beyond Rose’s parents’ overt friendliness.
“Part of being Black in this country, or being a minority in this country, is about feeling like we’re perceiving things that we’re told we’re not perceiving,” Peele told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s a state of mind. It’s a piece of the condition of being African-American, certainly, that people may not know. They may not realize the toll that it does take — even if the toll is making us doubt ourselves. Little Haley Joel Osment in ‘The Sixth Sense’ can see dead people. Well, I can see racist people.”
“This film is how racism feels,” Daniel Kaluuya, who plays the film’s protagonist told the newspaper. “You get paranoid and you can’t talk about it. You can’t voice it. No one around you gets it, so you can’t speak about it. And in the end, it just comes out in a rage.”
Many white viewers took issue with the portrayal, leading them to comment about the racism storyline on Rotton Tomatoes, where the film has a rare “99 percent certified fresh” rating. Some commenters gave it as little as a half star rating.
Black Twitter responded by posting tweets making fun of the outcry.
https://twitter.com/TheEightFour/status/835557470982504450
https://twitter.com/____PantheR/status/835948444158144512
"GET OUT IS RACIST PROPAGANDA! HOLLYWOOD WONT STOP ATTACKING WHITES!" pic.twitter.com/YoCfZybvPk
— Thomas Moore (@Thomas_A_Moore) February 26, 2017
Other users commented on the lack of knowledge many white people have about racism and what it means.
White people saying Get Out is racist but trying to get them to acknowledge REAL racism in the country: pic.twitter.com/QV8xcV0SRw
— 学監 (@vxrnvn) February 25, 2017
ANY person who says the movie Get Out is racist 1) very likely doesn't know what racism is, and 2) very well might be racist themselves.
— Breakdances With Wolves Podcast = Baby Makin Music (@BigIndianGyasi) February 27, 2017
White movies: Black people are criminals, unstable, irrelevant
Get Out: White people can be racist
White people: pic.twitter.com/UM2K7a9Wur
— Darius Fraser (@DariusFraser) February 27, 2017
