Casual Racism In Get Out

Casual Racism, An Aspect Of Society: Rhetorical Strategies In Get Out

Although blatant acts of racism have diminished since the 1900’s, acts of casual racism are now predominant in America. In the film, Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele, Peele claims that acts of casual racism are aimed at ethnic minorities. Peele begins to build his credibility by addressing issues of casual racism in the text, targeting the White liberals as his audience, using constraints to encourage empathy for his character Chris, and by covering the controversial issue of America being a “post-racial” society as the exigence in Get Out. Peele, a comedy writer, actor, and ethnic minority, has been praised for his portrayal on his hit comedy show

In Get Out, Constraints are used to encourage empathy for his character Chris. Throughout the scene of the sunken place, three camera angles were used: high, low, and eye level. When Chris is falling into the sunken place, the low angle shot is captured to give Mrs. Armitage the sense of superiority over Chris. The high angle shot is captured to show Chris slowly falling into the abyss against his will. The eye level shot allows the audience to both see and feel Chris’s pain. The combination of all three camera angles, encourages both empathy and sympathy for Chris. The sunken place is a metaphor that represents the marginalization of ethnic minorities. During this scene Mrs. Armitage(Society) hypnotizes Chris and takes control of his body(marginalizes him). “You can’t move, You’re paralyzed, Just like that day when you did nothing, You did nothing, now sink into the floor, Sink.” As Chris continues to fall and scream he has no control over the current situation, his silence is being controlled and forced. “It becomes clear that the sunken place is a metaphor for how the system suppresses the freedom of black people and many other ethnic minorities”(Peele). Peele’s use of constraints allows the audience to feel how powerless Chris is during this