Similarities Between Kindred And Get Out

Kindred and Get Out: A Critique on Modern Society and Its Racism “Stories of beatings, starvation, filth, disease, torture, every possible degradation. As though the Germans had been trying to do in only a few years what the Americans had worked at for nearly two hundred” (Butler, 116-117). The history of slavery and racism in the United States is a complex and important one, having shaped contemporary society. Octavia Butler's novel Kindred and Jordan Peele's film Get Out explore these issues through the study of the lasting effects of slavery and racism on modern society. Additionally, they offer a challenge to certain narratives and stereotypes concerning these issues, the works offer a commentary on the ongoing struggles for racial justice

The whole film revolves around the theme of racism in contemporary society. One of the aspects criticized in the movie is that of performative allyship. An ally is a person that actively supports and advocates for the rights of certain marginalized groups while not being a part of the group and being unaffected by the issues they are facing. Allies take part in most social justice movements, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the LGBTQI+ community, and the feminist movement. There are, however, people who fake being an ally or the extent of their involvement in order to keep up appearances, this is called performative allyship. Jordan Peele presents Rose and her family as progressive and as caring about social justice. Chris, upon being invited to his girlfriend Rose’s parents house, asks if they know that he is black, being weary of white families’ racism. Rose shows her family’s acceptance by making fun of him for worrying about it. Later on, upon meeting her parents, Dean makes it clear to Chris that he “would have voted for Obama for a third term if [he] could,” aiming to show him how not racist he is. The family, of course, ends up being incredibly racist and part of a human trafficking and slavery scheme. Peele makes a comment on false and performative allyship and shows its ties to racism. Another way in which Peele uses suspense and plot twists to make a social commentary is at the end of the movie when, as Chris, a black man, is choking Rose, a white woman, a police car shows up. This makes the audience, and Chris, scared, expecting the police to shoot him down without questioning him. This is a comment on police brutality and the racist institution’s prejudices. Finally, Peele makes a comment on the police’s incompetence, in their dismissal and mockery of Rod’s concern for his friend. Butler and Peele