If there was one genre of entertainment that escaped me as a kid, it was horror. There was nothing I wanted less to do with than the demented doll that made me strategically place any and all heavy objects on my toy box at night. Nor did I care to know why men named Michael and Jason were dead set on terrorizing teens. This has everything to do with my older brother scaring the crap out of me with those movies, and others like them when I wasn’t even old enough to understand the concept of tying my shoes. However, that same demented doll got me somewhat interested years later, but this isn’t about Chucky. Oh no, this is about a movie that finally captured horror in a way I didn’t know I needed to be able to enjoy it. So since we’re crushin on horror movies this week, let’s not waste any more time and just ‘Get Out.’
The world only knew Jordan Peele for being hilarious. I mean, before ‘Get Out,’ the world was introduced to a kitten named Keanu on the big screen. So yeah, I don’t think anyone expected Peele to come out of the gate with a movie as intriguing as 2017’s ‘Get Out.’ But that’s just what he did and from there, the buzz around his movies has stayed present. However, his first time dancing with the devil that is the horror genre is what I’ll always hold close to my heart. Probably because it not only came out of nowhere but because it made me realize way too much about how society has warped my mind.
His girlfriend being the bait for her family’s twisted experiments? Yeah, I sat there panicked when she dug around in that purse as he stared at her with that “bitch, you better get them keys right the fuck now” eyes, and was utterly shocked when she revealed they were in her hands the entire time. Perhaps I just don’t want to see the bad in people? Or the world has brainwashed me into thinking that white saviors are a thing? I’m not sure – but I’m working on unpacking that in regards to being a Black girl into boy bands who later went into the emo realm.
Anyway, back to ‘Get Out’ because it’s not a movie I would’ve ever thought I’d be interested in because again, horror is not my first choice. Hell, it might only beat a super sci-fi movie and I still think those two genres would be neck and neck depending on the movies. However, ‘Get Out’ gave me everything I wanted from horror and then some. It wasn’t just this guy named Jerry lurking around in the bushes. Nor was the family we were introduced to some backwoods Alabama crew you assumed had a torture chamber set up next to an outhouse. It was a run-of-the-mill, upper-class white family. Which, after the many, many years of a former reality star in office and still not getting the hint that he’s not POTUS anymore – the Armitages were the perfect villain for a horror movie based in the United States.
A concept that felt fresh, impeccable acting all around, and even some comical moments thanks to Lil Rel all coincided into one amazing horror movie that helped push the genre, at least to me, in a new and exciting direction that will only help to continue to evolve the genre as a whole in the long run and one of the many reasons we’re crushin on horror movies all week long…
Crushgasm 