Paving the Way With Jordan Peele

When it comes to Jordan Peele’s 2017 film Get Out it’s important to state the obvious: Peele does an excellent job at showcasing the real horror existing in our society today. When watching the movie for the first of what seemed like a thousand times, I left the seat of my theater feeling worn out, like I just went through something detrimental, something that would weigh heavy on my chest for the next few weeks. Even though this didn’t at all happen to me directly, it exemplified just how talented Peele is. Before Get Out premiered, it felt like horror was getting stale, like we saw everything we as viewers could have seen. Everything had the same plot and I myself would even be able to watch a new horror movie and predict exactly what would happen. I longed as a viewer to see something that was different; then came Get Out. It was seemingly like watching all ends come together, a plot that was new, exciting, and different. I had this feeling of honor, and was proud of Jordan Peele for creating something that was refreshing, but I didn’t even know him and he sure as hell did not know me. Jordan Peele brought a fresh voice to the table from that instant, and I, along with many others were hooked. Peele allows us to wonder if communities like in his movies really exist, and sadly they do. Upon watching one or many of his films, you will find yourself spending a lot of late nights drawing connections in his movies to the idealizations and issues of white supremacy and racism facing our communities. It doesn’t just stop there as Peele has shined a light, critiquing many other systematic issues that shape the world we live in, ranging from surveillance culture, Hollywood fame, to fear of oneself where vast inequality endangers us all. He continues to push the boundaries and make us think about our actions as functioning individuals in society, questioning the world we really live in. Through Peele’s films we can gain a better understanding of ourselves and put a larger emphasis on how our actions affect tomorrow. We as viewers are now closer than ever to the true meaning of horror, where we may play a larger part than we think. And with this, Jordan Peele continues to pave an important path with his movies, a path where we as a community can address real life horrors and social injustices in an entertaining way.