Diversifying Heteronormative Relationships, Race Discrepancies and Slavery in Get Out
Get Out begins with an interracial couple, Rose Armitage and Chris Washington, who initially seem to have a perfect heteronormative relationship, however over time racial dynamics of their relationship subvert. Rose and Chris’ relationship deviates from the standard heteronormative romance narrative, which generalizes that males are dominant and that females are passive. In Get Out, actions and decisions by Rose Armitage and Chris Washington present alternative gender roles, as seen through Rose’s dominant traits and female masculinity in addition to Chris’s lack of dominance, demonstrated by his sense of male fluidity. While changes in gender roles are particularly evident in Get Out, these roles are also racialized as Rose’s white privilege allows her more power in various aspects of their relationship. In Get Out, racialized views of gender identity become present as Rose, the Caucasian female holds dominance over Chris, the African American male. While many often associate males in a relationship to be dominant and in control, it becomes more complicated within interracial relationships as race might also be a determinant in who is dominant. Despite Rose being female, she represents the dominant figure in terms of race throughout the film.
In relatively recent times, society has become more accepting to changes in gender roles, with women gaining control becoming increasingly common. As seen in today’s society, for example the number of “stay-at-home” fathers who care for their children continues to increase, while the number of wives or significant others that financially provide for the family follows this same rising trend. Given the previous standard of a man’s role as the financial provider and a woman’s role as the caregiver, this shows one of the many ways in which our society and its once common gender roles have changed. The shift in gender roles has led to women beginning to find jobs in many areas, especially in areas that were once male-dominated. As mentioned by Pew Research Center, “While most stay-at-home parents are mothers, fathers represent a growing share of all at-home parents – 16% in 2012, up from 10% in 1989” (Livingston). The number of fathers who are at home with their children has risen by over one million from 1989 to 2012.
We have also seen cultural changes in heteronormative relationships, primarily due to the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. As explained by Richard Lewis Jr. and Joanne Ford-Robertson’s article on understanding the occurrence of interracial marriage in the United States through differential assimilation, “As the United States becomes more diverse, both racially and ethically…there has been a tremendous increase in interracial dating and marriage over the past several decades.” (Lewis).
At first, Rose and Christopher’s relationship seems to fit the standard pattern of young romance. In the beginning of Get Out, when Rose meets Chris, a successful photographer at his quite sophisticated apartment, it is clear that they show affection for one another and fit under the typical generalized heternormative relationship. For example, at the very moment that Chris opens his door, they show love and affection for each other by kissing and communicating with gentle tones. Additionally, Rose asks Chris if he is prepared for the weekend, running down a list of essentials. Rose’s ability in ensuring that Chris has packed all of the essential items follows with the typical female role in a heternormative relationship. During this scene in which Rose helps Chris pack, the viewer is made aware that Chris has not yet met Rose’s parents when he asks Rose if her parents were made aware of his African American ethnicity. The fact that Chris is hesitant in meeting Rose’s Caucasian parents, shows that interracial couples are not widely supported during the movie’s time period, reflecting what is seen today in the 21st century.
During Rose and Chris’ drive to Rose’s parents home, they unexpectedly hit a deer, yet what is found by others to be most surprising about this event is not the unfortunate roadkill, however the fact that Rose is driving. In a typical heteronormative relationship, the man is viewed to be the dominant figure, as he has controlling status and handles issues that may arise. In addition to rose driving, she also takes a cigarette out of Chris’s hand, showing her ability to assert dominance over his decision making as an adult. As Rose begins to take the cigarette out of Chris’ hand and throws it out the window, Chris states that he is a grown man, although this doesn’t change how Rose reacts in the particular situation, demonstrating her female masculinity and ability to influence his actions. In addition to Rose being in control of the vehicle and Chris’s personal decisions, she also takes charge when speaking to the arriving officer on the scene.
A rather clear example of Rose’s dominance can be observed through her conversation with an officer, who assists Rose and Chris following the roadkill. The officer speaks with Rose, while Chris remains reserved and chooses not to interact with the officer. Rose’s ability to address the issue with an officer without having to consult Chris, shows her female masculinity and dominance. While some black masculinity may be observed through Chris’s actions (as later examined), white masculinity seems to be more present. Genders are also racialized in Get Out, as white privilege seem to be evident throughout actions by both Rose and her family.
While analyzing race discrepancies in Get Out, we look specifically at the scene in which Rose is talking to the officer. During Rose’s talk with the officer, the officer requests that Chris presents his license. Before Chris is able to locate and present his state ID to the officer, Rose immediately takes action by questioning the officer’s authority. Rose asserts that Chris had not been driving the vehicle and that he had clearly done nothing wrong. Rose states, “No, he wasn’t driving…you don’t have to give him your ID because you haven’t done anything wrong”. (Get Out). While Rose proceeds to question the officer further, the officer states that in the event of any incident, law enforcement has the right to request to see the license of every passenger. Although officers have every right to demand that passengers involved in an accident present their identification and that it is common for insurance purposes, in a situation such as a road kill, we would imagine that the driver would be the primary individual to present their identification, and not the passengers. As made clear in this scene through Chris’s facial expressions, he becomes uncomfortable and remains silent, ultimately showing his fear towards Rose’s dominance in preventing him from obeying the officer’s request.
One last example of Rose’s dominance in Get Out, is observed during the scene in which Chris realizes that the Armitage family is corrupted and must escape their home. While attempting to leave, Chris demands that Rose gives him the keys, which she at first cannot find. Rose pretends to have misplaced the keys as part of the Armitage’s plan to intentionally imprison Chris and hypnotize him into becoming a slave. As soon as Chris is surrounded by Dean, Missy and Jeremy, Rose pulls out the keys and informs Chris that she will not be giving them to him. Dominance is especially clear in this scene as Rose has access to Chris’s only means of quickly escaping the corrupted environment, ultimately holding dominance over Chris.
As examined earlier, both female masculinity and male fluidity can be observed in Get Out, however race discrepancies also play a role in the film. While comparing observations from the movie to that of real life, we can see similarities. In comparison to times of today, race inequalities continue to be a problem, along with toxic relationships between the police and various minority populations. It is no mystery that various groups have been treated differently based on their race. In the final scene of Get Out, Rod Williams, Chris’s best friend and member of the TSA, arrives to a horrific scene where Rose and Georgina are both dead, however rescues Chris because he is well aware that Chris killed Rose and Georgina out of self defense. In an alternative ending considered for the film, several white police officers arrive and immediately take Chris into custody, while also treating him as a criminal. As seen in Figure A, a fragment of the alternative scene is shown, where one of the Caucasian police officers approaches Chris with a gun. Shortly thereafter, Chris is sent to prison and it becomes clear that there is little hope for his future. As the police car arrives in this scene, Rose users the reaming life in her to play victim. Rose says, “help….help….help me” (Get Out). Even though Rose had been clearly in the wrong all along, it shows that in a particular situation like this, the officers will favor what a Caucasian female might state rather than a black male. Additionally, this scene represents a way in which Rose uses white privilege as an advantage. Figure C shows Chris being taken into custody, where he feels a sense of helplessness, as there is little reason to believe that he will see a day in which he is viewed as innocent. Satisfying enough, Chris seems to accept that he will spend many of his years in prison, however is glad to have put a stop to the evil tendencies of the Armitage family.
Although race discrepancies play a role in the film, we also see traits of black masculinity by Chris, observed through his actions. Before the final cop scene, Chris makes several choices that contribute to male masculinity in order to escape the Armitage’s home and their evil tendencies in attempting to hypnotize him into becoming a slave. In one of the scenes where Chris uses his male masculinity to fight back and get out, Rose’s father, Dean, asks Chris a question that makes him uncomfortable. While Chris senses that he is in danger and must leave their home, Dean asks, “What is your purpose, Chris…In life…What is your purpose…” (Get Out). At this point, Chris ignores the question and statements made by Dean, while beginning to become hostile. Chris shouts at Rose, demanding her to give him the keys to the car. At this point, we observe Chris’s male masculinity as he becomes assertive and makes demands of Rose. In regards to the question that Dean asks, one might view the question as racist, implying that African Americans do not have a “purpose in life”, which might explain why the Armitage family enslaves African Americans, such as Georgina and Walter. In a following scene, where Chris has been held captive for extended periods of time, he eventually uses his masculinity in order to fight back and ultimately escape the home.
In addition to both Diversifying Heteronormative Relationships and Race Discrepancies in Get Out, slavery also seems to play a role through the evil actions of the Armitage family. From the very moment that Chris arrives to the Armitage residence, he notices something quite unusual about the family. Chris observes that the family has several African Americans working for them, in which they both have contingent personalities. Chris meets Walter, the landscaper and Georgina, the servant and as he stays at the Armitage’s residence for several days, he notices their behaviors as unnatural. Later, Chris discovers that both Walter and Georgina had not been hired by the family, but rather hypnotized into a metal state, known as the sunken place. Chris realized that the family was attempting to turn him into a slave and began investigating them more. In addition to Chris discovering that Walter and Georgina were slaves, he also meets Logan King at one of the family parties, another African American man, who also seems to have been hypnotized. Chris approaches Logan and mentions that he feels more comfortable with his presence. Logan has an unusual personality and is confused to why his presence would have resulted in Chris feeling more comfortable. This is made clear when he asks Chris if everything is okay. Chris approaches Logan and says, “Good to see another brother around here…” (Get Out). Logan then responds by saying, “Hi, yes of course it is…is there something wrong?” (Get Out). As Chris begins to put the pieces together, he begins to realize that Logan had also been manipulated by the family, just like Walter, the landscaper and Georgina, the servant.
When Hiroki Tanaka, a Japanese family member asks Chris, “Do you find being African-American has more advantage or disadvantage in the modern world?” (Get Out), Chris asks Logan to answer the question. While Logan responds to the question stating that he does not have much of a desire to leave the house, Chris captures a flash photo of Logan, causing him to likely undergo a transformation from his sunken place to the individual he once was. As soon as Chris uses the flash, Logan has the urge to attack him and screams “Get out!” (Get Out). The Armitage family classifies Logan’s aggressive behaviors and meltdown as a seizure, however Chris becomes very suspicious and believes that there is more behind Logan’s sudden acts of aggression. Chris also observes several unusual behaviors between Walter and Georgina, however primarily in a particular scene in which Georgina becomes emotionally unstable. In this scene, Chris makes a few statements questioning the Armitages, causing Georginia to tear up, however she quickly regains control and smiles, stating that the Armitages have been great and treat her as if she is family.
During the Armitage families party, it appears that many of the family members seem to appreciate Chris’s presence, however this is likely to convince him to stay with the family in order to hypnotize him into his sunken place. For example, one of the family members states that “Fairer skin has been in favor for the past, what, couple of hundreds of years… But now the pendulum has swung back… Black is in fashion …” (Get Out). Chris found comments like these strange, however what was most striking to him was the way in which Logan interacted with him prior to going insane. Even though this movie take place in the modern world and slavery has been abolished, Chris realizes that the family has evil like tendencies, especially with Rose’s mother’s hypnotizing service.
Throughout Get Out, diversifying heteronormative relationships are observed through dominance by Rose and Chris’ passive traits. Racialized views of gender are also present as the race of both Rose and Chris determines who holds dominance in particular tasks, such as driving and taking care of problems. Along with diversifying heteronormative relationships and race discrepancies, slavery is also present through the Armitage family’s ability to hypnotize African Americans into becoming servants. In Get Out, it is clear that Walter, Georgina and Logan are unnatural and exhibit traits that might correlate to the hypnotizing by Missy Armitage. Diversidying heternormative relationships and race discrepancies happen to be present in today’s 21st century, as the typical roles of man and women are changing in addition to greater race equality due to the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. Get Out puts into perspective how our society has changed in recent times and what a heternormative relationship of today might look like.
