I had the honor of discussing the brilliant film Get Out on It’s A Fandom Thing this past week, and I'm still buzzing from the experience. When the movie first came out, I had naively hoped its acceptance by mainstream (read: white) audiences was a sign of greater understanding of the realities of what Black people face not just when confronted with overt racism, but also by white liberalism. As we have seen in subsequent years, that has not been the case. And though I am heartened by the way the Black Lives Matter movement has grown and taken the world by storm in the last month, I'm now more cautious about my optimism for what the future holds for Black people in non-Black spaces.
Enter my discussion with Erin Marlow about Get Out, a film in which many tropes and stereotypes are stretched and subverted, leaving us breathless in the way the best of horror cinema can, and awash in the quest for the meaning of the film’s dizzying use of symbolism the way the best of art does. I also quote from Martin Luther King's Letter From A Birmingham Jail, so there’s that.
Last but not least, please support the podcast for as little as $1/month! Through October 1st, all proceeds collected via listener support and ads will be donated to Black Lives Matter organizations. Look on their Anchor site for the “support” button.
Where to find the episode:
I hope you’ll listen!
