The topic for this weeks lesson is labeled “farewell to the flesh”. The three films we were required to watch for this topic were Bernard Rose’s Candyman (1992), Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017), and Us (2019). I am usually one to try to be funny or joke around, but this is a very serious topic. This topic is nothing to joke about as it is a very serious problem in the world in the current time more than ever. The clear thematic connection between these films were that of racial oppression specifically directed towards African Americans. As a white man I will never truly know what it is like to be a black person in the world today, so I will not act like I know what it is like. These films all pained me to watch how white people have treated and still treat black people in the world today. Seeing how white people like the ones in Get Out treat black people honestly makes me sick. Racism is one of the biggest problems in the world today and it has to stop. For it to be 2020 and there still be racism is baffling to me. This is a scary topic because of how real it is. To see someone treat people badly only based on the color of their skin is terrible and it makes me more angry than anything to see the African American community treated like that. These films all showed racial oppression in them. It was much more shown in Candyman and Get Out. In Candyman it shows black people live in terrible poverty and in fear of the Candyman who they all know is real. In Get Out it shows a group of white people who transfer there consciousness into black people’s bodies so they can live longer lives and get a glimpse of what it is like to be a black person.
Get Out is in my top ten favorite movies of all time and it was an amazing debut for Jordan Peele’s directing career. The music, the characters, and just how the plot was so original was amazing to me. The ending was amazing too. The way Chris broke out of his restraints and gave the Armitage family what they had coming was so satisfying and joyful to watch. Chris definitely made sure that their times of trapping black people’s mind in their own brain was over for good. The very end of the movie was incredibly suspenseful as it made me think that Chris was about to be arrested, but Rod came to save the day. This film was very serious, but of course it had its funny moments that is expected from anything Jordan Peele is doing. I also really enjoyed Candyman and Us as they were both great movies as well, but it is hard to top the masterpiece that is known as Get Out. Get Out won many awards including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2018. All of these awards were much deserved.