Us is one of my all-time favorite movies. Not only is it a stunning movie, it also packs a powerful message. The movie is about Adelaide Nelson. When she was a young girl she went to this mirror maze and came out being unable to speak. Years later, after starting a family, she returns and learns that everyone has someone tethered to them and that these thethered people are killing their counterparts. In a twist ending, it is revealed that Adelaide and her tethered version swapped places with each other when she was a young girl.
Personally, I believe that this movie embodies the ideas of W.E.B. Dubois’s writing on double consciousnesses. In his writings, DuBois talked about how African Americans have this internal conflict where they see themselves through the eyes of another and how he views himself and his culture. Another important idea that DuBois introduced was that of “the veil” in which was the world that African Americans lived in and that had to be lifted if white people were to even begin to have an iota of an understanding of the plight that and African American has. Dianca London even mentions the veil when she writes, “from the very beginning, he tears the veil between the reality of blackness and how it is imagined through the gaze of whiteness” (‘Get Out’ And the Revolutionary Act Of Subverting The White Gaze).
I believe that both Get Out and Us are movies that try to lift that veil. Us does this in many senses. With Get Out showing how people romanticize and fetishize different cultures and communities and Us discussing how the government sets out to control certain populations, it tells a grim story for America. For me, Us, was absolutely horrifying. The idea that the government would clone us and use our clones as a way to control us says a lot about the state in which our government is run. Personally, I believe that the tethered could represent the people of marginalized communities and how they are unfairly treated by the law. In the movie, the tethered are kept below the ground against their will and have never down anything wrong until Red began to organize them. This could represent the disproportional amount of people of color who are in jail for petty crimes and the government is using them to make a profit and ensure continued success.
I think if Get Out was made today, then the scene at the end would be different. I think that Peele would want to make a commentary on how racism is prevalent amongst the police and would shed light on the George Floyd situation in order to spread awareness and would contribute to the overall horror and despair of the film. However, I did enjoy that scene where the police was seen helping Chris and getting him to safety. I think that it was a very inspiring choice that showed while there may be some divisions in place, there are genuinely good people in the world.