"Get Out" and the Collective Imagination: A Movie Review

Image credit: Universal Pictures

All narratives, and therefore all movies, must speak to a collective imagination or they will not be effective; they will not resonate with an audience. What is a "collective imagination"? The collective imagination of a group is a reflection of how that group perceives social interactions and relationships based on that group's experiences. "Imagination" does not mean that this perception is false; it means that a group's perception is envisioned in its members' minds. It is the story or explanation that we tell ourselves.

"Collective" means that this imagination is not something that is simply in the head of one individual; just as entire groups (tribes, ethnicities, nationalities, etc.) share a common mythology and narrative of history, so do entire groups share a common imagination that enables them to make sense of their world.

Sometimes the collective imagination may be investigated for its truthfulness, to the extent that truthfulness may be verified by numerical data. For the most part, however, the collective imagination must be investigated with an eye toward understanding how groups construct meaning as a means of navigating through social territory and day-to-day experiences.

Collective imagination may be fruitfully critiqued, but rarely is it helpful to be judgmental toward it. Criticism of narratives and imagination arising from group experiences manifests itself as dismissiveness toward the group altogether.

I say all of this as a prelude for my brief comments on the "social thriller" Get Out.

Other people have brilliantly and meticulously analyzed every aspect of this movie, right down to a detailed analysis of the symbolism that is involved. I don't have much to offer that could improve on their analysis. I propose, instead, to discuss how one might think and talk about the movie in terms of what it represents as collective imagination, and how the narratives in our minds affect the resonance of the story on the screen.

When it comes to matters concerning race, black Americans and white Americans -- as groups, not necessarily as individuals -- have different experiences and perceptions of social reality. It is not surprising that these two groups also have different collective imaginations when it comes to race. We should pay attention to these differences if we hope to ever understand each other.

A film is a collective imagination projected for an audience. Film images, that most white males find affirming and heroic are off-putting to many white females and to non-whites, whether they are male or female. The reverse is also true, as is evident from complaints about "political correctness" when films and other images feature non-whites and/or females as protagonists in heroic roles, rather than in their usual role as peripheral characters or villains.

Clearly, there are movies and stories that draw on racial topics but do not get a divided response in terms of the group narratives of black and white Americans. These films tend to focus on the nature of virtue and character. That will have to be a topic for another blog post because it is important. It may be a key to how we may transcend the racial divide.

Horror and terror films often resonate with an audience because this genre is a metaphor for something that is plausible, according to the collective imagination and experience of that audience. These films are effective because they tap into a group experience and a shared narrative. When it comes to matters of race the things that seem plausible, and therefore horrific, to black Americans often seem implausible, and therefore nonsensical, to whites.

Some of my friends, with whom I go to movies, are white American males. They almost always want to see films where white males are in heroic and benevolent roles and receive the gratitude and appreciation of the rest of the world. If some of the non-white and non-male characters in the film do not appreciate these heroes it is usually because these people are villains and need to be eliminated.

Some of my friends, with whom I go to movies, are black American males and females. They almost always want to see films where what they see as being the hypocrisy and untrustworthiness of white people is "exposed," and the audience learns, once again, a lesson that cannot be repeated enough: "Stay Woke."

When Jordan Peel's hit movie, "Get Out", was released I knew I would have a problem finding people with whom I could watch and discuss the film. My white movie-going friends tended to avoid films that presented a narrative from the perspective of an African American, arguing that such films were not "universal" enough and that they did not do well in ticket receipts or win many major awards. Moreover, my friends argued that their own selection of films for us to see was purely "objective", based on critical acclaim and sales at the box office.

They would tell me, fraternally, "Nobody wants to see the movies you want to see, bro."

This reasoning, however, did not explain why they chose to take a pass when it came to seeing "Moonlight," which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture, the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Independent Film, and 22 other major awards for outstanding acting, directing and cinematography. It also failed to explain why they would not even consider seeing "Get Out," which so far has achieved critical acclaim and has dominated box office sales.

My black movie-going friends, on the other hand, who were eager to see the film were not likely to discuss the film's story arc, its characterization, or to critique how it reflects the collective imagination that resonates well with black Americans and not so well with whites. They were unlikely to step outside of the black American narrative, critique the film, and contrast and compare our narrative and collective imagination against that of white Americans.

On the broadest level, "Get Out" will mostly be viewed for its entertainment value; for people such as myself, who grew up within an African American cultural frame-of-reference there is much in the film that they will find entertaining, and that will receive knowing smiles of self-recognition and nods of the head. There is also, for me, deeper significance to the film. It is that the film is a metaphor that projects the collective imagination and fears of black Americans on the screen.

It is significant that we, as a nation, continue to have such sharply different narratives about race, we continue to experience race in the United States so differently, and we continue to find it difficult to have an informed and substantive conversation with those who do not share our imagination and our narratives. We continue to find it difficult to examine and discuss what these different narratives about racial experience mean.

Excellent  Analysis of the Film: