Why Is Get Out Competing as a Comedy at the Golden Globes?

News broke yesterday that Jordan Peele’s horror flick Get Out—which premiered in February and killed at the box office, grossing $33.5 million in its first weekend—will compete as a comedy at the 2018 Golden Globes.

The pick is confusing for anyone who has seen the film, which—spoiler alert!—includes a ring of rich, white families that steals black people to be their slaves and ends with a series of gory murders. Pretty much every moviegoer left the theatre scared or, at the very least, uneasy—definitely not laughing. So it’s no surprise that everyone, even Peele, is unhappy with the decision.

‘Get Out’ is a documentary.

— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) November 15, 2017

Prior to the release of Get Out, his directorial debut, Peele was best known for comedy as one half of Key & Peele. That said, the terrifying film is ultimately an only slightly hyperbolic representation of systemic racism in the United States. So, why comedy?

According to Entertainment Weekly, Blumhouse—the company which produced the film—entered it in the unlikely category to increase its chances of winning. It’s predicted that the Drama category (the obvious choice for Get Out) will be stacked with hard-hitters, including Dunkirk and Call Me By Your Name.

EW also speculates that the decision will mean bigger win(s) for the film’s outstanding lead, Daniel Kaluuya, who will likely now compete with comedy and musical frontmen like Hugh Jackman, Kumail Nanjiani, and James Franco.

But while it might mean more success during awards season, Peele and fans of the film alike were very open about the various problems with this categorization.

https://twitter.com/guttersquid/status/930588105043791872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flare.com%2Fculture%2Fget-out-golden-globes-comedy%2F

“Get Out”, is a movie about:

• Systematic Racism
• Interracial Relationships
• Black Horror Movie Stereotypes
• White Privilege

… all in one.

Definitely not a comedy.

— NUFF (@nuffsaidny) November 15, 2017

https://twitter.com/Adolfhib/status/930798425737695233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flare.com%2Fculture%2Fget-out-golden-globes-comedy%2F

“What the movie is about is not funny,” Peele said, in a chat with IndieWire. “I’ve had many black people come up to me and say, ‘man, this is the movie we’ve been talking about for a while and you did it.’ That’s a very powerful thing. For that to be put in a smaller box than it deserves is where the controversy comes from.”

Filed under: flare, Get Out, Jordan Peele

Why Is Get Out Competing as a Comedy at the Golden Globes?

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