Blog Post #6

 

For this week’s blog post, I am going to flesh out and discuss what I am going to write for my final essay. I am choosing to write a compare and contrast essay between Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele, and The Destroyer, written by Victor LaVelle. Although one work is a movie and one work is a comic book, there are a lot of similarities and differences in the messages and themes regarding Black Horror. 

First off, I am going to summarize each work and their main messages, and give some of my own thoughts. Get Out is one of the most amazing movies I have ever watched. The main takeaway message after watching the movie was the normalcy of modern racism and how Black Americans constantly face it through everyday interactions. More specifically, how racism manifests through the lens of liberalism, through the facade of politeness and wokeness. I also understood that Black Americans are taken advantage of for their bodies, their culture and their knowledge, while also showing the anxieties that Black Americans face while navigating their lives. One of my favorite scenes from the movie was when Allison denied giving the keys to Chris, confirming Chris’ suspicion of her involvement in what was going on in her house. The way her eyes got watery and face hardened was an intense moment, where Chris realized his fate. 

Now, I will analyze and talk about The Destroyer. I cannot remember the last time I read a comic novel, it had to be close to when I was in elementary school. It was a new experience and way to analyze Black Horror. Similarly to Get Out, The Destroyer’s main message and area of focus is examining current events in America that Black citizens face, more specifically modern racism and police brutality. It also explores themes of grief, where the mother Dr. Baker feels because of the wrongful death of her son who was killed by police. It also incorporates and uses Frankenstein, who wants to get his revenge on society. I really loved how LaVelle took such a classic and traditional American character, Frankenstein, and used it to send powerful messages about the treatments that Black Americans face in our modern world. 

Now that I have touched on both of the works that I will be talking about for the final essay, I will share a rough draft of the thesis statement that I am using. My thesis is: Both Get Out and The Destroyer use themes of Black Horror to explain how white supremacy takes advantage of Black bodies, but The Destroyer focuses on police brutality, consequences of grief and institutionalized violence, whereas Get Out focuses on liberal racism, mental imprisonment and cultural appropriation. Put together, both works exemplify how the real threat for Black Americans is the systems that keep allowing these conditions to reproduce and occur.