Antioch University held a screening of the Oscar-nominated film Get Out, which was hosted by the campus library with the help of the BA in Psychology Concentration, the Bridge Program, and with the support of the AULA Black Student Union. The film was followed by a Q&A session between AULA faculty members Tananarive Due from the MFA in Creative Writing and Charley Lang, co-director of the Psychology and Addiction Studies Concentrations.
Due teaches a class inspired by the film called “The Sunken Place: Racism, Survival, and the Black Horror Aesthetic” at UCLA, which was visited twice by the film’s writer and director, Jordan Peele. Due, along with Lang, led the discussion and answered questions from the audience about the themes brought up in Get Out, including micro-aggressions, assimilation, identity, and how the horror genre is used as a tool to initiate a discussion about the black experience in America. The topic also shifted to how the film has encouraged a more honest description of race in the light of the Trump presidency and the re-emergence of white supremacy groups across the country.
“I think it’s so vitally important. It’s not just idle conversation,” Due said during the Q&A. “It’s about our survival, we’re all on this boat. Together. And if there is water coming up through these holes…we need to be plugging those holes together.”
Get Out was released in February of 2017 and became an instant critical and financial success. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. Jordan Peele made history as the first black screenwriter to win an Academy Award for best original screenplay for Get Out.
Karen Hamilton ’17 (Antioch Los Angeles, MA) is Antioch's Director of Marketing for Content and Communications. She has used her storytelling and copywriting skills for more than twenty years, crafting articles and creating publications. She believes that communication is a powerful driver for social change.
