In the film Get Out written and directed by Jordan Peele, and the Flannery O’Connor story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the authors are telling us something about stereotypes and racism. Both stories follow families that we are tricked into trusting because of their squeaky-clean images. They seem to be perfect, but later we discover the truth about these characters. Each story contains references that show forms of racism that are ignored or not considered to damage their reputation as a person. Both stories follow white families that that turn out to be racist, in Get Out the family runs some sort of slave trade while in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” the family blatantly communicates racist comments.
Get Out starts by introducing us to the main character Chris, a black male whose girlfriend Rose, is white. The movie places some emphasis on a scene with both of them talking about their trip to her parents’ house for the weekend. Chris asks if her parents know that he’s black, and she claims that there is no need and that would be something ridiculous for her to point out. She tries defending her family but throughout this conversation, many stereotypes about black people and their culture come up. The conversation ends up making her sound more closed minded to what racism is. Rose tells him “it’s fine. My dad would legit vote for Obama a third time if he could”, which exposes some of her underlying racism. They drive upstate to Rose’s family’s beautiful house, and they seem like they have a perfect life. We soon find that to be untrue and realize the majority of their family has an evil scheme to kidnap black men out of their jealousy for their stereotypical features.
The first part of the film explores white liberals awkwardly attempting conversation with a black man. The second half takes a dark turn. We discover that the party at Rose’s parents' house that they went upstate to join is some sort of slave auction. Director, Jordan Peele, said he thought of the story after many Americans began calling the Obama presidency a sign that racism is in the past. Let's begin with the subtle hints of racism that Rose’s family provides. The first scenes with the parents show how their attempts to use slang or bring up black people, just alienate him. The parents even have two black housekeepers that they openly call servants. The dad brings up their servants to Chris in conversation and brushes it off by saying for himself this time, that he would've voted for Obama a third time if he could. He uses this Obama statement almost as an apology and acts as it makes him not racist. The second act brings Chris to the family party which we later find out is a slave auction. He goes through many uncomfortable encounters with some of these white people, and one even feels the need to tell him that “black is in fashion.” Negrophilia is a term to describe interest in black culture, and we see a lot of this in Get Out. The problem with this fascination is that people often pick one of two stereotypes to define black people. They either see them as talented artists and brilliant athletes or, uncultured beasts. We see both sides in this film as the father celebrates Chris’ ancestors for being physically stronger than his were. But then, the creepy brother of Rose tells Chris that if he “really pushed his body (he’d) be a fucking beast.” This is a perfect example of the white perspective choosing how to define black people when it really isn't their place. Negrophilia isn't just the glorification of black culture, but also for the black body both athletically and sexually.
Is this glorification so awful? Is it so bad to be looked at as a superior in these ways? The answer is yes. Negrophilia isn't about understanding people and their culture. Instead, it’s about using them for what you want. You can't understand an individual human if you have all these preconceived ideas about their “group” as a whole. Jordan Peele shows this quite literally when the movie takes a turn and we find out more about this slave auction Rose’s family is running. We discover that Chris was brought up to this party so a white man could quite literally buy him and have his brain transferred into Chris’ superior black body. Before this brain transplant is meant to happen the white man who is the new owner of Chris refuses to admit that this is even racist. Chris’ new owner tells him “..you know I could give a shit what color you are, what I want is deeper.”
In “A Good Man is Hard to Find” On the day of the trip, the grandmother hides her cat in the car. She dresses in a hat with flowers on it, so if they get into a car accident people will know she is “a lady.” This sounds odd, but the Grandmother really takes pride in being a perfect person or as she says very often, “a lady.” In the car, John Wesley says he doesn’t like Georgia, and the grandmother chastises him for not respecting his home state. She comes off as a perfect or too perfect person. She appears to strive for respect and manners but similar to Get Out we quickly see otherwise. When she is in the car with her family she refers to a black boy on the road as a “negro child,” and when her granddaughter asks why he isn't wearing clothes, she tells her that, "Little ni**ers in the country don't have things like we do.” The list of racist remarks pile up and suddenly she doesn't seem as perfect. The story comes to an end when her cat jumps and distracts the driver and causes an accident. Everyone told her not to bring the cat on a car ride but she was too stubborn to listen and now have gotten them into a fatal situation. They saw earlier in the day that there were criminals loose around town, or as they call them “misfits.” They end up crossing paths with the misfits who plan to murder the family.
The grandmother in a Good Man is Hard to Find makes religious comments constantly. She perceives herself as a good Christian woman. She’s a proper “lady,” and she is a strong believer in god. What is to hate about her? Moments throughout the story make the readers feel differently. The family was riding in the car when she said, ““Oh look at the cute little pickaninny!" she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack. "Wouldn't that make a picture, now?" she asked and they all turned and looked at the little Negro out of the back window. He waved.” She continues to tell us that if she could paint, she would paint that image. This seems odd. The grandmother starts by categorizing all people of color in the south, telling us about the stereotypes in her head. She believes that every black child in the south doesn't have "nice things" like her family does. Similar to Get Out this is a perfect example of negrophilia. This white woman has decided which stereotype she wants to place this black boy in and her saying that she’d paint a picture of it shows in a weird way how she is glorifying this interaction. She shows how instead of understanding this person she is simply collecting him and deciding for him what he is.
Both the film and the text start with white main characters who are seemingly or stereotypically perfect but soon reveal that contrary to belief, they are racists with issues. The grandma in “A Good Man is Hard To Find” is annoyingly perfect while Rose’s family from Get Out seem to be living a beautiful life. The authors soon let the audience know that these people are not perfect and are extremely racist and they pay for it in the end. Rose’s family and the Grandma all get killed by someone from the other team. In Get Out, the racist family ends up getting kills by Chris who was seen as the odd one out. While, in “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the grandmother gets shot by a misfit.
After absorbing these works we might wonder, what am I being told? As Jordan Peele said, “Part of being black in this country, or being a minority in this country, is about feeling like we’re perceiving things that we’re told we’re not perceiving.” “It’s a state of mind. It’s a piece of the condition of being African American, certainly, that people may not know. They may not realize the toll that it does take — even if the toll is making us doubt ourselves.” Both Rose’s family and the Grandmother had moments where they were telling us what being black is about, when it's not their reality. Both stories use polished characters to make us realize the ugly. Black people are grouped continuously into stereotypes created by white people that are seen as superior in media such as movies and books.