Get Out ideologies

• Marxism

  • Critiques commodification of black bodies (e.g. Coagula procedure) where white characters attempt to hijack black physicality for their benefit.
  • The Armitage family represent the capitalist ruling class exploiting marginalised black individuals to sustain power and privilege.
• Marxism: Alienation

  • Chris is constantly aware of being "the other," a black man in a white space, alienated from his identity, community, and his body.
  • Aligns with Marxist idea of how workers are alienated from their labour and humanity in a capitalist society.
• CRT: white supremacy & institutional racism

  • Highlights systemic racism as being embedded in liberalism.
  • Armitage family claim they "would have voted for Obama for a third term," reflecting how white liberals can perpetuate racial inequality while appearing progressive.
• CRT: colourblind racism

  • Critiques idea of "colourblindness" where white characters claim to be post-racial or non-racist whilst perpetuating a racial hierarchy.
  • "Colourblindness" is just another form of oppression, hiding underlying racial dynamics and tension.
• Liberal hypocrisy

  • Armitage family depicted as wealthy, liberal elites who claim to support racial equality, but actions reveal neoliberal mindset that commodifies black bodies for personal gain.
  • Reflects how neoliberal ideologies can ignore or reinforce inequalities through individualistic and market-driven approaches.
• Freedom & individualism

  • Neoliberalism often stresses freedom of choice and personal responsibility, but this is subverted by showing these concepts can be manipulated in context of systemic oppression.
  • Chris is offered 'freedom' by the white elite, but it comes at the cost of his identity, autonomy, and body.
• Colonialism & exploitation of bodies

  • Exploitation of black bodies by white elites reflect history of colonialism.
  • Armitages' use of black bodies for own gain mirrors how colonisers historically exploited labour, bodies, and resources of colonised people.
  • Chris's experiences are a modern representation where his body is treated as an object of value, devoid of personal agency.
• Cultural appropriation

  • White characters are fascinated by black culture and physicality, desiring to possess and inhabit black bodies whilst ignoring the struggles and humanity of black people.
• Intersectional feminism

  • Explores how different systems of oppression can intersect (racism, class, gender).
  • Rose is complicit in both racial and gendered violence.
  • Intersection of race and class evident as white elites use wealth and power to dominate black people, with Rose manipulating her gender to gain trust and maintain control.
• White feminism

  • Rose's character is the embodiment of white feminism, prioritising the concerns of white women, while ignoring or participating in racial oppression.
  • Plays role of 'liberated woman' while reinforcing her family's racist agenda.
• Existentialism: Freedom & choice


  • Chris's journey explores individual freedom and ability to define one's existence.
  • Chris constantly struggles to assert his identity in a world that seeks to control and define him based on race.
  • The film's ending, where Chris fights for his literal and figurative survival, is an assertion of agency against oppressive forces around him.
• Existentialism: absurdism


  • Absurdity of situation Chris finds himself in is an existential comment on how black bodies are treated in society, often seen more for their physicality than their humanity.
• Biopolitics (Foucault)


  • Foucault's concept of biopolitics, which focuses on control of bodies and populations by those in power, is central.
  • The Coagula procedure, in which white consciousness is transplanted into black bodies, represents biopolitical control, where black bodies are appropriated for white gain.
  • Highlights how power operates through control and exploitation of racialised bodies, with Chris and other black characters reduced to vessels.