Jordan Peele on 'Get Out:' "What the Movie is About is Not Funny"

Source: IMDb

Jordan Peele settles the debate

Get Out has been the most talked about movie of the year. And for the last two days, the conversation has been robust: is Get Out a comedy or a drama?

The conversation first sprouted when it came out that the movie would be up for consideration for the Best Musical or Comedy Golden Globe, not the Best Drama award. This sparked a debate about what the movie should be classified, which cumulated with Peele calling the movie a "documentary" in a tweet.  

READ:Jordan Peele Shades The Golden Globes For Get Out Comedy Classification

Peele spoke about the topic on Wednesday afternoon during a lunch event for the movie. During the conversation, which was documented by Indie Wire, Peele seemed to disagree with the movie being labeled a comedy:

“The problem is, it’s not a movie that can really be put into a genre box. Originally, I set out to make a horror movie. I ended up showing it to people and hearing, you know, it doesn’t even feel like horror. It’s in this thriller world. So it was a social thriller...What the movie is about is not funny. 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.”

READ: Get Out Will Be Labeled A Comedy For Golden Globe Awards

Peele kept expounding on the idea that Get Out is hard to label, mostly because the movie plays with so many genres:

“I think the issue here is that the movie subverts the idea of all genres. Call it what you want, but the movie is an expression of my truth, my experience, the experiences of a lot of black people, and minorities. Anyone who feels like the other. Any conversation that limits what it can be is putting it in a box.”

During the conversation, Peele also gave updates about some of his future projects. One was Black Klansman, which he is working on with Spike Lee:

“It’s dope. It’s such an amazing story, and the performances he’s getting, the shots he’s getting, are beautiful. I read this script maybe five times in a year, giving notes, and I got the script to Spike. He called me the next day and he knew it better than I did already. Since that moment I’ve been watching what a real professional looks like in terms of being able to see the big picture and know what needs to be fixed.”

He also spoke about his reboot of The Twilight Zone, which he is developing for CBS. He said:

“I was skeptical of the idea of rebooting it. but the reality of the situation struck me — how many times have you heard in the past year that it feels like you’ve woken up in the Twilight Zone?"

We can definitely relate, Jordan.  

Source: Indie Wire