The question of “What counts as a Christmas movie?” comes up every year, from Die Hard to The Nightmare Before Christmas to any other film featuring a Christmas scene. But Jordan Peele has recently given his approval to a rather unexpected choice. A fan on Twitter asked him if Get Out, Peele’s critically lauded horror film about the terrors of being a black man in America, is “a Christmas movie.”
@JordanPeele is Get Out a christmas movie or am I about to upset my whole family?
— Egg McGuffin (@MaseInUrFace) December 25, 2017
Peele responded by saying, “I’d go for it!” and listing off the Christmas-y elements of the film.
Let’s see… there’s a man with a white beard, multiple deer, a fire place, a bunch of snowflakes, and a guy named Chris goes down a dark hole! I’d say go for it! https://t.co/HjjDIE6Hzn
— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) December 25, 2017
Now, Peele’s response seems like it was mostly tongue-in-cheek. The details he listed as evidence are cleverly twisted, and he certainly doesn’t think Get Out is a heartwarming comedy. Plus, the weather in Get Out doesn’t exactly suggest winter.
But on the other hand … Get Out is a movie about the horror of coming home to meet the family: a horror that usually happens around the holidays. So it certainly has some Christmastime relevance for anyone who’s ever dreaded meeting their significant other’s family for the first time, particularly if they’re in a mixed-race relationship. Then again, the nature of Get Out‘s relevance to family get-togethers – it’s a horror film – also makes it a bold, strange choice for a Christmas movie, in the same way that Stepford Wives would quiiite the choice for a heterosexual couple’s housewarming.
But at the end of the day, Christmas is also the perfect time to confront your racist uncle about his garbage beliefs, and watching Get Out could ultimately be far more effective than screaming at him over dinner.
(Via Daily Dot; image: Universal Pictures)
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