Jordan Peele’s New Horror Film Inspired By Obama Presidency

Jordan Peele‘s horror film Get Out recently made a surprise premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and following the showing of the movie Peele and several of its producers held a Q&A that got into the creation of the movie.

One particular part of the discussion that stuck out, was what inspired the movie. Peele references the 1975 classic The Stepford Wives as a source of inspiration, but also the 2008 Democratic primary, in which Barack Obama faced off against Hillary Clinton.

“The idea started when Barack Obama and Hillary were going up against each other for Democratic nomination,” Peele said. “And all of a sudden the country was kind of focused on the black civil rights and the women’s civil rights movements, and kind of where they intersect, and there was this question of who deserved to be the president more, who’s waited long enough…that was when the germ of the idea hit me.”

“When the movie was beginning to ruminate we had a black president, and we were living in this post racial lie,” Peele added. “This whole idea that we’re past it, we’re past it all…this movie was meant to reveal this monster of racism lurking underneath these seemingly innocent situations and conversations.”

In a previous interview Peele had described Get Out as the following:

“…it is one of the very, very few horror movies that does jump off of racial fears. That to me is a world that hasn’t been explored. Specifically, the fears of being a black man today. The fears of being any person who feels like they’re a stranger in any environment that is foreign to them. It deals with a protagonist that I don’t see in horror movies.”

Get Out is expected to drop on February 24 this year. Check out the Sundance Q&A below.