Buck Being Run Over

Many, if not all, horror films begin with the death of an innocent, whether animal or human, to set the tone of the movie, to hint to the future by acting as a parallel to our hero (who is also an innocent), and to function as a warning to the main character.

In one of the first scenes of Get Out, we see a deer jump in front of Rose’s car, causing a car accident, and it inevitably dies in the woods. Chris, hearing the dying cries of the deer, goes to it and sees it die in front of him. The image of the dying deer haunts Chris right after the accident, reminding him of his mother’s death and his failure to save her. As seen in the movie trailer, this image continues to haunt him in his dreams and while he enters the sunken place. So the deer acts as a warning to Chris (it is running away from something), a reminder (of his mother’s death and his guilt), and a parallel (of innocent deaths occurring in the pathway of a white woman).

Inspiration for this post was drawn from Paul Beatriz Preciado. Preciado discusses the concept of animalization and the difference between human and animal in an interview titled ““Feminism Beyond Humanity, Ecology beyond the Environment.”