they were interested in, there
are these stacks of [films by non-
black filmmakers] where black
people have had to say, “OK, at
least they tried.” And, see, I come
from the standpoint of, “No, it’s
not about fuckin’ trying.” There
are enough people now that you
can go to, to have a conference
with or to say, “I don’t understand
this world, can you help me?’’ So,
I’m not assailing against anybody
white trying to do a black story
— try it, but get someone to help
you. What’s interesting when you
see Black Panther is you realize
it couldn’t have been directed by
anybody else but Ryan Coogler.
It’s a great adventure movie and
it works on all those different
levels as entertainment, but it
has this kind of cultural through
line that is so specific that it
makes it universal.
PEELE I tend to feel the same way
Lee does in terms of anybody can
make any movie, they just gotta
do their homework. That being
said, when I was in the middle
of writing the party scene in Get
Out, where [these white people
are] coming up to Chris [the black
boyfriend of Allison Williams’
character] saying their black “in,”
like, “I know Tiger [Woods],” it was
this epiphany. I was like, “This
has to be a black person directing
it.” This experience, a white person
won’t [get it]. I can tell them what
it’s like, but there’s something else
that is intrinsic to my experi-
ence. And so that’s the moment I
realized I had to direct this movie
because we don’t have the guys
who are going to come down and
do a $5 million horror movie that
has this kind of risk. It’s a moment
I looked back at and was like,
“Shit, I have been training for this
all my life. Not only in the indus-
try but in life. I know this story.”
And speaking to other directors,
there’s a wide skill set needed, but
nothing is more important than
being the world’s foremost expert
on that story and being able to
impart that.
DANIELS When I was doing
The Butler, we happened to be in
the same edit bay as Spike and
George Wolfe down in New York
City. I was having a problem
with a scene, a big scene, and I
said, “Y’all gotta come in here
because I’m freakin’ out.” And they
came in and it was great because
there is a specificity. Unless you
know that the hot sauce goes on
the collard greens with the right
kind of garlic, you ain’t gonna
know. You know what I mean?
(Laughter.)
PEELE Exactly. Another phenom-
enon that this is all connected
to, to me, is this idea of the white
savior trope in films. There’s
probably a lot going on there,
but the way I’ve interpreted it is
that it’s an olive branch for the
white people in the audience in aracially charged movie to know,
like, “You’re included in this
story.” And there are beautiful
films that do it. One of my favor-
ites is Glory, where the Matthew
Broderick character is in a lot
of ways [director] Edward Zwick
saying, “I don’t know the black
experience, but I see through
the eyes of this character who is
empathizing with the black expe-
rience.” With Get Out, I wanted
to make a movie that ripped the
rug out of this idea of the one
good white character [and make
the character] evil and see whatthat would do. And that’s why,
for me, watching that scene with
an audience ...
JENKINS The scene with the keys?
PEELE Yeah, when the keys come
out, you hear white people in the
audience go (gasp), shock, and
then you hear black people go,
“Mmm-hmm.” (Laughter.) That’s
that moment where it’s like,
“OK, we’re watching two differ-
ent movies, but we’re now on the
same page. She’s evil.”
JENKINS I saw it at the ArcLight, I
can testify to both those reac-
tions. (Laughs.)When did I figure out the game was stacked
against me? When I was born. Next question.”
DAN IELS“Nothing can prepare you for it,” says Daniels, with Precious star Gabourey
Sidibe, of his 2010 nomination. “When you come from the African-American
experience, you don’t even know whether the movie’s going to be seen.”THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 148 FEBRUARY 28, 2018