Jordan Peele Says 'Get Out' was Inspired By Obama Era: 'Post-Racial Lie'

Jordan Peele flashes a smile alongside Catherine Keener and Daniel Kaluuya while attending their Get Out: Variety Screening Series panel presented by FilmStruck on Monday (October 30) in Los Angeles.

The 38-year-old writer-director, Catherine and Daniel were also joined by co-star Lil Rel Howery as they opened up about the critically acclaimed film.

“The movie was written in the Obama era, which I’ve been calling the post-racial lie,” Jordan recently revealed (via Vanity Fair). “We were in this era where the calling out of racism was almost viewed as a step back… [Donald] Trump was saying that the first black president wasn’t a citizen… There was this feeling like, ‘You know what, there’s a black president. Maybe if we just step back, [Trump] can say his bullshit. No one cares. And racism will be gone.’ That’s the era I imagined this movie would come out in.”

“By the time the movie came out, people were ready to engage in thinking about [racism], and what better way to do it than with a popcorn movie,” Jordan continued. “If you do a lecture about race or some social issue, people feel like maybe you’re talking down to them, like you’re forcing your views on them. If you lead with entertainment, if you get the laugh, if you get the scream, if an audience is propelled to stand and cheer because something happens, then the point is already made and the audience is left to think about why that happened. What truth did that hit on? The moment the police car shows up at the end of this movie, we all know what’s going to happen. The fact that we all know what’s going to happen is the point. That’s the catharsis.”

FYI: Jordan is wearing Citizens of Humanity jeans.