Keith Stanfield Will Ensure That Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” Be A Hit
Ever since I first saw Bug (Keith Stanfield) chase Malcolm (Shameik Moore) down for one shoe in Dope, I’ve been absolutely in awe of the way Stanfield portrays his characters. Bug was not just some supporting antagonist used to punctuate Malcolm’s character development, at least not to me. I wondered about Bug. I waited on the edge of my seat for his next scene because Stanfield owned that role and I was saddened by his short screentime. Then when the credits rolled, and the lights of the theatre gradually lit up, I turned my iPhone back on (because of respect of the film-watching process, guys) and I did my research. I’d seen his face before, and I remembered seeing a trailer to another one of his scene-stealing performances, Short Term 12. I turned Netflix on as soon as I got home and when I finished wiping my tears after “So You Know What It’s Like,” I made up my mind that this man was going to be a star.
Keith Stanfield celebrates with fellow Atlanta costars as Donald Glover accepts the Golden Globe for Best Television Series- Musical or Comedy. Courtesy of slate.com
When the movie was over, I figured out why I was so captivated. Keith Stanfield can not exist in the same body as his characters. He became Bug, he did not simply play that role. He became Marcus, he didn’t just give a dramatic performance. And baby boy is versatile. Unless you’ve been living under a rock in a soundproof panic room on Mars, you’ve probably heard about his quirky and lovable Atlanta character Darius. Darius is this nutty, spacy, doped-out comrade of Paperboy and Earn -Brian Tyree Henry and Donald Glover, respectively- and is arguably the most memorable element of the show. He was comedic relief, with unexpected wisdom and his presence left a mark after each episode. Stanfield has been in the shadows of cinema building a pretty dope (see what I did there?) resume, and now he’ll be adding a new classic to it: Get Out.
Although it’s obvious that Stanfield’s character, Andre, is not the star of this film, the fact that he’s in it at all is incentive enough to watch, in addition to the (sort of) necessary social commentary the film insinuates. The premise of Get Out is not unlike one you’ve heard before. A white girl (Allison Williams) is in a committed relationship with a black man (Daniel Kaluuya), and she doesn’t know how her family is going to take it, yada, yada. However, when you add Jordan Peele’s dark humor in the mix, you should expect that this film strays away from typical plot devices and clichés. Key & Peele‘s 2013 Halloween episode was a great indicator that Peele is capable of so much more than weed jokes and Obama impressions. And the timing of the film could not be more perfect in the way that it is scarily indicative of the era America may be headed towards- Trump’s America.
The film has already started screening at Sundance, but it will be in theatres everywhere February 24th, 2017. (Shout out to Black History Month, ay.)
