Jordan Peele’s debut feature may not have won a Golden Globe this past weekend, but one thing is for certain: awards or not, Get Out is one horror film we’ll all be talking about until the end of time. It’s unquestionably one of the most important horror movies ever made, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that it has spawned… a college course?!
Mashable reports, “A college course on black horror films, through the lens of 2017’s box office shattering film Get Out, will be kicking off at UCLA this week. However, if you’re not a student there, you can still get in on the same lectures that Jordan Peele himself snuck into last year and learn a whole lot more about the critically acclaimed film and the overlooked genre of black horror.”
The class is being taught by best-selling, award-winning authors Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, and it’s fittingly titled The Sunken Place. It’s being described as “an amazing six-week workshop,” which will include lectures, guest speakers (including Candyman star Tony Todd!), interactive social media and more.
“You know…horror, to me, is a subset of Afrofuturism, in that fantasy is a subset of Afrofuturism,” Due explained the course. “So, I decided, instead of doing the broader course, why not just break open black horror? Because Get Out is not the first black-made horror film, but it’s definitely the most successful. And I think it definitely has the ability to be culture-changing, let’s say.”
“The Sunken Place” will begin Saturday, January 13. If you’re not a UCLA student, you can take the non-credit, online version of the course: six lectures on your own schedule.
Visit “The Sunken Place” website to register and learn more.