The 2018 Golden Globes are already under fire after Entertainment Weekly reported that Jordan Peele’s hit film Get Out would be categorized as a comedy for the awards show. The Golden Globe Awards do not have a category for horror, which is the genre the film is typically classified as by critics and viewers.
Although the movie does employ satire, Peele has rejected the idea that it’s a comedy. In an interview with HipHopDX’s Editor-In-Chief Trent Clark, he made his position clear.
“I don’t think of it as a comedy,” Peele said earlier this year. “I think it has a satire to it. I took it very seriously as a thriller. I’m trying to scare people. There are a lot of laughs in it. But there’s no jokes in it.”
Many Twitter users, including Get Out star Lil Rel Howery, were bothered by the film being deemed a comedy.
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While outrage was widespread, some people noted how the categorization was a smart way to earn Get Out more nominations. Since it has a satirical element, putting it in the less contentious comedy field could allow for more recognition as opposed being in the highly competitive drama category.
Get Out has grossed $253 million worldwide despite being made on just a $4.5 million budget. The massive success enabled Peele to become the first black writer-director with $100-million film debut and earned the highest-grossing feature debut for a writer/director of an original screenplay.
Peele, a comedy veteran who was a MADtv cast member and the co-creator of Comedy Central’s popular sketch show Key & Peele, appeared to be far less bothered by the whole situation than some of his film’s fans.
“Get Out is a documentary,” he joked on Twitter.
