Get Out Almost Ended With An Awful Joke That Could've Ruined The Movie
Jordan Peele shot several different endings for his debut feature "Get Out," and after testing a bunch of concepts, he settled on one he felt that audiences would be satisfied with: Rod — A.K.A. Lil Rel Howery — coming to the rescue. However, he needed a cincher of a one-liner for the comedic relief character to throw down once Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) got into the car with his friend.
"I mean ... I told you not to go in that house," Rod says, stating what we're all thinking in the final version of the film we all know and love — but writer-director Peele nearly used a tacky joke line that may have been a touch too topical even for his movie. According to Peele's commentary track included with the film, he almost had Rod ask Chris this question about his diabolical former girlfriend: "Do you think she voted for Trump?"
"I almost did this you guys, I almost did it. First of all, it argues with the fact that I was kind of going after the liberal elite here. I didn't want to end it on this note, like sort of confirm people's expectations that this is like, specifically an anti-Trump movie. It is, in its soul, but it's anti something bigger, which is racism and the system that has been in place long before Donald Trump. So I didn't want to confuse that. And I didn't want to date the film [with a topical reference]."
Peele added that he ended up talking himself out of the joke, which he seemed to initially really enjoy. Personally, I'm glad he landed on the line he did; It's just funny enough but doesn't pull us completely out of the gravity of the situation, which is important to the tone of the film. It's what makes the movie work.
If you happen to own a copy of the Blu-ray, the special features have several of the alternate versions of Rod's final joke, including one where he tells Chris to stop dating white women and one where he asks if he can use the bathroom in the Armitage home.
The Other Other Get Out Ending
The original ending of "Get Out" was way bleaker, and honestly, I think everyone is glad Peele didn't use it.
The "Key and Peele" alum originally planned to have the cops show up at the Armitage house instead of Rod — which naturally would've put Chris in an incredibly precarious position. In this alternate ending, Chris ends up in jail and Rod comes to visit him, but it's clear that Chris is never going to be released from incarceration. After all of the triumphs Chris has at the end of the film, it would've been difficult — albeit entirely realistic — for the film to have ended that way.
However, Peele revealed on Buzzfeed's Another Round podcast in March 2017 that this particular ending wasn't exactly befitting to the hero's journey conclusion Chris had earned, despite it being incredibly topical.
"In the beginning when I was first making this movie the idea was, 'OK, we're in this post-racial world, apparently. That was the whole idea. People were saying, 'We've got Obama so racism is over, let's not talk about it.' That's what the movie was meant to address. Like look, you recognize this interaction. These are all clues, if you don't already know, that racism isn't over. [...] So the ending in that era was meant to say, look, 'You think race isn't an issue? Well at the end, we all know this is how this movie would end right here.'"
He added, "It was very clear that the ending needed to transform into something that gives us a hero, that gives us an escape, gives us a positive feeling when we leave this movie. [...] There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the audience go crazy when Rod shows up."
Thinking back to my opening weekend screening packed full to the brim with folks cheering on every second of the last act, all I can say is: you're damn right about that, sir.