You cut me off mid-funk

basically they all stem from a massive eruption of a volcano on the island of santorini off the coast of greece. the ash then floated over to egypt which kickstarted the plagues

1) blood: the ash carried the mineral cinnabar, which has the capability of turning water red

2) frogs: the ash also had many toxic and acidic substances so naturally, all the frogs are gonna flee the river

3) lice: given what was going on insects would have burrowed into dead animals/peoples skin and laid eggs, which then hatched

4) beasts: everything is getting poisoned from the ash and toxins, causing animals to freak the fuck out/die

5) pestilence: toxins again

6) boils: the ash would have caused storms that carried acid rain which when it fell, would irritate peoples skin causing boils

7) hail: the storm again

8) locusts: again with the insects and the amount of dead bodies and such which attract more insects. a lotta insects basically.

9) darkness: the ash covered the sky, blocking out the sun

10) slaying of the first born: given that children’s bodies were found in higher numbers than others, some archeologists think they may have been sacrificed to stop all the destruction, but they aren’t 100% sure about that. this is just me but I would say another possibility is that babies/kids are a lot more susceptible to toxins and shit, so while an adult may have been fine or gotten a bit sick, it might have been very dangerous/deadly for kids or babies

the volcano would also attest for the parting of the sea weirdly enough. the red sea was in fact the ‘reed’ sea, and was very shallow, probably waist deep or so. given the amount of shit dumped into the ocean from the volcano, this wouldve caused a tsunami to head towards egypt. the water would get sucked out from the reed sea right before the tsunami hit, letting people pass it easily, then the actual tsunami would hit, fuckin up anyone who tried to follow.

another theory is that the red water was caused by algae, which would cause the frogs and stuff to jump out as well. the algae also carried substances toxic to animals so if they ingested any they’d get sick and die, so more insects. in this theory there was a sand storm coincidentally that caused the rest

The tsunamis from the Theran eruption devastated Crete, weakening the then-powerful Minoan civilization, leaving them open to being invaded by the Mycenaeans.

The volcanic winter it created devastated crops in China leading to the fall of the Xia Dynasty. 

Get Out was also produced by Blumhouse, which is a production company that will give a very small budget worth of money and a wide release to basically anyone who asks. It’s kinda great because it means anyone from first time directors to people who want to use themes big studios would scoff at (both of which apply to Peele) can get stuff made.

Thing that makes it comedy: Absurdity.

The juxtaposition of the bad news with ‘80s competitive aerobics

The overly long cue cards that were nonetheless written in apparently under a minute, for at most a one cue-card message, just to apparently unnecessarily draw out things out

The apologetic look on the card holder’s face, while the director mimes a little dance that in no way matches the choreography

The idea that somehow the main character is supposed to answer these questions while he’s dancing? Live on air?

Imagine sitting at home and what these guys would’ve looked like – the one dude looking off camera and mouthing “motive??”, etc. Without knowing the story, that’s a pretty funny visual

The idea that anyone would go to these lengths to win, again, ‘80s competitive aerobics

However, note the horror elements:

The tension of more and more revealed information, changing from accident to not-an-accident to suspicion to revenge 

The music starts as funny (and sets the scene), but it’s on an unending loop, again raising the tension as we wait for it to resolve – and it doesn’t

Actually, the music cues in general, along with the switch back and forth between the grainy ‘80s video recording and the more slick and dark “real time” camerawork, are both very horror-tastic

“Keep dancing”

The dancers’ smiles are really interesting – they start very fake and open-mouthed, with a lot of teeth, and then the main character’s transitions to a grimace, which maintains the open mouth with lots of teeth, but has a very different meaning. Then, as the scene progresses, the other character’s smile – while looking essentially the same as it started at the top of the scene – appears suddenly sinister

The idea that someone you’ve worked with for potentially months – talked to, choreographed with, probably stayed at the same hotels, bonded over the bagels on the craft table – has been planning to kill your entire family

Alternately: What if it really was an accident? So instead we’re watching the total breakdown of a man into paranoia and undeserved murderous rage