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In Get Out, there is a scene in the beginning of the film showing Rose and Chris hitting a deer on the way to her parent's house. It actually appears like the deer is thrown at their car.

After watching the movie, I don't really understand what the significance is regarding this scene as it appears that the deer is thrown at the car somehow.

I understand that Rose's father does not like the deer around his property because he claims that they destroy the ecosystem:

I don't mean to get on my high horse, but I'm telling you I do not like the deer. I'm sick of it. They're taking over. They're like rats. They destroy the ecosystem. If I see a dead deer on the side of the road, I think to myself that's a start. You know what? I am grateful for what you have done today. I don't like them.

Also, the deer incident caused unwanted attention by law enforcement that Rose and her family obviously wouldn't want.

Was the deer actually thrown at their car? If so, is it ever explained why the deer would be intentionally thrown at their car?

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  • I haven't personally seen the movie, but I have heard that a major theme of the movie is racism, in all of its many forms. this could have just been an excuse to bring up the deer and draw an analogy with how a lot of bigoted people tend to see people of color.
    – DForck42
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 21:37
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    @DForck42 Yeah, that is the main theme of the movie. There's also a scene at the end where it shows a deer mounted on the wall and I interpreted that as a trophy thing, like how they perceive African Americans. That's why I kept waiting for an explanation about this scene in regards to if the deer was thrown at them. The deer has symbolism throughout the movie. I just didn't get it in this particular scene.
    – steelersquirrel
    Commented Nov 7, 2017 at 21:45
  • This website explains the symbolism well: vh1.com/news/303784/get-out-movie-symbolism
    – followthemeow
    Commented Nov 8, 2017 at 1:27

2 Answers 2

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It very much looked to me like a deer bounding rapidly, rather than being thrown. The video below shows a deer jumping; it looks very much like the one in the "Get Out" clip.

I can't think of any reason in the movie why the deer would have been thrown at the car. In addition, throwing a deer would be very difficult. Adult deer weigh 100-300 pounds. It would probably require some equipment to launch something so heavy (and alive and struggling) across a highway at the car, and that equipment may have been noticed by the cop who shows up.

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    Yeah, I know that deer can leap fairly high. But, I have probably hit 10-15 deer in my lifetime and they never leap that high. Two grown men can easily toss a deer that high. I have seen it done several times when hunting with my family (tossing a deer into the back of a pickup truck from a hillside). Nothing else weird that would cause one to toss a deer ;). I guess my personal experiences are what made me question this scene :)
    – steelersquirrel
    Commented Nov 8, 2017 at 0:37
  • You make really good points!
    – BrettFromLA
    Commented Nov 8, 2017 at 17:11
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    Throwing a huge, heavy deer, and accurately enough to hit a car moving 60+ mpg? Would require a pretty massive suspension of disbelief. A cat? Maybe. ....Unless they had some kind of well-calibrated deer-trebuchet... which would be awesome.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Commented Nov 16, 2017 at 16:31
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No, there's no way anyone could have thrown that deer with that velocity, it was 10 feet off the ground.

I always looked at that scene as, first of all, a tension setter. It's a quick scare for the audience, and a bit cheap at that, but it sets you on the edge of your seat. Then as Chris goes into the woods, you're not entirely sure if something else will jump out at him.

Also, I think it's a bit of foreshadowing when you see the look in the deer's eyes, and you consider what Chris faces later in the movie. It's that same (pardon the pun) "deer in the headlights" look of fear. It sets up a nice visual bookend to the story.

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  • Plus it sets up the girlfriend's bone fides as being strongly anti-racism/prejudice, by their interactions with the police.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Commented Nov 16, 2017 at 16:34
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    @PoloHoleSet Although she appears strongly anti-racist, I'm pretty sure she confronted the cop so there would be no police record of Chris being in that area. If the cop had gotten Chris's name and address from his driver's license, it would be harder to make him disappear without a trace.
    – BrettFromLA
    Commented Nov 17, 2017 at 17:25
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    @BrettFromLA - I was a bit non-specific. It was to establish in the minds of the audience that she was that way, so her later actions would be a plot twist. In retrospect, your explanation can be seen as the real reason, which is part of the fun of surprise reveals - you go back and see their actions in a different light. Fun movie.
    – PoloHoleSet
    Commented Nov 17, 2017 at 17:28
  • @PoloHoleSet Well put! My wife and I spent days discussing the movie and picking apart the characters' apparent motivations and their real motivations.
    – BrettFromLA
    Commented Nov 17, 2017 at 17:34
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    The deer is foreshadowing the way Rose's father dies. IIRC all of their deaths are symbolic, referring to statements they made earlier etc.
    – BCdotWEB
    Commented Jan 25, 2018 at 21:03

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