Get Outwas a lot of things: a tense thriller, a biting social commentary, an incredible directorial debut for Jordan Peele, a breakthrough for lead actor Daniel Kaluuya.

But was it a comedy?

As far as the Golden Globes are concerned, yes. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association determined this week that Get Outwill compete in the "musical or comedy" categories for the upcoming awards.

The designation left some people – including one of the film's stars – scratching their heads.

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It's true that Get Outis, at times, very, very funny. It's also true that it's not really a straightforward "comedy" in the way we think of Girls Tripor A Bad Moms Christmasas "comedies."

But the decision makes perfect sense when you realize how weird the Globes categories are to begin with.

For starters, the HFPA didn't just make this ruling randomly. Universal Pictures submitted Get Outas a comedy, in what looks like a strategic move. Get Outlooks likely to be a contender in this year's awards race no matter what genre you think it is, but the drama categories are likely to fill up with heavy dramas like The Postand Dunkirk.

Competing as a comedy should give the Get Outteam a little more room to stand out – and, hopefully, pick up some momentum for the impending Oscars race.

Moreover, the HFPA's genre designations have always been kind of a mess. Just two years ago, a similar controversy bubbled up when The Martianran as a comedy – and and took home the top prize. (When director Ridley Scott went up to accept his statue, he demonstrated his own ambivalence about the categorization with a little shrug.)

Add in the "musical" part, and the divide starts to look even more arbitrary. How does Les Misérablesmake more sense running against The Best Exotic Marigold Hotelthan it would against Argo? If the idea is to let like compete with like, what do Dreamgirlsand Borathave in common? Or La La Landand Deadpool?

Really, the fuss over whether Get Outis a comedy just illustrates the impossibility of divvying up films by genre to begin with. But until the HFPA decides to do away with that distinction entirely, it's only reasonable for a genre-bending film like Get Outto play in the category where it has the best odds.

Anyway, for what it's worth, Peele thinks his movie is something else entirely.

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