The American Society Of Magical Negroes (2024)

[Luckylyn]

I think the concept had potential but the script needed more development.  It was very repetitive and sometimes felt like a sketch being stretched too long.  There were some great moments and some good knocks against certain movies that used the Magical Negro trope.

It was weird that the lead character was very thinly developed.  He has no family, no friends, and barely any history.  He’s treated like a mechanism for the plot to make points.  There’s no inclusion of any black community outside of the Society.  How interesting would it have been to see him hiding his new job from friends and family and dealing with that stress.  One of the reasons that the script is repetitive is that it makes little room for character depth and makes the world of the movie so small.

The movie made some good points but was very superficial.  I liked certain scenes but the overall film needed further development.

[Harvey]

A satirical romcom that is neither funny or satirical. For some reason there's a 5min Meta Quest ad in the middle of it. The Silicon Valley startup company trope is so overused an unfunny. We get it. These guys just play at work, hur dur so funny.... The magic system and world were pretty cool but didn't really get explored. The primary message of the movie is pretty shallow and doesn't say a whole lot.

Also, I love how at the end the guy goes, "Can't wait to see how you work your way out of this." Then the movie just ends with nothing being resolved.

[Luckylyn]

The movie is weird regarding his financial situation.  The make a point of showing that he’s in serious trouble with only $17 in his bank account, no one buying his art, and his just spending a huge amount of money for an upcoming art show that get’s canceled.  Yet the character is oddly unconcerned.  What if one of his sources of stress is being unable to quit the society because it’s the only thing allowing him to pay his rent.  This would acknowledge a real life issue of people taking demeaning jobs out of necessity and how emotionally damaging it can be. The tension between being a creative person but also trying to monetize it is a subplot that they just leave dangling.  

@HarveyThe movie acknowledges the difficulty of his situation at the end and does nothing with it.  The movie had potential..  There are ideas but little development.

[Cress]

They should have spent more time on the society and their magic. The world building seemed pointless if they were going to spend so much time on the love triangle at the internet company. The only mention of backstory for Aren was his comment that he had a white mother and grew up around white people, but nothing further was developed on that angle.

Then there was a final scene showing that Lizzie also is in a magic society. Her "So Swag" jewelry was actually for the Society of Supportive Wives and Girlfriends, another movie trope of shallow characters who exist to service someone else. The movie has potential but doesn't fulfill it.

At least show us Aren's new idea for a yarn sculpture.

Edited March 25, 2024 by Cress

[MadyGirl1987]

10 hours ago, Cress said:

They should have spent more time on the society and their magic. The world building seemed pointless if they were going to spend so much time on the love triangle at the internet company.

That makes the decision of seeing it or not for me then. I was intrigued by the premise, but turned off by the focus on the love story in the trailer.

[Milburn Stone]

The movie is not doing well. (Per Box Office Mojo.)

[Browncoat]

I think it only lasted two weeks in my local theater.  I didn't get a chance to see it, and after reading this thread, I'm not too sad about it.  It did look intriguing from the trailer -- too bad there was no good follow-through.

[DoctorAtomic]

I agree that it landed flat. Waste of David Allen Grier too. The best line of the movie was 'we picked you for the job because we thought your yarn and shit would come in handy'

This would have been a better series where DAG mentors Aren through different white people than just one. And it's not clear if Aren was successful anyway. 

[AngieBee1]

Quote

I think the concept had potential but the script needed more development.

For me, the problem started with the premise itself. The concept of "magical Negro" is not about Black person/characters making things better for white people in order to spare themselves/the Black community from harm, it's the Mary Sue-ification of Black characters. It's when a Black character's innate wisdom/kindness/benevolence only serves as a function to make a white character grow/learn.  There is comedy that could be mined from the original concept of "magical negro", but instead they bastardized the trope.

[Terrafamilia]

For those so inclined, there is a more serious, though not necessarily better, treatment of the premise in a comic book series called Excellence, put out by Image Comics a few years ago. The protagonist is a young, angry, black man with daddy issues who, chaffing against the restrictions of the magical society of which he is a part – always bailing out and clearing the way for inept white guys, vows to bring the whole edifice down. It is not exactly subtle in its presentation. Those in control of the society are

Spoiler

actually a cabal of rich, old white guys who dress up in white robes with pointy hoods (of course), one of whom is Donald Trump (really, it’s not even a “thinly veiled” reference).

On top of that, the womenfolk of the Magical Negroes are forbidden to do magic – because they are so much better at it and TPTB are afraid of female power, or something.

Trigger Warning: the N-word is peppered generously throughout, but that’s okay according to the creators, they are just keepin’ it real, and besides, they themselves are black (honest, trust us!) so they get a pass.

The series seems to have either been cancelled or gone on hiatus after 12 issues so the story is unfinished.