The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024)
The American Society of Magical
Negroes is a satire on race. More specifically, it's a satire on race in
the movies. A "Magical Negro" is a supporting Black character in a film who
selflessly helps a white main character realize his or her goals. Michael
Clarke Duncan was a "Magical Negro" in The Green Mile (1999) and Will
Smith was one in The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000), just to name a few.
Here in The American Society of
Magical Negroes, Justice Smith (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Dungeons
& Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) plays a young African American man
named Aren, who is a starving artist. After a disastrous art show, Aren meets
mysterious bartender Roger (David Alan Grier), who introduces the young man
into a secret society of Black people who, through positive persuasion and some
actual magical powers, help white people feel more comfortable in the world.
Aren's first major assignment is to
help the white and depressed Jason (Drew Tarver), who works for an online
social network called Meetbox. Aren gets a job there and falls for co-worker
Lizzie (An-Li Bogan, who is the spitting image of my boyhood crush Phoebe
Cates). Complications ensue when Jason wants Lizzie romantically, and if Aren
doesn't give her up, the Magical Society could become extinct.
The movie is written, produced, and
directed by Kobi Libii in his directorial debut, which he developed at the
Sundance Screenwriters and Directors Lab. Magical Negroes has a very
funny premise, and there are some inventive moments and chuckles here and
there, and Smith's lead performance is very good, but Libii never goes for the
throat with the satire. It's as if he doesn't want to really offend white
viewers with the comedy.
Now the movie is pleasant as a romantic
comedy, and there is a twist on that at the very end. But it seems that the
days of edgy satirical comedies dealing with race relations, like Putney
Swope (1969), are long gone.
