Bossip
Video
We’re
finishing
the
fourth
quarter
super
strong
when
it
comes
to
entertainment,
particularly
films.
Source:
Variety
/
Getty
AMERICAN
FICTION, Cord
Jefferson’s
hilarious
directorial
debut,
arrives
in
theaters
everywhere
Friday,
December
22nd,
and
our
Sr.
Content
Director
Janeé
Bolden
had
a
chance
to
chat
with
him
about
the
film
—
which
confronts
our
culture’s
obsession
with
reducing
people
to
outrageous
stereotypes.
Jeffrey
Wright
stars
as
Monk,
a
frustrated
novelist
who’s
fed
up
with
the
establishment
profiting
from
“Black”
entertainment
that
relies
on
tired
and
offensive
tropes.
To
prove
his
point,
Monk
uses
a
pen
name
to
write
an
outlandish
“Black”
book
of
his
own,
a
book
that
propels
him
to
the
heart
of
hypocrisy
and
the
madness
he
claims
to
disdain.
Related
Stories
We
were
fortunate
to
catch
an
early
virtual
Q&A
with
Cord
Jefferson,
who
based
the
film
on
the
novel
Erasure
by
Percival
Everett.
After
hearing
Jefferson
speak
about
how
Everett’s
novel
resonated
with
him,
one
of
our
first
questions
to
Jefferson,
who
has
worked
as
a
writer
for
successful
TV
shows
like
The
Good
Place,
Watchmen,
Master
Of
None,
and
Survivor’s
Remorse,
was
about
his
own
experiences
in
Hollywood.
“I’ve
had
a
couple
of
instances
in
which
executives
will
read
scripts
of
mine
and
say
in
so
many
words,
‘We
want
you
to
make
this
character
blacker,’”
Jefferson
told
BOSSIP.
“And
I
always
respond
to
that
with
just
like,
‘OK,’
because
it’s
never
directly
to
me,
it’s
always
through
like
emissaries
and
I
always
say,
‘Go
back
to
them
and
ask
them
what
Blacker
means.
Ask
them
what
they
mean
by
Blacker.’
Of
course
they
never
answer
that
question
because
they
know
that
if
they
were
trying
to
answer
that
question
they
would
sound
ridiculous
and
they
make
fools
of
themselves,
even
more
so
than
they
already
have.”
Source:
Amazon
MGM
Studios
/
Amazon
MGM
Studios
Jefferson
also
shared
stories
with
us
that
he
heard
from
colleagues,
including
a
particularly
dark
one
that
included
a
racial
slur.
“I
had
a
friend
who
was
working
on
a
TV
show
once,
and
the
showrunner
turned
to
her
in
front
of
the
entire
all
white
staff,”
Jefferson
shared.
“She’s
a
Black
woman
and
the
rest
of
the
staff
was
white,
and
the
showrunner
turned
to
her
on
her
first
day
on
the
job
and
said,
‘What
do
you
think
Blackie?’
In
front
of
the
entire
staff.
This
is
like
10
years
ago.
This
was
not
1952,
this
is
like
2014
or
2015.”
Jefferson
also
acknowledged
that
these
experiences
aren’t
isolated
to
writing
for
film
and
television.
He
recalled
how
his
days
as
a
journalist
often
meant
constantly
being
assigned
to
cover
Black
trauma.
“Before
I
started
working
in
TV
and
film,
I
was
working
in
journalism
and
journalism
was
very
much
like,
‘Would
you
write
about
Mike
Brown
getting
killed?’
‘Would
you
write
about
Trayvon
Martin
getting
killed?’
‘Would
you
write
about
Breonna
Taylor
getting
killed?’
Will
you
write
about
this
racist
thing
that
somebody
said
about
President
Obama?’”
Jefferson
told
BOSSIP.
“Constantly.
This
revolving
door
of
trauma
and
misery
and
it’s
like,
is
this
all
that
we
have
to
offer
with
our
work
as
writers?”
These
experiences
reflect
those
of
so
many
Black
professionals,
simply
trying
to
make
a
living
while
pursuing
their
dreams.
The
bigger
issue,
Jefferson
says,
is
that
people
outside
of
the
culture
often
fail
to
recognize
that
they
also
have
a
part
to
play
in
confronting
Black
trauma.
“When
they
come
to
black
people
all
the
time
and
say
like,
‘This
is
what
you
need
to
do,’
suggests
that
racism
and
the
problems
that
come
from
racism
are
a
Black
issue,”
Jefferson
continued.
“This
is
a
two
way
street.
Racism
is
just
as
much
a
white
issue
as
it
is
a
Black
issue.
Why
are
you
not
coming
to
white
people
and
asking
them
to
write
about
Mike
Brown
and
Trayvon
Martin,
you
know?
They
have
a
part
to
play
in
all
of
this
too,
it
literally
is
a
national
issue.
and
treating
it
as
if
only
Black
people
can
talk
about
this
is
wrong.
The
cop
that
killed
him
was
white
right?
So
isn’t
that
just
as
applicable
to
white
people’s
lives
as
it
is
to
our
life?
Why
aren’t
white
people
defined
by
these
incidents
the
way
that
you
try
to
define
Black
people
by
these
incidents?
That
was
a
frustrating
aspect
of
working
in
journalism,
and
I
thought
that
I
would
get
away
from
it
when
I
started
working
in
entertainment,
because
it’s
fictional
stories
right?
But
still
people
are
coming
to
me
like,
‘Well
why
don’t
you
write
about
slaves?’”
Source:
Amazon
MGM
Studios
/
Amazon
MGM
Studios
As
you
can
imagine,
American
Fiction
is
every
bit
as
thought-provoking
as
the
questions
Jefferson
is
asking.
The
film’s
complexity
also
stretches
beyond
race,
into
class
because
Monk
and
his
family
reflect
the
very
real
fragility
that
many
members
of
the
Black
upper
middle
class
face.
“Black
people
have,
for
any
number
of
reasons
by
design,
not
been
able
to
achieve
generational
wealth
in
this
country,”
Jefferson
responds
when
asked
about
the
precarious
nature
of
Monk
and
his
family’s
status.
“That
has
been
elusive
for
the
vast
majority
of
black
people
in
this
country.
The
thing
that
I
wanted
to
portray
was
that
essentially
like
there
was
one
breadwinner.
The
father
was
successful,
he
had
sort
of
like
built
up
a
successful
practice,
but
you
see
how
precarious
things
are
once
he’s
gone…
Fortunately
they
made
enough
to
educate
their
children
but
also
their
children
are
going
through
it
now
too.
See
how
quickly
a
divorce
can
totally
alter
your
financial
future?
That
is
the
problem
with
the
difference
between
just
general
affluence
and
like
real
wealth.
That
precarity
is
very
real.”
Jefferson
even
shared
how
his
own
financial
security
might
have
been
in
jeopardy
had
the
WGA
strike
lasted
longer
this
year.
“I’ve
made
a
lot
of
money
in
my
TV
career
and
then
I
bought
a
house,”
Jefferson
shared.
“I’ve
earned
far
more
money
than
anybody
in
my
family
ever
has,
but
then
we
went
on
strike.
I
had
an
overall
deal,
which
is
how
I
really
made
all
my
money,
and
there
is
a
real
significant
chance
that
I
was
going
to
lose
my
overall
deal
[had
the
strike
lasted]
and
if
that
were
to
happen
it
would
have
all
gone
away.
Not
necessarily
immediately,
but
if
they
said
‘Your
overall
deal’s
gone,
you’re
not
getting
paid
after
this,’
I
would
have
been
scrambling
to
figure
out
how
I
was
going
to
keep
my
house,
which
is
the
first
real
thing
that
I’ve
ever
owned.”
Source:
Amazon
MGM
Studios
/
Amazon
MGM
Studios
Ironically,
our
conversation
with
Jefferson
happened
when
the
SAG-AFTRA
strike
was
still
in
full
swing,
so
we
were
unable
to
speak
with
his
incredible
cast,
which,
in
addition
to
Jeffrey
Wright,
also
includes
Erica
Alexander,
Leslie
Uggams,
Tracee
Ellis
Ross,
Issa
Rae
and
Sterling
K.
Brown
—
who
is
quite
the
scene
stealer
as
Monk’s
gay
brother,
newly
uncloseted
and
completely
unhinged.
“Erika
Alexander
was
such
a
huge
part
of
my
childhood,”
Jefferson
told
BOSSIP.
“I
watched
Living
Single
all
the
time.
We
went
out
to
dinner
a
couple
weeks
ago
and
she
was
telling
me
something
that
I’d
never
heard
before,
which
is
that
there
were
studies
that
showed
that
there
was
a
spike
in
Black
female
lawyers
when
that
show
was
on
the
air,
because
of
the
Maxine
Shaw
effect.
Then
all
of
a
sudden
it’s
like
Erika
Alexander
is
not
in
movies
anymore
she’s
not
in
TV
shows
anymore.
This
is
a
woman
that
is
so,
so,
so
talented,
that
is
so,
so,
so
beloved
and
had
a
huge
impact
on
me
when
I
was
a
kid.
I
loved
giving
her
like
a
bigger
role.
I
loved
giving
her
the
romantic
lead
in
the
film.”
Source:
Amazon
MGM
Studios
/
Amazon
MGM
Studios
“I
love
that
Leslie
Uggams
is
81
and
still
going,”
Jefferson
continued.
“I
love
seeing
her
in
there.
I
love
Sterling
K.
Brown.
I
think
that
Sterling
K.
Brown
has
obviously
gotten
a
bunch
of
television
accolades,
but
I
don’t
think
anybody
has
seen
him
like
this
before.
This
is
a
total
departure
for
him.
Tracee
Ellis
Ross,
people
think
of
her
as
‘Oh
she’s
a
sitcom
actor.’
No,
Tracee
Ellis
Ross
has
range…
I
just
really
want
these
people
here
because
because
they’re
tremendous
in
the
movie
and
I
wish
that
they
were
at
the
forefront
receiving
these
accolades
because
too
frequently
Black
actors
aren’t
given
that
opportunity.”
“Jeffrey
is
amazing,”
Jefferson
added.
“The
second
time
I
ever
saw
Jeffrey
Wright
act
was
Basquiat
it
was
the
first
time
I
ever
saw
him
in
the
lead
in
anything
because
before
that
I
saw
him
in
Angels
in
America,
not
on
Broadway
but
in
the
Mike
Nichols
adaptation
of
HBO
and
then
I
saw
him
as
a
lead
in
Basquiat
and
then
I
didn’t
see
him
as
a
lead
in
anything
ever
after
that,
and
it
was
like
‘Why?’
This
guy’s
amazing.
Everybody
agrees
that
he’s
an
amazing
actor.
Everybody
agrees
he’s
one
of
the
most
talented
actors
in
America,
why
is
he
not
in
the
lead
more
often?
Why
is
he
never
given
that
opportunity?
I
just
love
these
people.
I
think
they’re
amazing.
They
were
all
amazing
to
work
with
and
I
want
them
to
be
receiving
these
flowers
because
they
deserve
them.”
We’re
in
total
agreement.
Go
see
American
Fiction
in
theaters
everywhere
December
22!
