Are
you
ready
for
The
American
Society
Of
Magical
Negroes?
Source:
Focus
Features
Social
media
is
buzzing
over
the
eyebrow-raising
trailer
for
The
American
Society
Of
Magical
Negroes
which
satirizes
the
age-old
Hollywood
trope
of
the
“Magical
Negro”
whose
sole
purpose
is
to
help
white
characters
on
their
own
journeys
in
films.
Coined
by
Spike
Lee
in
2001,
the
term
continues
to
slither
its
way
into
Black
cinema
with
examples
ranging
from
Michael
Clarke
Duncan‘s
John
Coffey
in
The
Green
Mile
to
Mahershala
Ali‘s
Don
Shirley
in
Green
Book.
Now,
after
years
of
diversity
baby
steps
in
Hollywood,
writer-director
Kobi
Lobii
is
flipping
the
trope
on
its
head
with
The
American
Society
Of
Magical
Negroes
set
to
premiere
at
2024’s
Sundance
Film
Festival.
In
the
film,
a
young
man
named
Aren
is
recruited
into
a
secret
society
of
magical
Black
people
who
dedicate
their
lives
to
a
cause
of
utmost
importance:
making
white
people’s
lives
easier,
per
the
official
synopsis.
Check
out
the
trailer
below:
Directed
by
Libii,
the
film
stars
Justice
Smith,
David
Alan
Grier,
An-Li
Bogan,
Drew
Tarver,
Michaela
Watkins,
Aisha
Hinds,
and
Tim
Baltz
with
Rupert
Friend
and
Nicole
Byer.
“I
think
of
the
Magical
Negro
as
a
kind
of
stock
Black
character;
a
Black
best
friend
character
who
is
only
focused
on
helping
the
white
hero,”
said
Libii
in
an
interview
with
BET.
“They
don’t
really
have
an
inner
life,
and
they
don’t
have
their
own
things
going
on.
They’re
just
relentlessly
focused
on
helping
this
white
character
grow
in
most
cases,
and
I
always
thought
that
was
so
funny.
For
whatever
reason,
the
idea
that
there’s
a
white
writer
who
pictures
the
thing
we
do
in
the
morning
is
getting
up
and
trying
to
help
them.
I
found
it
so
absurd
and
incorrect
and
funny
that
I
wanted
to
blow
it
out
and
criticize
it,
but
also
use
it
as
a
way
to
talk
about
other
stuff.
What
it’s
like
to
grow
up
as
a
Black
person
in
this
culture
and
some
of
the
wild
and
fantastical
things
we
have
to
do
to
survive.
To
me,
that’s
the
origin
story
of
the
film.”
Will
you
be
seated
for
The
American
Society
Of
Magical
Negroes
(opening
in
theaters
March
22,
2024)?
Or
would
you
rather
just
see
a
Black
Hogwarts
movie
instead?
Tell
us
down
below
and
peep
some
Twitter
chitter-chatter
over
the
trailer
on
the
flip.
