The Lesson of Being Uncomfortable

The American Society of Magical Negroes (2024) – A young man recruited into a society of black people with magical powers dedicated to making Black lives safer. Their Goal? Make White people feel more comfortable.

Directed by Kobi Libii

Starring David Allen Grier, Justice Smith, Mia Ford

Why I Liked It: It made me feel uncomfortable. And that, I believe, is the point.

Wow, this review is filled with opportunities for me to get things wrong. I will try to be as transparent as I can with what I thinking about this movie. I am certain that I “missed” things along the way. My assumption is that, for audiences like me, that is expected. Perhaps even intended.

I saw a couple promos for this movie early this year and thought “THAT’S the title you came up with?!?!” “Magical Negro” is a term that originates with film director Spike Lee. It refers to a black, supporting character with some kind of special power or insight that exists solely to support a white main character. It is a remnant of the imagery rooted in the racist stereotypes of the past. Examples could include Oda Mae Grown in “Ghost”, Guinan in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, Red Redding in “The Shawshank Redemption”, John Coffey in “The Green Mile”, the Oracle in “The Matrix”, Bagger Vance in “Bagger Vance” and dozens (if not hundreds more). The concept precedes the movies, of course. Jim, in Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is one from fiction.

In this movie, the concept has been turned on its head. There’s a reason behind the existence of these people. A group of Black Americans discovered years ago that they had magical powers to soothe the emotional state of upset white people. This allowed them to calm situations that were headed toward confrontations between black and white people. Once the white folk are calm, then black people, who aren’t granted a lot of leeway in white society most times, could go about their lives. These folks gathered together in an organization to keep things as calm as possible. They became The American Society of Magical Negroes.

It is clear this is a satire. Or, it should be. By definition, a satire is “the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, to expose, denounce, or deride the folly or corruption of institutions, people, or social structures” (Definition from Dictionary.com) Race relations remain an issue in American society. And White people get uncomfortable when the topic comes up. Which is an effective way to make sure nothing gets discussed, let alone done. Once I realized what was being done by the filmmakers, I settled back to watch, listen, and learn.

The reward is an enjoyable lesson. Painful as well, as any satire should be for someone in the dominant social role (I’m an old, white, cis, het male. I’m pretty much the poster boy for “the man” as we used to say) By the end, I was charmed by the deftly wielded satire, and knew exactly why there was a pushback against the movie. So, allow me to push back on the pushback. This is a movie you should see. I can see it becoming something of a cult hit in the next decade or so. Most of the cast is unknown to me, with the exception of David Allen Greer. It will be easy to get caught up in the surface emotions that the movie will evoke. There is a deeper story being told here. We all need to be attentive to it.

The movie comes with some classic moviemaking flaws. I never found the main character, Aren (Justice Smith), convincing or engaging. He progresses through recruitment to independent operation within the Society with unreasonable speed. It’s why he will make the critical mistake he does, and that may be the explanation, but it didn’t seem reasonable to me. Also, and maybe I’m missing the point here, but the behavior of the Society itself felt cartoonish at times. The story is missing any kind of coherent explanation of the society or its powers. I understand that this is consistent with the “magical” nature being satirized here, but it left a hole in the story for me. There were also moments when the script felt like it had lost its way with the story.

There’s a lot going on here. Much more than many people think or expect. All the more reasons to let ourselves explore our discomfort.

You can watch “The American Society of Magical Negroes” on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango

Rating – *** Worth A Look