The American Society of Magical Negroes is going to start a lot of conversations. Kobi Libii’s directorial feature is a satirical look at stereotypes, microaggressions, and white fragility wrapped in a funny and fanciful package. Yet the reception which was divisive with the Sundance premiere will surely follow this film when it reaches audiences in March.
Film history and literature are full of characters who have come to be dubbed “magical negroes.” The term itself was popularized by director Spike Lee more than 20 years ago and describes Black characters who exist to aid and comfort the white people around the them. These characters appear in all genres and tones. Sometimes the “magic” is literal, like Oda Mae Brown in Ghost or Dick Hallorann in The Shining. Other times they instill a skill or words of wisdom, like Red in The Shawshank Redemption or Chubbs in Happy Gilmore.
In The American Society of Magical Negroes, Libii turns the fictional trope into a reality, creating a world in which this is not merely a one-dimensional character archetype but an entire society of real people who give up their own lives and dreams to keep white people comfortable. Standing in front of a picture of a great white shark, David Alan Grier’s Roger asks Justice Smith’s Aren, “What is the most dangerous animal on the planet?” Aren says it must be a shark. But no, Roger explains. It is, “white people when they feel uncomfortable.” The real reason this society exists is not because of an altruistic desire to help white people, but because when they feel safe, they pose less of a threat to everyone else.
This conversation comes as part of Roger’s effort to recruit Aren into the society following an altercation on a nearly empty Los Angeles street. Aren is an artist but his latest show has left him questioning that future. Roger introduces him to an entire group of people like him, good people who want to make the world a better place. Skeptical that placating white people would be better for him than starving as an artist, Aren tries to resist but finds himself fascinated by sudden minor yet exciting magical abilities.
Before long, Aren has his first client, Jason (Drew Tarver), a graphic designer at the bro-ish tech firm MeetBox. It’s the typical techy cool campus with nap pods, open concept offices, food and games on demand, laundry and car wash services. The office is the exact opposite of Roger’s at the Society, teeming with books and globes, history and art. Clients don’t know they’re clients. That would ruin the magic. Aren finds himself with the responsibility of helping Jason move up in the company, as well as to get the girl. In this case she is Lizzie (An-Li Bogan), an even more talented graphic designer and, most inconveniently, Aren likes her too.
With a script full of charm and biting humor, and very good performances from Smith and Grier, The American Society… is smart satire that uses both pointed and subtle comedy to skewer hypocrisy and lambast the tropes perpetuated by it. Some will argue this doesn’t go far enough. That it doesn’t fully call out the concepts it criticizes. Is this movie following in the footsteps of Bamboozled and American Fiction? Or is it proving their point?
This film will not draw in or change the minds of the “anti-woke” crowd, and it would be unfair to expect it to. It’s not Libii’s job anyway. Through a series of moments and scenes and one very pointed and excellently delivered monologue from Justice Smith, this is an unsubtle way to remind us all that no one should apologize for existing or taking up space. Part of a good, functioning society does mean looking out for one another, but not to the detriment of our own needs.
If there is one aspect of The American Society… that falls a little short, it is in the romantic comedy aspect of the story. For a movie all about destroying one particular trope, it perpetuates another in the manic pixie dream girl that is Lizzie. Though she is brilliant and “the best graphic designer in the company,” Lizzie never really gets to be her own person. She exists mainly to cause Aren to question his own choices and to cause conflict between Aren and Jason. Although Lizzie’s role does get some notice eventually, it comes too late for any meaningful discussion and feels like a missed opportunity.
The American Society of Magical Negroes may not quite reach its full potential. But it is an entertaining satire and a promising debut from Kobi Libii, a filmmaker whose name we will be seeing a lot from now on.
