Attempt at race relations satire falls short of target
Genre: Comedy, fantasy, satire
A failed attempt at satire spoils the interesting concept behind the latest fantasy film, The American Society of Magical Negroes and turns the film into a hollow reductive portrayal of race relations.
The premise of the film is intriguing and is inspired by the connection between skin colour and quality of life. As critical race theory has become more mainstream, ideas of the connection between race and privilege are more accepted and portrayals exploring this concept have become more common on screen.
While some films dealing with race as subject matter have prompted fruitful conversations and learning for all, The American Society of Magical Negroes falls short of provoking new insights into the topic.
Perhaps if it was written or directed differently, it could have been a better film.
The movie follows Aren (played by Justice Smith), a socially awkward, light-skinned black man, who gets recruited into a secret society of magical black people who dedicate their lives to making their white counterparts’ lives easier.
The lynchpin of the plot is the belief is that there is nothing more dangerous than an uncomfortable white person, and the black characters in the show are conscripted into using their powers to make the white people under their care comfortable by any means necessary.
Aren is faced with a difficult task when he is forced to make a white person happy, at great personal sacrifice.
The dialogue is lazy, the characters are one-dimensional, the scenes are uncomfortable to watch, and it isn’t clear what the point of the whole story is.
The film feels like a lacklustre attempt at addressing social issues but it does such a terrible job of it, that even the big speech in the final act feels empty and pointless. A movie casting black people into the role of service for white people is a tired trope that moviegoers are fed up with seeing.
In that same vein, the film has sparked more necessary conversations about race and how black people are portrayed in films. If the film does one thing right, it has given more people the platform to speak on social injustices and racial discrimination.
It maybe considered as satire, but without a message and a story to tell, it is just a waste of time.
The American Society of Magical Negroes
is available on Amazon Prime Video.