Just as “The Blackening” parodied the horror movie cliché that Black characters are killed off first, the “magical Negro” trope is now getting its own satirical take.Writer-director Kobi Libii is behind “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” which premieres at 2024 Sundance. The film...
The film's title echoes a well-worn American media trope— though the term was first coined by filmmaker Spike Lee in 2001, as the "magical, mystical negro"— which the movie literalizes in tongue-in-cheek fashion. There's a secret, Hogwarts-esque society of Black cinematic archetypes, an...
The trope of the "Magical Negro" — a term coined by filmmaker Spike Lee in 2001— is just one of many racist clichés that plague American media. It refers to a Black side character whose sole purpose is to help white characters on their own journeys — examples range from Will Smith'...