The American Society of Magical Negroes is a 2024 American satirical comedy film directed and written by Kobi Libii.
The story is about a young man, Aren (Justice Smith), who is recruited by a man named Roger (David Alan Grier) into a secret society of magical black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier so that the white people will then be less of a danger to black people. Unfortunately, his first 'client' Jason (Drew Tarver) is smitten with a girl named Lizzie (An-Li Bogan) that Aren also falls for, and the resultant love triangle ends up jeopardizing the organization as a whole.
The movie was released March 15th, 2024, but was shown early to Sundance audiences. See here
for a synopsis and here for a teaser.
Tropes in this film include
- Angry White Man: The titular society's main purpose is averting this by keeping white people, and mostly men are shown, as comfortable as possible so that they don't make their discomfort everyone else's problem.
- Bad Boss: Mick doesn't seem to really care about the racism in his company which was exposed in the Ghanagate scandal except insofar as it causes bad press. As for Masterson, she acknowledges that Lizzie did the heavy lifting for the rebrand but decides to let Jason present the new material anyways because she thinks it will play better with Mick and will thus bolster her career.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy:
- The first members of the Society were Thomas Jefferson's slaves at his Monticello estate.
- It's also mentioned that historical figures such as Crispus Attucks (whose murder by British troops kickstarted the American Revolution) were members of the Society.
- But Not Too Black: Discussed and deconstructed; new recruits are lectured on how they must find a balance between their authentic selves as black people and a constructed image that white people are comfortable with, and they must never show too much of the former for the sake of their mission.
- Chekhov's Gun: At one point, Aren helps pick up the contents of Lizzie’s purse, which includes a ring that says "SO SWAG". It’s initially laughed off as a gag gift until the final scene reveals that Lizzie is part of her own secret organization, and "SO SWAG" is an acronym for "Society of Supportive Wives and Girlfriends."
- The Empath: Once inducted into the Society members can perceive the discomfort of white people by a "White Tears" meter floating next to them.
- Generational Trauma: The Society was created in a time where being black around white people was extremely dangerous and thus the community accepted diminishing themselves if it meant their survival. By the time of the present, things have progressed enough that, while still dangerous, black people can more openly stand up for themselves about their mistreatment, and Aren's actions and speech persuades those from his generation in the society to build more meaningful foundations in their work by establishing reciprocity from their clients.
- Grew a Spine: Aren becoming aware of his own anxieties about appeasing white people while working in the Society makes him grow disgruntled with his Extreme Doormat behavior. He eventually stands up for himself in the middle of virtual meeting of Meetbox and gives an impassioned speech about how he feels like the world is at best apathetic and at worst actively hostile to his well-being.
- Innocently Insensitive:
- After Meetbox is exposed for having facial recognition software which doesn't work on black people, the corporate twitter account tweets "we love black faces!" This comes off as supporting blackface and other types of minstrelry, which further compounds the company's public relations woes.
- Some of Jason's comments come across as this, including his line about needing Aren at the presentation because diversity is the presentation's whole point (which implies Aren is only needed because he's black).
- Insane Troll Logic: Jason's logic during his final argument is basically 'if I said that offensive thing, I would be racist, but I know I'm not racist, so therefore it's impossible for me to have said that thing.'
- Jerkass Has a Point: The gallery owner is rude, but she has a point when she tells Aren that he does actually need to sell some of his stuff, and also when she tells him that if he won't fight for his works then she can't do so either.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia:
- This is the standard punishment for any Society members who use their powers selfishly or otherwise go against the Society's purpose. This becomes a plot point with Tanya, who didn't actually misuse her magic but chastised her client and cursed him out for not reading the foundational paper in their field. As antagonizing white people is counter to the ideals of the Society, Tanya was mindwiped and fired.
- When Aren's romantic feelings start to threaten the Society, his mentor warns that they might have to erase his memories too.
- Literal Metaphor: The people of the Society get their magical power from being in unanimous agreement, so community solidarity is literally empowering.
- Living Is More than Surviving: One of the layers of conflict is how the Society's aims may help the black community survive, they're not truly living if they keep suppressing parts of themselves.
- Logical Weakness: It's emphasized that the Society gets its power from its unanimity, and that even a single member misusing his or her powers for unapproved reasons weakens them all. As such, when Aren rebels and is sentenced to have his memories erased, Roger can't do it because so many other Society members are following Aren's example that the Society's magic is too weak for that spell to work. This allows Aren to escape with his memories intact.
- Magical Negro: Parodied. Per the synopsis, the movie is a satire about a young black man learning to use his magic powers to improve the lives of white people.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Parodied. It's revealed that Lizzie is a part of SOSWAG, the Society of Supportive Wives and Girlfriends, and her client was Aren.
- Mistaken for Racist: Jason insists this is what's happening when Aren or Lizzie say things which make him feel like he's being accused of bigotry.
- The Most Dangerous Video Game: In an unusually realistic example, Meetbox allows its employees to play a virtual reality game to relax, but it puts the game on a high platform which is accessible by stairs. Because of the lack of safety features, it's entirely possible for an employee playing the game to wander off the platform or fall down the stairs, which almost happens to Aren.
- N-Word Privileges: Aren is black but still expresses discomfort with the Society's name in the teaser.
- Pass Fail: Lizzie being a minority who is able to pass as white becomes a plot point after she objects to Jason's defense of one of Meetbox's scandals, after which he complains that he didn't know Lizzie was a minority and so would be likely to object to his comments. (Lizzie's actress has both white and Asian ancestry).
- Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Miller, the dorky white police officer, does a rather lame job of dressing up for the hip club that Aren and Roger invite him to.
- Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: A variant in which Masterson, trying desperately to give Jason's presentation, just reads the script directly—including the "Hi, my name is Jason," part.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The plot point of Meetbox's vision software not working on black people is similar to Real Life facial recognition software which also can't tell black people apart.
- Scandalgate: Meetbox's software doesn't work in Ghana. The resultant scandal, called Ghanagate, threatens the company's reputation and induces Mick to call for a rebrand.
- Shout-Out: Several famous examples of the Magical Negro trope are referenced, including a death row inmate who is clearly based on John Coffey, another man who is based on Bagger Vance, and one of Roger's jobs being chauffeuring a white woman around as if he were Hoke Colburn.
- Take That!: Scenes from two other films featuring the magical negro trope are reenacted and parodied as running gags:
- The "your stroke is too hard" scene from The Legend of Bagger Vance.
- The healing crotch grope from The Green Mile.
- Tech Bro: Aren ends up working at a social media company in order to befriend his stressed-out ward.
- Wacky Startup Workplace: Meetbox is run like one of these. Amenities include fancy food, napping areas, and a bizarre VR video game that employees can play in the middle of the day. Job titles are also based on sailing and boating positions for some reason (and include titles like 'deckhand' and 'bosun'), and Masterson even mentions at one point that she could be promoted to 'Rear Admiral' if the presentation to Mick goes well.
- Wizarding School: Aren is recruited to a secret society to learn to use his magic powers.
- Wizards Live Longer: Spoofed; It's mentioned that members of the Society live five years longer than non-magical black people on average. This puts the average life expectancy of its members on par with white...non-smokers. And this has less to do with them having powers and more that their expertise putting white people at ease means there's less chance they'll be killed by them.
- Yes-Man: At its most cynical interpretation, being a member of the Society is essentially being this, as it enables white people to ignore being considerate of others and affirms their privileged perception that the world should work in their favor.
