YMMV / The American Society of Magical Negroes

• Bile Fascination: Because of its utterly ridiculous title, negative reception and the fact it was pulled from theaters after just three weeks due to bombing that badly, a good number of people watch this movie out of sheer curiosity to see how awful the film really is.
• Memetic Mutation: "One ticket to The American Society of Magical *mumble*."^ExplanationThe moment the movie was announced, people joked about how N-Word Privileges would make it impossible for some people to ask for a ticket. The meme gained further traction following the film's dismal opening at the box office, with jokes about moviegoers chickening out and asking for another movie's ticket once they had to ask for it out loud.
• Tainted by the Preview: When the first trailer was released, it was massively criticized and ridiculed on social media given how its entire premise ended up offending both white AND black audiences. ^ExplanationSome white critics were offended by the premise that "white tears" make white people dangerous. Some black critics weren't aware of the Magical Negro trope and were disappointed that the movie wasn't "HBCU Hogwarts." Other black critics were aware of the Magical Negro trope but felt the trailer didn't actually satirize it as Aren's arc just goes from centering a white man to centering a white woman.
• Uncertain Audience: In hindsight, putting a race trope so old-fashioned that its name is uncomfortable for many audiences to say out loud right there in the title was a sign the film was probably overestimating the average viewer. The fundamental premise, a secret society of black men with magical powers working to appease white people so they don't go on to take out their frustrations on vulnerable minorities, was presented in the marketing in a way that was simultaneously too satirical and not nearly satirical enough, and the film's desire to play with and deconstruct the titular trope didn't give audiences who weren't familiar with it and wanted a story about "black wizards" what they wanted either. And that's to say nothing of coming out in a politically polarized time in American history when even discussing tropes surrounding race frequently draws lots of backlash. It dramatically underperformed, and slunk out of theaters in less than a month.

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