The concept of the "magical negro" has been a prevalent and controversial trope in literature, film, and other forms of media. The term refers to a recurring character archetype, typically an African-American, who possesses supernatural or magical abilities and uses them to assist white protagonists in their journeys or transformations. While initially praised as a symbol of empowerment and spiritual guidance, the trope has received criticism for perpetuating stereotypes and limiting the complexity and agency of black characters. The origins of the magical negro archetype can be traced back to African-American folklore and mythology, where figures such as the wise old man or woman with mystical powers were common. These characters served as sources of wisdom, providing guidance and spiritual insight to the protagonists. However, as these stories were adapted into mainstream media, the portrayal of magical negroes often became one-dimensional and reductive.

‘American Society of Magical Negroes’ Trailer Calls White People ‘Most Dangerous Animal on the Planet’

Universal’s Focus Features has released the first trailer for the upcoming comedy The American Society of Magical Negroes, which imagines a world where black people are recruited to serve as self-sacrificing guardian angels for whites.

“What’s the most dangerous animal on the planet?” one character asks. “White people when they’re feeling uncomfortable.” He later adds: “The happier they are, the safer we are.”

Watch below:

The movie, which opens in cinemas March 22, stars Justice Smith as young Los Angeles hipster who gets recruited into a secret society of “magical black people” whose jobs are to make life easier for white people. He gets assigned to a young white man, but trouble arises when they fall for the same hipster chick.

David Alan Grier co-stars as a leading member of said society.

The “magical negro” is a pejorative literary and cinematic term referring to a black character whose primary function is to help and sometimes transform the white protagonist into a better person. Prominent cinematic examples include The Green Mile, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and Driving Miss Daisy.

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been accused of using “magical negro” stereotypes for the character Jim.

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However, as these stories were adapted into mainstream media, the portrayal of magical negroes often became one-dimensional and reductive. In many instances, magical negro characters are portrayed as selfless and sacrificial beings, existing solely to aid white characters in their personal growth or redemption. They possess an extraordinary understanding of the world and offer advice or assistance without any personal motivations or desires.

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Lovable Racists, Magical Negroes, and White Messiahs

Why do race relations appear to be getting worse instead of better since the election and reelection of the country's first black president? David Ikard speaks directly to us, in the first person, as a professor and father and also as self-described working-class country boy from a small town in North Carolina, His lively account teems with anecdotes--from gritty to elegant, sometimes scary, sometimes funny, sometimes endearing--that show how parasitically white identity is bound up with black identity in America. Ikard thinks critically about the emotional tenacity, political utility, and bankability of willful white blindness in the 21st century. A key to his analytic reflections on race highlights the three tropes of white supremacy which help to perpetuate willful white blindness, tropes that remain alive and well today as cultural buffers which afford whites the luxury of ignoring their racial privilege and the cost that blacks incur as a result of them. The tropes are: lovable racists, magical negroes, and white messiahs. Ikard is definitely reformist: teachers, parents, students, professors can use such tropes to resist the social and psychological dangers presented by seemingly neutral terms and values which in fact wield white normative power. The lovable racist trope encourages whites to see racism as a minor character flaw (Ikard includes commentary on the "good" slaveowner, William Ford, in Twelve Years a Slave, and offers up examples of the veneer of lovability that attaches to xenophobic, racist presidential candidate Donald Trump). The white messiah trope serves to conflate whiteness with goodness, godliness, and other virtues (extended discussion of Santa Claus or Bill Clinton makes for fun reading, as does Ikard's teasing out of messiah patterns in movie scripts like The Green Mile and Avatar). The magical negro trope situates blacks as mascots or surrogates for affirmations of white humanity (Uncle Tom and Nigger Jim are just two examples, and President Obama employed the trope with subtlety in both of his campaigns). In general, this book investigates the tenacity and cultural capital of white redemption narratives in literature and popular media from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin to Kathryn Stockett's best-selling book (and movie blockbuster), The Help.

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Introduction

Lovable Racists and the Crisis of Authorship in Twelve Years a Slave

White Innocence as an Apparatus of Oppression

Distraction as a Strategy to Oppress

Rosa Parks Magical Negroes and the Whitewashing of Black Struggle

Eracing White Myths for the Health and WellBeing of Our Children

Coda

Notes

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Lovable Racists, Magical Negroes, and White Messiahs
David Ikard
Ограниченный просмотр - 2017

Lovable Racists, Magical Negroes, and White Messiahs
David Ikard
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David Ikard is professor and director of African American and diaspora studies at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Breaking the Silence: Toward a Black Male Feminist Criticism and Blinded by the Whites: Why Race Still Matters in the 21st Century, as well as coauthor of Nation of Cowards: Black Activism in Barack Obama’s Post-Racial America.

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The Black Guy Dies First : Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar

A definitive and surprising exploration of the history of Black horror films, after the rising success of Get Out, Candyman, and Lovecraft Country from creators behind the acclaimed documentary, Horror Noire.

The Black Guy Dies First explores the Black journey in modern horror cinema, from the fodder epitomized by Spider Baby to the Oscar-​winning cinematic heights of Get Out and beyond. This eye-opening book delves into the themes, tropes, and traits that have come to characterize Black roles in horror since 1968, a year in which race made national headlines in iconic moments from the enactment of the 1968 Civil Rights Act and Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in April. This timely book is a must-read for cinema and horror fans alike.

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Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman is Northwestern’s vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion. An internationally prominent and award-winning scholar, Dr. Coleman’s work focuses on media studies and the cultural politics of Blackness. Dr. Coleman is the author of Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present and African American Viewers and the Black Situation Comedy: Situating Racial Humor. She is coauthor of Intercultural Communication for Everyday Life. She is the editor of Say It Loud: African American Audiences, Media, and Identity and coeditor of Fight the Power: The Spike Lee Reader. She is also the author of a number of other academic and popular publications. Dr. Coleman is featured in, and executive produced, the critically acclaimed documentary film Horror Noire which is based on her book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present.

Mark H. Harris is an entertainment journalist who has written about cinema and pop culture for over twenty years for New York magazine, Vulture, Rotten Tomatoes, About.com, PopMatters, Salem Horror Fest, Napster, MadAtoms, Pretty Scary, Ugly Planet, and THEiNDI. A lifelong horror fan, he created the website BlackHorrorMovies.com in 2005 as the premier online source chronicling the history of Black representation and achievement in horror cinema. He was a featured commentator in the acclaimed documentary Horror Noire and the Shudder series Behind the Monsters.

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All Around Monstrous: Monster Media in Their Historical Contexts

We know all kinds of monsters. Vampires who suck human blood, werewolves who harass tourists in London or Paris, zombies who long to feast on our brains, or Godzilla, who is famous in and outside of Japan for destroying whole cities at once. Regardless of their monstrosity, all of these creatures are figments of the human mind and as real as they may seem, monsters are and always have been constructed by human beings. In other words, they are imagined. How they are imagined, however, depends on many different aspects and changes throughout history. The present volume provides an insight into the construction of monstrosity in different kinds of media, including literature, film, and TV series. It will show how and by whom monsters are really created, how time changes the perception of monsters and what characterizes specific monstrosities in their specific historical contexts. The book will provide valuable insights for scholars in different fields, whose interest focuses on either media studies or history.

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Verena Bernardi is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of English and American Studies at Saarland University, Germany. She holds a PhD in North American Cultural Studies and is the author of Us versus Them, or We? Post-2000 Vampiric Reflections of Family, Home and Hospitality in True Blood and The Originals. She has published in The Journal of Media and Movie Studies and LETTING THE WRONG ONE IN: Hospitality, Rape and Consent in Vampire Popular Culture. Her research interests lie in Vampire Studies, Television Studies, Cultural Studies (North America), and US Southern / Louisiana Regionalism.

Frank Jacob is Professor of Global History at Nord University, Norway. Jacob holds a doctorate in Japanese Studies from Erlangen University, Germany. His research focuses on Japanese media history as well as Global and Military History. His published works include Tsushima 1905 (Schöningh 2017), Gallipoli 1915/16 (Schöningh 2019), The Russo-Japanese War and Its Shaping of the 20th Century (Routledge 2018) and Japanese War Crimes during WWII (Praeger 2018).

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This portrayal not only diminishes the agency of black characters but also reinforces the idea that their worth lies in their service to white individuals. Moreover, the magical negro trope can also be seen as a way of assuaging white guilt or fulfilling their desires for racial reconciliation. By presenting black characters with supernatural powers, these narratives suggest that racism can be overcome merely by the intervention of a mystical figure, rather than addressing systemic issues or promoting genuine equality. Critics argue that the magical negro stereotype perpetuates harmful stereotypes, such as the notion that black individuals exist solely to fulfill the needs and desires of white people. It limits the representation and diversity of black characters, reducing them to archetypes rather than fully developed individuals with their own stories, backgrounds, and aspirations. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness and pushback against the magical negro trope. Many storytellers and creators are striving to portray black characters in more authentic and multi-dimensional ways, challenging stereotypes and offering narratives that reflect the diverse experiences and identities within the black community. While the concept of magical negroes continues to evoke discussion and debate, it serves as a reminder of the importance of accurate and nuanced representation in media. By embracing diverse perspectives and avoiding reductive stereotypes, storytellers have the power to elevate narratives and promote genuine inclusivity..

Reviews for "The Impact of Magical Negroes on Racial Representation in Media"

1. Amanda - 2 stars

I was really disappointed with "World of Magical Negroes." While I appreciate diverse representation in literature, I felt that this book relied too heavily on racial stereotypes and tropes. The characters lacked depth and were reduced to one-dimensional, magical beings whose sole purpose seemed to be helping the white protagonist. It's disheartening to see such potential for a unique and compelling story wasted on tired clichés.

2. John - 1 star

I couldn't finish reading "World of Magical Negroes" because I found it to be incredibly offensive. The portrayal of black characters as mere magical beings, existing solely to aid the white protagonist's journey, was deeply problematic. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes and fails to address the complex realities of black individuals. It's truly disappointing to see such a missed opportunity for a meaningful and inclusive narrative.

3. Sarah - 2 stars

"World of Magical Negroes" failed to live up to its premise for me. While I appreciate the attempt to highlight the experiences of marginalized communities, the execution fell short. The storytelling lacked nuance and relied too heavily on simplistic ideas of heroism and stereotypical representations of black characters. The potential to explore the intersection of magic and race was squandered, leaving me frustrated and unsatisfied with the overall reading experience.

Reevaluating the Role of Magical Negroes: Empowerment or Subjugation?