One-Joke Satire The American Society of Magical Negroes Is a Middling Stand-Up Bit

Like any other form, satire is truly spectacular when it is solidly grounded in the world it is trying to critique. The challenge of a film like The American Society of Magical Negroes is that the joke rarely goes beyond the single line premise for the movie, missing the opportunity to offer a biting analysis. Then again, that could also be a sign of the current times we live in, where a level of exhaustion has crept into debates that truly engage in political discourse. It can’t be denied, however, that a level of ennui starts to creep in while watching writer/director Kobi Libii’s debut.

The American Society of Magical Negroes opens at a gallery, where Aren’s (Justice Smith) yarn sculpture is part of an artist showcase. However, Aren is also a diffident artist, unable to muster the wherewithal to actually sell his artwork, even when specifically instructed to do so. Aren leaves the show dejected, and soon after is mistaken for being a mugger because he just cannot take up space.

Fortunately, Roger (David Alan Grier), whom we’d earlier seen bartending at the art gallery event, has followed Aren and saves him. Roger also thinks Aren is the perfect candidate to become a member of a secretive group. The goal of the group? To make white people feel more comfortable, and avoid the potential for disastrous outcomes.

A little reluctant at first, Aren does need a job. He’s paired off with Jason (Drew Tarver), a designer at a tech company called Meetbox. Meanwhile, after a meet-cute at a cafe, Aren is drawn to coworker Lizzy (An-Li Bogan). But so is Jason. To make matters worse—after facing backlash over Meetbox’s facial recognition software failing to recognize Black people—Aren, Jason and Lizzy need to work together on a project to address the controversy.

People familiar with film history will immediately clue into the fact that the movie is directly referencing a term attributed to Spike Lee—the “magical negro,” a racist trope used by many Hollywood movies where a Black character simply acts as a guide for the white lead’s narrative arc. Think of movies like The Legend of Bagger Vance or The Green Mile, both of which are caricatured in Libii’s film. Of course, the list of movies in which Black characters serve as props for white character development and/or redemption is much longer. 

In some instances, The American Society of Magical Negroes shows glimmers of possibility—especially when it comes to the tete-a-tetes between Aren and Roger. The movie doesn’t directly call out white fragility, but there are more than a few moments when an audience can laugh and collectively roll their eyes. In other moments, it offers some heartfelt confessions of vulnerability and insight dealing with race, gender and even workplace politics. 

Unfortunately, the film gets stuck in the very issue it’s trying to critique. There are limits to what Aren can do; his job mandates that his personal ambitions cannot come at the cost of Jason’s desires. When Aren does act in his self-interest, he has to deal with personal and social consequences. So what do we do with a character who ultimately needs to be self-sacrificing? And even though Aren’s declaration sets off a chain of events suggesting change is afoot, we’re not sure what the outcome of that may be.

Frustratingly, Aren and Lizzy don’t have a backstory beyond whatever’s immediately relevant to the plot. We understand that Aren attended a decent art school and works with yarn for…a reason. We get that Lizzy is frustrated by the glass ceiling and sometimes feels complicit in not speaking her mind more often. But we don’t know how their characters evolved into what they are now, and we only watch them flounder around instead of approaching self-actualization.

So what role does The American Society of Magical Negroes play then, in representing Black characters on screen? Rather than a true satire with bite, it’s more of a middling stand-up bit. There are a couple of jokes that land. More than a few that ring hollow. And some that just leave you shaking your head.

Director: Kobi Libii
Writer: Kobi Libii
Starring: Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, Drew Tarver, Michaela Watkins, Aisha Hinds, Tim Baltz, Rupert Friend, Nicole Byer
Release Date: March 15, 2024

Aparita Bhandari is an arts and life reporter in Toronto. Her areas of interest and expertise lie in the intersections of gender, culture and ethnicity. She is the producer and co-host of the Hindi language podcast, KhabardaarPodcast.com. You can find her on Twitter. Along with Bollywood, Toblerone bars are one of her guilty pleasures.