2023 – American Fiction
I’ve never seen Jeffrey Wright in a bad movie. He is such a good actor, and I’m so glad to see him take the lead, at last. Maybe he’s had plenty of leading roles before, but not in anything I’ve seen, though I’ve seen him in plenty of supporting roles. There’s just something about him that screams intelligence and maturity, both qualities that the character of Dr. Thelonious “Monk” Ellison needed. Wright fit the bill perfectly, as if the script was written with him in mind.
This was a movie that had an incredibly smart script, a great cast of actors, and a message that really spoke to me. Monk Ellison is a black author. He comes from a family of college graduates and respectable affluence. It’s important to say it that way because the point of the movie had to do with race and the prevailing white perception of the black American experience. The irony around which the plot revolves is that Monk is a highly educated man whose books do not sell because they aren’t black enough for white readers.
But when, as a joke, an accusation, he uses an assumed name to write a “black” book about thugs, drugs, and criminals, it becomes his only best-seller. The publishing house, run by white people who love the story because they think it is raw and real, portraying what they think all black people are like, proving just how instinctively racist they actually are. The trouble is, that though he hates the book and all it stands for, Monk can’t turn down all the money the book sales generate.
And the B plot is nearly as interesting. It follows Monk as he navigates his complex relationships with his siblings, his aging mother, and a new love interest. Joining Wright in this great cast are Tracee Ellis Ross as his sister Lisa, Sterling K Brown as his gay brother Cliff, Leslie Uggams as his mom Agnes, Myra Lucretia Taylor as his mother’s housekeeper who is as close as family, and John Ortiz as his agent. Issa Rae was good as a contemporary author who unapologetically wrote her own “black” novel. And finally, Erika Alexander played his girlfriend Coraline, who I thought did a really good job, playing opposite Wright. She was beautiful and easy, and I enjoyed watching her on the screen.
In the modern age of woke political correctness, it seems to be almost trendy for rich white people to champion anything that’s black, the blacker the better. There is nothing worse for a wealthy white person than to be accused of being racist. And so they give profuse attention to black people and black issues, as if doing so makes them look more enlightened and Non-racist. The problem is that for years, the media, especially the white media, has told them that most black people are gang members, drug dealers, and criminals, and they believe it.
I don’t pretend to know the statistics, but I know that there are millions of black people that are just as ordinary and affluent as the Ellison family in American Fiction. And I also know that there are a lot of educated black people who are way smarter and more well-spoken than me. So why is it that so many movies, so much pop music, and so many news stories seem to focus on, or even glorify the negative stereotypes? It makes no sense. That is what this movie is trying to draw attention to, and it does so in a lightly comedic way. I mean, the relationship story-lines weren’t funny at all, but the creation of the pseudonym, and the educated man trying to “black it up” were pretty amusing.
I also have to mention the cool jazzy soundtrack that was used. It gave the whole movie an easy, lighthearted feel that I quite enjoyed. Composer Laura Karpman wrote twenty-one tracks for around forty-seven minutes of music, and it was buoyant and delightful. And it was nice to have a movie that specifically dealt with an aspect of racism, with decidedly black themes, that wasn’t hip-hop or rap.
And finally, I’d like to mention the interesting ending. The movie was about Monk’s story, writing an intentionally pandering novel, and becoming a secret success for it. But the end of the film began to blend his story with that of his novel, making the viewer question how much of the film was fiction, and how much of it was reality. It was a fictional story about an author writing fiction, and even the title American Fiction had a double meaning, referring to Monk’s book, and the lie surrounding its creation. It’s not the first time such a storytelling device was used, but it was done rather effectively here.
This movie just worked on so many levels, but mostly, I think it worked because of Jeffrey Wright. He is simply a great actor and he seems like such a nice and likeable guy. Even though his character had problems sharing his emotions with anyone, a welcome flaw in his character, he just seemed like a big friendly teddy bear, and a smart one, at that, which is always an attractive trait. I’m so happy that he was nominated for Best Actor. And he wasn’t the only one who was nominated for an acting award. Sterling K. Brown was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, as well, though neither of them took home an Oscar. In fact, they were both beat in their respective categories by someone from Oppenheimer, and it’s kind of hard to argue with that powerhouse.