Subverting the "Magical Negro" Trope
August 31, 2013 1:15 PM Subscribe
Can you name some instances, in literature and film, in which the magical negro trope is turned on its head?
The most recent instance of this would probably be "Django Unchained." What are other instances, especially in literature, in which the "magical negro" concept is introduced and then completely subverted?
The most recent instance of this would probably be "Django Unchained." What are other instances, especially in literature, in which the "magical negro" concept is introduced and then completely subverted?
Are you looking for situations where it is specifically mentioned? If not necessarily, I think Community could work. Shirley's character is introduced in a way that makes you think she's going to be the group's spiritual advisor (she's a mother/maternal, a devout Christian), but as the show goes on, she turns out to be just as complicated and messed up as all the other characters. And according to the aforementioned TV Tropes, this trope is mentioned and mocked later in the show, but not in direct reference to Shirley.
posted by lunasol at 2:40 PM on August 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by lunasol at 2:40 PM on August 31, 2013 [4 favorites]
I wrote a freshman college english paper about "Finding Forrester" being an inversion of the normal trope.
posted by thylacine at 2:44 PM on August 31, 2013
posted by thylacine at 2:44 PM on August 31, 2013
Best answer: It's addressed very explicitly in the pilot episode of "Community":
Jeff: "It shouldn't be too hard to fake a study group, right?"posted by Jacqueline at 2:19 AM on September 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
Cafeteria employee: "Huh?"
Jeff: "Oh, jeez, I'm sorry, uh -- I was raised on TV and I was conditioned to believe that every black woman over 50 is a cosmic mentor."
Cafeteria employee: "Were you conditioned to pay for your damn tacos, Seinfeld?"
Does Ghost Dog work? I'm not sure I completely understand the trope.
posted by humboldt32 at 2:29 AM on September 1, 2013
posted by humboldt32 at 2:29 AM on September 1, 2013
I would have said in The Shining the trope is deployed completely straight, even though the guy dies. Same for Terminator 2. Django Unchained I haven't seen yet, so I can't say; but to subvert the trope is not at all the same thing as to have a black protagonist, or an ultimately triumphant underdog who also happens to be black.
Ha! Training Day. Maybe not so much subverted as inverted.
posted by glasseyes at 10:57 AM on September 1, 2013
Ha! Training Day. Maybe not so much subverted as inverted.
posted by glasseyes at 10:57 AM on September 1, 2013
[SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS]
Though I don't think it was the director's intention to subvert anything, The Matrix introduced an archetypal magical negro character, only to have it revealed later that "she" was a computer program.
posted by duffell at 7:57 AM on September 3, 2013
Though I don't think it was the director's intention to subvert anything, The Matrix introduced an archetypal magical negro character, only to have it revealed later that "she" was a computer program.
posted by duffell at 7:57 AM on September 3, 2013
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Or command-F if you're on a Mac.
posted by elsietheeel at 1:19 PM on August 31, 2013 [1 favorite]