The controversial title of the Society of Magical Negroes worked as intended

Take a look around social media and you will find a lot of reactions to the title of Kobi Libii’s debut film that will make you laugh. The American Society of Magical NegroesThis ranges from people who are offended that it exists to people who express creepy joy at having an excuse to use the word “Negro” in public. Libii’s film is a dark comedic satire based on a general trope First The term was popularized by director Spike Lee in 2001 – the black movie characters, especially in 90s films, who only exist to support white characters and further their character arcs. In Libii’s story, this black support network is a codified secret society of black men and women with actual magical powers that they use to comfort and help white people so that they are less fragile, tense, and inherently dangerous to people of color.

The concept is confrontational, especially since society firmly believes that black people should (in keeping with the theme) bury their own needs and desires in order to respond more effectively to white people. And the title is just as confrontational – by nature. Critics and scholars who write about this term often confuse it with “magical black character” or other watered down versions of the term – even in the trailer, protagonist Aren (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves“Judge Smith) clumsily suggests that the society should find a more appropriate, modern name.

Libii told Polygon ahead of the film’s release that he thought it was important to name the most recognizable and direct version of the image – and that the discomfort he saw with it, particularly among white people, might actually be revealing for them.

“For me, part of it is about making the film recognizable as a reaction to the subject, as opposed to a society of magical black people doing something crazy,” he said. “It explores this theme of racism, not just that I want to see black people in this situation.”

Libii says that since the film’s world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, he has observed a “very common white reaction to the title” that intrigues him.

“White viewers say, ‘Well, can I say that?’ How shall I put it?’ and express their discomfort with navigating the title,” he says. “As a satirist, I’m very interested in this because it’s a film that, among other things, deals with the discrepancy between white and black comfort. […] That real discomfort with her own discomfort – her immediate focus on her own white discomfort in this personal film about a black experience – I find that knee-jerk reaction really interesting.”

Libii has seen people pondering online about how to ask for a ticket to the film at the box office, and he finds it particularly amusing: “I promise you, if you don’t want to say the word, you can find a way .” to get a ticket to the movie without saying it. Frankly, I find this kind of hand-wringing a little disingenuous. When was the last time you actually said the name of a movie to get a ticket? You’ll be fine. You’ll sort it out. You are smart.”

He also thinks that people who are squeamish about the title might get a little taste of the feelings of the black characters in the film, as they worry about what white people might think of them and the danger they put them in It’s like this sentence: “If all you’ve known was privilege, then inconvenience feels like oppression,” he says. “It’s just double consciousness, right? As I constantly move through the world, I have to think about two audiences. I have to think about how my actions in a vacuum would impact the black community and my colleagues, friends and family. And then, Oh wait, how are they perceived by this white person who has the power in this situation?? I do this double work all the time.

“And I think that for some white audiences, this is seriously the first time they’ve had to think about two audiences at once when navigating a title like this: Well, I could say it, but what will the black person here think? And this double consciousness, this work of thinking for two audiences, is work that we are constantly working on. This is all to say again that, as a satirist, I believe that the white unease surrounding the title is part of the film’s work. I’m endlessly interested in that reaction.”

The American Society of Magical Negroes hits theaters March 22nd.