Magical Negro

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The magical negro (sometimes called the mystical negro, magic negro, or our Magical African-American Friend) is the label given to a supporting, often mystical Negroid stock character in fiction who, by use of special insight or powers, helps the Caucasian protagonist get out of trouble. The word negro, now considered by many as archaic and offensive, is used intentionally to suggest that the archetype is a racist throwback, an update of the "Sambo" and "savage other" stereotypes.[1] The term "magical negro" was popularized by Spike Lee, who derided the archetype of the "super-duper magical negro"[2] in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University[3] and at Yale University.[4]

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[edit] The Magical Negro in Fiction

The magical negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.[5] He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist.[6] He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness."[7] To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters."[6] He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is "closer to the earth."[3]

The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them.[3] In this way, the magical negro is similar to the Deus ex machina; a simple way for the protagonist to overcome an obstacle almost entirely through outside help. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character."[5] It is this feature of the magical negro that some people find most troubling. Although the character seems to be showing African-Americans in a positive light, he is still ultimately subordinate to European-Americans. He is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to "like individual black people but not black culture."[8]

To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself, as Sidney Poitier portrays in The Defiant Ones, the prototypical magical Negro movie.[3] Note that Poitier's character is also saved by the white protagonist.

[edit] Examples

Examples of magical negroes as published by social commentators include:

Note, however, that black characters with apparent supernatural powers who are portrayed as independent, who have a level of power roughly equivalent to that of other characters, and who are not subservient to whites — such as Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) in Star Wars and Storm (Halle Berry) in the X-Men — are not usually considered weakened magical negroes; nor are helpful non-white characters without some magical or fantastical element.[2]

However, the common repetitive trend remains — that all these non-white characters are still not the main protagonists (heroes) in their storylines. Hence, the definition of the magical negro may also include non-white protagonists who continue to be teamed up with a white hero as well. The concern is that the magical negro may still be covertly used as a subordinate character to white protagonists. Even though they may play a central figure in a storyline, they are portrayed as being unable to solve challenges without the involvement of a white associate.[2]

Several commentators perceive Morgan Freeman's portrayal of God in Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty as an example of the magical negro archetype.[2][12][13] However, since God is not a character created by the author and has neither race nor gender, a person of any race or gender could also be selected to perform the role, like Alanis Morissette in Dogma (although one commentator asserts that "Chris Rock’s Thirteenth Apostle in Dogma is one example."[6])

[edit] Barack Obama

Writing about Barack Obama on March 19, 2007, Los Angeles Times columnist David Ehrenstein wrote:

"But it's clear that Obama also is running for an equally important unelected office, in the province of the popular imagination—the 'Magic Negro.' ... The senator's famously stem-winding stump speeches have been drawing huge crowds to hear him talk of uniting rather than dividing. A praiseworthy goal. Consequently, even the mild criticisms thrown his way have been waved away, "magically." He used to smoke, but now he doesn't; he racked up a bunch of delinquent parking tickets, but he paid them all back with an apology. And hey, is looking good in a bathing suit a bad thing? ... Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him."[14]

The column received world-wide attention and discussion, especially in the news media and in talk radio. Rush Limbaugh aired a song parody called "Barack, the Magic Negro", sung by Paul Shanklin impersonating Al Sharpton and based on the Peter, Paul, and Mary song "Puff, the Magic Dragon". Limbaugh also referred to the 2008 presidential candidate as the "magic negro" several times during his radio broadcast, each time prefacing the reference by explaining that the title came from Ehrenstein and/or the LA Times.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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[edit] External link


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