Magical Negro

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The Magical Negro (English; Magical Negro ) is a type in American books and films. This appears as a helper to the white protagonist. These characters often have special spiritual abilities that the protagonist lacks and with which the Magical Negro helps him. Members of the African-American community in the United States sometimes view this figure as critical.

use

In fiction

The Magical Negro is often portrayed as being physically disadvantaged or disadvantaged due to its situation, e.g. B. as a prisoner. He often has no past, but simply shows up to help the main character. Mostly he has magical powers; he is often patient and wise.

Most of the time, the Magical Negro helps the protagonist out of an emergency situation by getting them to self-criticize. Critics accuse this concept that the black man , even as a magical negro, is still subordinate to the white person and is usually only presented as an exceptional figure among blacks.

The black filmmaker Spike Lee was critical of the character of Bagger Vance in The Legend of Bagger Vance in 2001 , because it does not show a realistic image of black people.

Examples in movies

reality

In 2007 the American critic David Ehrenstein used the title Obama the "Magic Negro" for an article in the Los Angeles Times . Paul Shanklin then wrote the song Barack the Magic Negro , which Rush Limbaugh played on his radio show. In 2008 Chip Saltsman, Republican Party politician and board member of the Tennessee Republican Party, sent a CD of the song to the Republican National Committee. This sparked controversy that led to Saltsman's resignation.

In a 2012 essay by Time Magazine on President Obama's re-election, it was argued: "The use of the terms 'magical' in connection with first-class performance by blacks suggested that there could only be magic behind a great performance."

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article by Christopher John Farley in Time Magazine (English)
  2. ^ D. Marvin Jones: Race, Sex, and Suspicion: The Myth of the Black Male . Praeger Publishers, Westport, Conn. 2005, ISBN 0-275-97462-6 , p. 35, OCLC 56095393 .
  3. ↑ Heather J. Hicks: Hoodoo Economics: White Men's Work and Black Men's Magic in Contemporary American Film . In: Camera Obscura (Ed.): Camera Obscura . 18, No. 2, September 1, 2003, pp. 27-55. doi : 10.1215 / 02705346-18-2_53-27 . Retrieved February 3, 2007.
  4. ↑ a b Audrey Colombe: White Hollywood's new Black boogeyman . In: Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media . No. 45, October 2002. Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  5. ^ Georgia Anne Persons: Contemporary Patterns of Politics, Praxis, and Culture . Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ 2005, ISBN 1-4128-0468-X , p. 137, OCLC 56510401 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu : Stephen King's Super-Duper Magical Negroes . In: Strange Horizons , October 25, 2004. Retrieved December 3, 2006. 
  7. ^ Krin Gabbard: Black Magic: White Hollywood and African American Culture . Rutgers University Press , New Brunswick, NJ 2004, ISBN 0-8135-3383-X , p. 173, OCLC 53215708 .
  8. ^ Rita Kempley: Too Too Divine: Movies' 'Magic Negro' Saves the Day - but at the Cost of His Soul. June 7, 2003, accessed March 17, 2012 .
  9. ↑ Susan Gonzalez: Director Spike Lee slams 'same old' black stereotypes in today's films . In: Yale Bulletin & Calendar , Yale University, March 2, 2001. Archived from the original on January 21, 2009 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved December 29, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yale.edu 
  10. ^ Krin Gabbard: Black Magic: White Hollywood and African American Culture . Rutgers University Press , New Brunswick, NJ 2004, ISBN 0-8135-3383-X , p. 154, OCLC 53215708 .
  11. ↑ Larry Wilmore: The First 364 Days 23 Hours. January 19, 2010, accessed on February 24, 2011 : “Larry Wilmore also compares Obama's pre-election image to that of other notable magic negro archetypes in fiction, such as Bagger Vance and John Coffey. ... "
  12. ↑ David Ehrenstein: Obama the 'Magic Negro'. In: Los Angeles Times . March 19, 2007, accessed May 12, 2010 .
  13. ↑ Jason DeParle: GOP Receives Obama Parody to Mixed Reviews . In: New York Times , December 28, 2008. 
  14. ↑ Andy Barr: "'Magic Negro' flap might help Saltsman". www.politico.com, December 30, 2008, accessed February 1, 2009 .
  15. ↑ Sam Stein: Chip Saltsman Withdraws From RNC Race After 'Magic Negro'l Star Spanglish Banner' Stirs . In: Huffington Post , Jan 29, 2009. 
  16. ^ Adam Nagourney: Candidate Linked to Obama Parody Song Leaves Race for GOP Chairman . In: New York Times , January 29, 2009. 
  17. ↑ [Read more: http://ideas.time.com/2012/09/26/the-magical-negro-falls-to-earth/#ixzz2D93CK53p Time: The Magical Negro falls to Earth]

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