“The American Society of Magical Negroes” Cast On Use of Satire

The American Society of Magical Negroes cast is addressing all the criticism and mixed reactions surrounding the witty film.

Hitting theaters on Friday, March 15, The American Society of Magical Negroes serves as a fresh, satirical comedy inspired by the “magical negro” trope popularized in American cinema and television throughout the 20th century. With the movie covering a sensitive topic controversial in nature, the comedy has garnered strong responses from white and Black audiences who have taken issue with its play on assimilation and white guilt.

The film follows Aren, a young man enlisted into a top-secret group of magical individuals committed to ensuring the comfort of white people. Despite his initial fascination with his newfound abilities, Aren starts to ponder the worthiness of employing supernatural methods to fulfill a duty he has felt compelled to uphold throughout his entire existence. After finding love with a white woman, Aren finds his voice in a way that could be a detriment to the Society.

Director Kobi Libii, lead actor Justice Smith, and supporting actress Nicole Byer appeared on BLACK ENTERPRISE’s The Culture Shift, where they explained the film’s plot and how they hope it will inspire Black viewers to see the value in themselves.

For Libii, he’s aware of the strong responses his film will garner but believes it’s his job as an artist to tackle the conversation.

“My job as an artist, first and foremost, isn’t to calibrate what any given audience member is going to feel in response to what I make. My job is two-fold: to be incredibly honest. Painfully honest, shamefully honest in certain cases, and to be captivating,” he tells BE.

“Those are my jobs. And I put that work out into the world, and people respond to it how they’re going to respond to it. And I know for some Black audiences, they feel really empowered and really freed and really moved by that.”

Growing up as a biracial man in America, Libii admits to learning early on how to assimilate or “code switch” to appeal to the white majority. He explains how he made the film to address the topic and process his lived experience with assimilation.

“I’m writing about a defense mechanism. I’m writing about a defense mechanism where I, as a Black man, am saying, raising my hand and saying, look, once in a while, because I was taught this to survive, I have over-accommodated white people and I’ve been too friendly to white people,” he explains.

While it’s a “deeply shameful thing to admit,” Libii says, it was a character flaw he was willing to explore through cinema.

“My job isn’t to present myself in the best light. My job is to be really honest and hopefully really captivating. So I know there’s going to be a range of reactions to this film,” he says.

Press play below for the full interview, and check out The American Society of Magical Negroes when it hits theaters on Friday, March 15.