SH Comments
Reged: Feb 16 2004
Posts: 1056
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This thread is for comments about Stephen King's Super Duper Magical Negroes, by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu.
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Anonymous
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I think the character, Chef, on South Park is kind a kind of satire of the Magical Negro. The creators in the South Park documentary described him as "a black man surrounded by a crazy town of white people." If you watch the show, he's always the one with some sense who sees something wrong is going on, and he's the one the children always go to for advice. And in the movie, there's a scene where they have to go to war with the Canadians, and all the white people decided to send all the black people ahead as human shields, only to have Chef and the other blacks trick them by moving out of the way on the last second, therefore killing all the white people.
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Anonymous
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That was me, btw.
--Simon Owens
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Anonymous
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Really wonderful article. A lot to think about, and you certainly raised some issues that had been hanging around in the back of my mind, but needed articulation.
I was also thinking that there were super duper magical negroes in
The Matrix - the Oracle
Bruce Almight - God
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the First Slayer (the primitive)
Very fascinating article, thanks
Frank Wu
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Anonymous
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There's also the magical wise Asian to think about. I think they are even older than the Magical Negro.
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Anonymous
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woops, that was me again.
--Simon Owens
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David Moles
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Reged: Jan 07 2004
Posts: 65
Loc: Basel, Switzerland
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Some imp makes me wonder whether the category might extend to cover Sidney Poitier's character in In the Heat of the Night. On the surface it looks like the same thing, but it isn't, really -- not only because it's mostly told from Virgil Tibbs' point of view, but because he's got too much individuality and vulnerability and depth. It's a nice counterexample.
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-- David
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Susan Marie Groppi
Editor-in-Chief, Fiction Editor
Reged: Jun 04 2003
Posts: 52
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Ooh! I forgot the Mr Miyagi archetype. This article mostly reminded me of what I consider the Movie Trinity of character types who serve the basic function of teaching important life lessons to uptight white men: earthy black folk, mentally retarded adults, and waifish women with wasting diseases. (Cuba Gooding Jr. is notable for having scored two out of three in that awful "Radio" movie.)
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David Moles
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Reged: Jan 07 2004
Posts: 65
Loc: Basel, Switzerland
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It's only a matter of time before someone wins the Triple Crown.
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-- David
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Anonymous
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And then there's the wise old Native American version of the Happy Negro. Perhaps it is this one which is exploited the most in film and fiction. Even in Ernest Goes to Camp :-P
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