American Fiction review - Jeffrey Wright delivers a career best performance

Jeffrey Wright comes through in this triumphant comedy, as American Fiction questions the social construct of being Black

By - Ubong Ekpo

(THERE WILL BE SLIGHT SPOILERS)

  I had the privilege this past week of attending an early screening of the upcoming film American Fiction, written and directed by Cord Jefferson, starring Jeffrey Wright, this film has immediately become one of my top favorites of the entire year.

  American Fiction touches on themes of racism, identity, family/caretaking duties, mental health, relationships, and navigating the challenges of being a Black artist in a system that doesn’t always value one’s authentic work.

  The film manages to tackle these conflicts in a lighthearted manner but also manages to stay grounded and still be taken seriously. The core butt of the joke throughout the film is the sometimes unintentionally comedic ignorance of so-called “progressive” White Liberal, who in their attempt to “reckon” the wrongs of their ancestor’s past, instead seem to perpetuate their own form of bigotry, still ultimately supporting the problematic systems in place, under the guise of being your friend, while still thinking lowly of those same people.

  Wright’s character, Monk is a novelist who happens to be Black(important distinction), but struggles for his work to be successful, as often Black voices are relegated and only celebrated when they embrace the most blatant and sometimes damaging aspects of our culture.  

  Monk showcases the attitude that many African Americans have started to grow towards representation in media, rather than truly seeing a variety of Black voices heard, often Black people are relegated to a subjugated role, where the White Liberals are seemingly “saving” or always in the right. While I do deem that aspects of Black History such as slavery, Jim Crow, and police brutality are important to highlight, they aren’t the only stories to be told. 

  Despite Monk writing novels that are not specifically about a Black experience, rather just pure works of fiction, one hilarious scene shows as he sees his book classified as African-American literature. 

  After experiencing several personal tragic life events and in some financial trouble, Monk decides to write the most stereotypical, in-your-face “ Black” book of all time, under the guise of a pen name. The film hilariously showcases how these blatantly black trauma fictions are digested by non-Black audiences. 

  White Liberals in particular still struggle to see African Americans entirely as people on a spectrum, rather they victimize us, which is what we get throughout the film, to the point where Monk has to take on a secret criminal persona, as the notion of a well educated Black man still being able to conjure the same experience or capable of writing a novel is not even of consideration to the majority of the audience whom loves his book.

 However, even if one is to agree with Monk’s assessment, there is also an internal conflict within Monk, as he is seemingly disconnected from his family, adopting a similar conservative tone to that of his late father. In his constant state of feeling superior, he does ignore that even the ones we look up to or hold in regard can be flawed, such as his ignorance of the fact that his father was having affairs with other women, something both his siblings and mother had known for years. 

  Even the core theme that the movie seems to drive the audience towards is challenged at points, such as one of my favorite scenes between Wright and Issa Rae’s characters when they finally have a somewhat confrontation, where Wright deemed Rae’s book, which partly inspired his tongue in cheek book, as pandering and perpetuating stereotypes. however, she challenges him, as although stereotypes aren’t the best, there are people who are actually like this and they deserve to be represented as well.

 Sterling K. Brown gave a strong performance as Cliff, the troubled, free-spirited brother, who is Homosexual (revealing his wife caught him with a man) and is shown to have been a Cocaine abuser. Even though Cliff would traditionally be the black sheep due to his new lifestyle and drug habits, he manages to be a constant humbling force to Monk’s uptight, conservative ways. Cliff consistently is out of the three siblings, the most grounded, he constantly brings his unique perspective and comedic timing to keep up with the many heavy tones. The Best Supporting Actor race is stacked during the awards season, but don’t be surprised if Brown garners some nominations.

 Jeffrey Wright captured the uppity attitude and still well-intentioned, relenting desire to be taken seriously as a Black author in a white-dominated world. he should be receiving his well-deserved first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. 

   I can truly say in a day and age where Comedic films are no longer the blockbuster tentpoles they used to be, American Fiction

is a classic laugh-at-loud comedy, that manages to turn tragic situations into incidents one can go back and look upon. American Fiction is a major contender for Best Picture, in a year stacked with Barbie, Oppenheimer, Poor Things & Killers of The Flower Moon, American Fiction stands out, maybe it’s time for comedy to make its triumphant cinematic return?