A Fiction Close to Reality

American Fiction by Dorothea Taylor

American Fiction, a film adapted from the book Erasure, starring Jeffrey Wright along with a star-studded cast featuring Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, and many other great actors, was released in early September of 2023. Sadly and thankfully, I saw the movie in 2024, and it is the best movie I saw that came out in 2023, followed by Holdovers and The Boy and Heron, and may be the best movie of 2024 for me personally. The essential premise of the movie is that a black writer is struggling to have his books that serve as esoteric renditions of mythology produced.Through frustration and anger, he ends up making a more "black book” in general terms. A “black book”, as he says, has deadbeat dads, crack, rappers, and well, black stuff. It is truly a movie that can't be done justice in such a short article. From its commentary on the commodification of the black experience to lives and struggles that black people deal with daily or the surrender of black thought, creativity, and business to that of white capitalism and consumers in order to reach higher levels of success. It is a thought-provoking movie in every turn and deserves all the awards that it can win.

The film also houses many great lines and instances of dialogue. As I believe this film will show up again on this website in some form, I won't mention every favorite scene, but one, in particular, that stood out is between the characters Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) and Arthur (John Ortiz). They have a discussion about accepting the deal they received for the book titled Pafology. Monk is a great writer and an intelligent one; this is clear to both the audience and Arthur. But as Arthur says, those books don't always sell. They are complicated and filled with depth, subtext, theme, and meaning, which takes effort and thought to read. While "Pafology" is a book that requires less thought and minimal effort, it also gives the added benefit of making white people feel as though they have learned something about the struggle of those poor black people. Arthur portrays this using the alcohol of Johnny Walker as an example. From cheapest to most expensive, there are the Johnny Walker bottles of red, black, and blue. Monk has been writing Johnny Walker Blue, high-end expensive novels that require a lot from its audience and are expected to be purchased with the higher quality of taste from Johnny Walker Blue. While "Pafology" is Johnny Walker Red, it is low-end, cheap, and gets the job done because, at the end of the day, some people just want to get drunk. Though I think what is important in this discussion is that he is capable of both easily, it seems, but publishers only accept him for red. This is not a story only true of Monk Ellison but of many real-world Black creatives.

In the world of entertainment, and honestly, in the worlds black people try to inhabit, there is a constant push and pull. As a Black man or woman in America, you must accept the wealth of white people to achieve high levels of success and wealth. This is not true in all cases, and maybe this is where the longer "Throwing Rocks at Tanks" post is born from. But to achieve that high level of status and success, white consumers and capitalists must help you reach the top. This is not dogma to say, but it is the truth, and the grander details should be left to a greater discussion.

Just to present a short example, I would like to mention Tulsa, better known as “Black Wall Street.” In this current day and age, we know about the Tulsa massacre that destroyed the town and eradicated a great exemplary of black wealth during its time, which some may see as a time to go back to. However, a significant number of the black people in Tulsa were poor laborers selling their labor to whoever would pay for it. The reason for its prominence of black wealth in the community is because it served as a subsidiary for the white oil community. Riots would eventually break out in Greenwood and lead to the infamous Tulsa Massacre. In most places, this is where things would stop, where we would be saddened by the massacre and hope to one day reach those peaks of black capitalism, but the story does not stop there. After the riots, Tulsa and Greenwood inside of it were rebuilt and reclaimed its all-black wealth, and even more so for the black elite. Though in the mid-forties, the federal government through public policy erased Tulsa, not the massacre. It is not to say that Tulsa is a lie or that the town was not something of an achievement. It does say that what we believe of black capital and wealth oftentimes is not the reality, and in order to reach that level of wealth, it cannot always be done through alternative means than white capital.

Back on topic, this is how Monk is able to support his family, and especially his mother through her early onset of Alzheimer's. Not something he wants to do but has to do. The act of sacrifice in order to provide for your family is something that has been and continues to be experienced by many black people. Though when you reach that point of wealth, the greater question is how does one feel? We see it throughout the movie as Monk struggles with this as he acquires more and more success and even receives an award nomination for a piece of work he put no care, love, or effort into. He hates it, but Issa Rae's character sees it as giving the masses what they want and exploiting them as they are able to feel better about themselves.

This movie reminds me of another film made by Spike Lee titled Bamboozled, which takes the same central theme and attacks it from different angles, having different elements that complement that story. Bamboozled is much, if words can describe, a frontal exploration of the topic but nonetheless important and monumental in understanding media, business, and feeding the gluttony of the masses with its so-desired black trauma given by black people themselves. Spike Lee himself experienced this problem in a similar way, which led to the creation of Bamboozled. Through fighting for stories he believes in and discarding the rest, only to have his work, such as Do the Right Thing, belittled and seen as problematic by white critics. It is sadly a tale as old as time, and it seems to enjoy repeating itself both in fiction and reality. Though a story told is better than one lost, as this gives us the chance to learn from it, grow, and maybe even change in time. That's the hope at least; through those grander books and stories, we are able to change and uplift from the stump we are presently in. However, this may in itself be a discredit to us as people. Issa Rae said it best, "Potential is what people see when they think what's in front of them isn't good enough." Like most things, two things can be true at once; it's shades of gray rather than black and white.

This leads me to look at Green Book that actually won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor . The plot synopsis is that Don Shirley, an African American pianist, is about to embark on a concert tour in the South in 1962. He hires Tony Lip, an Italian American from the Bronx, as protection and a driver. On paper and through the eyes of some, it seems like an amazing movie about understanding the differences between white and black people, moving past racist beliefs and thoughts, and helping to heal race relations during these difficult times. In actuality, it fails at many more things than it succeeds to do and adds nothing relevant to the topic of race within the country.

First, although the movie is called Green Book, the story gives focus to Don Shirley but not nearly the attention that someone of his nature deserves. This is seen from the forefront through the introduction, as Tony Lip has the majority of the screen time. In said introduction, Tony is sleeping, and black plumbers come to his house. His family comes over to watch because they cannot trust black men in their house. The extent of racism reaches even farther when he throws two cups away after the black men drink from them. This goes to show the level of racist that Tony is and how he will somewhat be born anew through his time with Don Shirley.

A side tangent and to go off-topic for a bit: even though Tony’s family is abhorrently racist and assuming the community is also somehow magically, his wife is not. It makes no sense whatsoever. Though back on topic, there need not be a summary of the movie, but the movie, like a lot of other depictions of race in media, just singles out the abrupt and obvious racism as bad racism and everything else hunky-dory. Tony’s racism and growth through the movie is seen as an example of growing as a person and accepting black people and curing himself of his racism.

Although Tony does not beat up black people and burn down black establishments, his form of racism is the problem. No matter what you believe, this racist Italian man from the Bronx is not cured of his racism just from his experience with Don Shirley. If anything, the logical conclusion is that Don Shirley just represents “one of the good ones,” which is not even close to enough, and Tony will continue practicing his form of nonviolent and concealed racism. But this is the racism that does the most damage, that is the most significant. The southern nasty racism is the racism that, if anything, is better than the alternative. That obvious racism is not what hurts the socioeconomic structure in the country concerning black people. That racism is not what hurts, hinders, and diminishes the healthcare treatment of black people. That racism is not what stops black people from having any real fighting chance within this country. That racism is not the problem.

The racism that is the problem is the form that it takes in Tony and even forms taken greater care to conceal itself and dawn the mask of subterfuge. It looks like those empty hellos and goodbyes, those hollow thank yous and conversations. It looks like those people that contribute to systems that oppress black people. It looks like movies such as Green Book. It's one of those movies that helps white people feel good about themselves. It makes them feel as though they have learned something and that they do not practice the disgusting form of racism but rather the alternative that is a good form. It is a continued practice of basic conversations about race that never really move us anywhere rather than round and round in a circle. If I were a conspiracy theorist, maybe I would think that is the point.

It is similar to Pafology in the sense of serving the needs and tastes of white audiences, although in a different manner. In the case of Pafology, it presents a life that black people live and allows you to enter their world and understand their trauma and pain. Green Book presents a story of how to overcome struggles with racism and appreciate people for who they are, not judging them by their appearance. Although one is played for a joke and the other is a real movie, do not let this take away from the fact that Pafology still served its purpose in American Fiction, and other real-world products hold the same value for white people. All of these stories, whether presenting black trauma or discussing race relations, play the role of mending white guilt. They may honestly come from good intentions, but regardless of the extent to which people think they are helping someone understand or pushing a topic forward, if not done correctly, if not taken with proper care, you leave it to languish and fester, replacing guilt with false understanding and empty solutions. As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions – perhaps an extreme use of the phrase, but still, I find it holds its weight concerning the topic.

A scene from The Wire has always stuck with me when I first saw it. In the scene, Bunny Colvin tells Carcetti about an old building called the Stryker building that was a funeral parlor. Colvin begins, “That’s the old Stryker building, it was a funeral parlor. The last stop before the cemetery for westside white folk back when there was still some of those around. That’s about the time that Jim Crow was breaking up back in the early sixties.” He continues, “Somebody asks old man Stryker, “you gone change your policy and start burying black folk?” And Stryker says, “yeah one condition I can do them all at once.” Colvin laughs and then Carcetti replies, “that’s sick.” Then Colvin says, “But you know something I had a lot of respect for that man cause unlike most folks I always knew where he stood.”

American Fiction is truly a film that is worth watching and even more so studying. This is only a small part of the greater whole of a magnificent film. From the struggles of black women and their role as caretakers, seen through Tracee Ellis Ross, to family dynamics and problems that come not as a drizzle but a downpour. This film carries it all. It hit close to home for me in many aspects, and it may do that for others too, both black and white. But I think, in the end, it is a film that both needs to be made for its nuances and themes to shed greater light on the black struggle in all aspects.

As I watched it in a theater of white people, given the small population of black folk in Boulder, it was interesting to hear what they laughed at and were silent for during the film. I couldn't help but think that the film was making fun of them in those instances and those topics, but at the same time, they may have felt good about themselves for seeing a film critiquing white consumerism and capitalism. Though as this thought came to mind, how different is this from Pafology? Truly, is this not the same food being fed to the glutton? Maybe that's the paradox.