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In Reply to: Re: so now a post asking what happened to another post is fair game for being removed? posted by J-PMatt@Comcast.Net on March 19, 2007 at 15:25:10:
Now you've got me curious. I wonder if I know it already.This deletion crap is getting old. I didn't understand the deletion of the thread of political jokes a couple weeks ago either. Unfortunately, I missed this thread the first time entirely.
dh
The term is "Magical Negro". It is a term coined by, I think Spike Lee, who came up with it to describe characters who are black and possess magical powers, but apparently still need a white protagonist to see a goal or endeavour to its end or success. This type of character has become prevalent in many films and stories, Steven King being one example in such stories as "The Shining" and the "Green Mile".
And no, I didn't know it. Lee is a very perceptive and fair man. If you haven't seen films School Daze or Do The Right Thing, you really should.
dh
Not a huge fan of either one of those, but I have Malcom X on DVD and enjoyed it a great deal.
Malcolm is actually a real hero of mine. He also happens to be the most misunderstood and misrepresented civil rights leader in American history.
dh
When I saw "Malcum X" I realised that he could of 10X's the leader
of a Jessie, or an Al, or Louis.
I think he could of done a lot of good for us all.GTF
BTW Denzel was supurb.
Malcolm was transcendent, especially at the end of his life. There is plenty of footage of the man himself. Check it out.BTW, had they lived, I believe MLK and Malcolm would have been working together by the end of the 60s.
And please, do learn how to spell "Malcolm" please, or were you just being sarcastic?
dh
Some wine. a 10 year headache. I don't always spell correctly.I will pickup the dvd of that movie.
I want my youngest son to see it.GTF
Should be mandatory reading for every American. Thanks for the clarification.
dh
But with my head reading past a few paragraph's becomes questionable.
I'll settle for watching the movie for the 3 or 4 th time.GTF
In what way?
... to a large number of successful black people.
Would it be used about sports stars whose teams are owned by white controlled boards/corporations/people
At least in the music business more and more black acts are working with black run labels, even if distribution tends to still be with white controlled companies. I am aware of the large amount of generalisations in my previous sentence.
WOuld Spike Lee himself be a "magical negro" for having to have worked his way through the major studios?
I have never heard the term either and I am not sure if the word "negro" is widely used in the Afro-American community.
This is not a real life character or person, but a TYPE of "stock" character if you will, that pops up in literature and movies from time to time. The two named as examples are appropriate. I haven't heard Lee talk about it, but I assume he sees this as another in a long line of caricatures that subtly (or in many cases, not-so-subtly) denigrate blacks by suggesting that those which are exceptional are merely savants who need a white sponsor to realize their potential. It's an extension of the concept of blacks as the "white man's burden". He has a point, IMO. At the same time, the characters named are a far cry from the emotionless rag-dolls that comprise so many depictions of blacks in older films, especially in the US. We have made considerable progress, but that's not to say we're done.
dh
I will have to look into it.
If they need a white guy... gonna be a guy isn't it?... to realise their potential then that would make them the equivalent of an undeveloped, or unutilised resource. More like mineral or oil resources. Again the subjugation.
I am fumbling for an all encompassing theory of the black person as an unused... and therefore available to be used "natural" resource thus multiplying the stereotype of black culture being less advanced than white culture... it may be a step too far... especially without more thinking...
Just Google the phrase. I think you'll come away agreeing that some of the characters portrayed in movies fit this archetype. Some of the ones you'll read about you may not agree with. One I didn't agree with is Sidney Poitier's character in "The Defiant Ones". I saw Poitier's character as easily the equal of Tony Curtis' character in that film, and in no way subordinate.
... I would guess that the power balance was automatically portrayed that way.
Do you remember the TV series of I Spy?
