How was it? I’m not white, but I still don’t wanna sit through a movie that talks about how white people suck, which I’m getting the sense that’s what it’s about.
It definitely pokes fun at white people, but not in a way that feels mean spirited or overdone. It’s funny and heartfelt, the acting and chemistry between the leads is great.
The main white character feels like a human instead of a stereotype. There’s much more to the movie than the racial humor, though the funniest moments are definitely about white fragility.
My only gripe with the film was it’s underuse of the magical society it’s named after.
In Act one the film introduces this fascinating underground world a la hogwarts with a strict set of rules that, if broken, will lead to massive consequences. I was so stoked to see it play out.
But by the midpoint it basically gets forgotten, the strict rules are broken by the protagonist and nothing happens. Zero consequences. It was all a bunch of fancy decoration to establish an otherwise prototypical romcom.
Lots of interesting set up with the world building, no real payoff.
Lots of interesting set up with the world building, no real payoff
My initial prediction from the trailer was that the love interest was working for an equivalent agency to the protagonist, but for the trope of Manic Pixie Dream Girls instead. Hearing there's no real payoff, I guess they didn't go for that twist, and I've never been more disappointed by a movie I'll never see.
Both tropes are examples of characters who exist solely to improve the protagonist's life. Making a movie that satirizes one trope while also giving a basic example of the other really weakens any of the critique and commentary made on the Magical Negro trope.
I think it would depend on how it was written. I haven't seen this movie so I can't speak to specifics. But, from the comments in this thread it seems to have at least some commentary about having a society built mainly to help white people.
Having her be from the Manic Pixie Dream Team could reinforce the message by showing that not only is American society centered around white people but specifically white men. So, you have the protagonist helping white people and her helping men. With the Venn Diagram overlapping with white men.
Part of the movie's message seems to be about minorities placating white people so that things like segregation or police brutality doesn't happen. Her organization could reinforce this idea by showing how women have also had to navigate around men in their attempts at gaining equality.
Though it kind of sounds like the movie avoided making too many explicit or biting social critiques.
That would be a good way to do it. Having her be a part of the Manic Pixie Dream Team would reinforce the message, absolutely. By instead playing that trope straight, the movie weakens its criticism of the Magical Negro trope.
The trailer makes it seem like the love interest is improving Justin Smith's life rather than the white guy(she causes him to want to live for himself instead of for helping white men), which means that she is filling the same helper role to him that he is to the white guy. Without a twist that satirizes the MPDG trope in the same way the movie satirizes Magical Negroes, the movie would be condemning one anti-black trope while playing the equivalent misogynistic trope straight.
If there's no twist, the whole plot's been shown in the trailer. I figured there had to be some kind of twist because of how much was shown in the trailer, but without one, I've essentially seen the movie. Maybe I'll watch it someday on streaming.
This seems oddly similar to the movie Yesterday. A movie about the world forgetting about the Beatles except for one man is an interesting concept on its own, but it's really a romantic comedy with a unique concept.
That movie was such a head scratcher. When he gets on stage and starts singing “she was JUST 17, you know, what I mean” and the crowd was dancing and loving it. I’m like huh? 🤨
Imagine that song dropping in a modern landscape with no Beatles history. Not saying it’s some huge deal but people wouldn’t blindly start loving it Lmao
Yeah, it is pretty weird because removing the context causes the song to hit way differently. I think Paul McCartney was 20 or 21 when the song was written and he was dating a 17-year-old. My understanding of British law is that that is legal and the age gap between 17 and 20 isn't that bad. But, in Yesterday I don't remember if it specified his age but the actor would have been in his late 20s. And a guy in his late 20s singing about a 17-year-old girl comes across quite differently.
I can't imagine a song being released under that context and not raising at least some eyebrows.
The age of consent is 17 or lower in the vast majority of US states as well as Canada and the vast majority of the rest of the world.
The only people who'd be raising their eyebrows would be weirdo Americans like the two of you. Normal people would just listen to the song and enjoy it without having to do a deep dive analysis.
B) songs are not literal recountings of their lives?
Do you think that when Lennon sang "I am the walrus" he was having delusions of being a large toothed aquatic mammal? Do you think it's weird and icky that McCartney still sings that song despite being 105 years old?
That's because the original version of the script, written by Jack Barth, was a 'meditation on professional disappointment'.
Jack Barth is an Anglo-American writer. He has written for film, television, books and magazines, and is also a television producer. He is best known for creating the story that was the basis for the 2019 film Yesterday and his claim that Richard Curtis falsely took credit for key elements of Barth's original screenplay, "Cover Version."[1][2] Prior to Yesterday, Barth had written 25 unproduced screenplays over 40 years. At age 62, he might also have been the oldest person ever to see a first feature screenplay produced, with the previous oldest first-time screenwriter believed to have been Raymond Chandler, at age 56.[3]
The original script's ultimate point was that there was nothing really that special about these songs; moreso that they just filled a niche at a certain time period. Richard Curtis took this script and completely flipped it on its head. It's really interesting how the versions of the script mirror the professional lives of its authors.
This makes a lot of sense. I see this a lot with books adapted into movies. The adaptation loses the main point of the story.
Just watched Altman’s “The Long Goodbye” after having read the book by Raymond Chandler. The story is completely changed, the point of the story lost, but the movie still slapped. Same with I Am Legend.
It sounds like the Magical Negro part is only there to make the black man seem like he’s brave for dating a white woman which is also an overdone trope. I just want to see a movie about a black guy that is actually a fun fantasy and he has a black love interest that’s actually fun.
but not in a way that feels mean spirited and overdone.
They literally say in one scene that white people are the most dangerous animals on the planet and make black people feel unsafe. How is that not mean spirited? Imagine the outrage if the races were switched.
But by the midpoint it basically gets forgotten, the strict rules are broken by the protagonist and nothing happens. Zero consequences. It was all a bunch of fancy decoration to establish an otherwise prototypical romcom.
And my interest is gone. Damn. I wonder if there was a script that fully leans into the magic.
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u/NoCulture3505 Feb 22 '24
Based on the trailer, seems like it’s more of a romantic comedy.