"American Fiction" | December 2023 | starring Jeffrey Wright, Issa Rae & Sterling K. Brown

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re'up

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The family story was somewhat some kind of meta commentary, because THAT story would be impossible almost to get greenlit.

Cord: " I want to to tell the story of a Boston based black academic, (like a John McWhorter type) and his well to do family, without any major commentary on being gay, or using oxycontin, or being black ---or death or marriage, just kind of a relaxed, familial portrait of a family en flux"

Exec: "well could maybe the brother overdose? and realize that he has to change? Could we maybe have him come out in dramatic fashion? "

Without the satire, it's a hard sell. And also, the book obviously a longer more drawn out story. \
 
BobbyWojak

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re'up said:
The family story was somewhat some kind of meta commentary, because THAT story would be impossible almost to get greenlit.

Cord: " I want to to tell the story of a Boston based black academic, (like a John McWhorter type) and his well to do family, without any major commentary on being gay, or using oxycontin, or being black ---or death or marriage, just kind of a relaxed, familial portrait of a family en flux"

Exec: "well could maybe the brother overdose? and realize that he has to change? Could we maybe have him come out in dramatic fashion? "

Without the satire, it's a hard sell. And also, the book obviously a longer more drawn out story. \
Click to expand...

If that was the directors intention he did a terrible job of it. None of the characters are given enough time for the viewer to really care about the wedding or his mother's illness so it just feels like it's in the way of the 'real story'.
 
Ziggiy

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JUST got back from my second screening.

Still holds up as my movie of the year

I think my only flaw with the movie is that they should have taken a little bit of time to show why either Issa Rae’s book was different than Monk’s or why she THOUGHT it was different. That was my only gripe
 
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Lootpack

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Such a vibe this one is. The social satire really hit close to home with just how pandering the media world can be. The dialogue is so sharp. There’s not a single odd man out when it comes to performances, and that goes beyond the cast too. Karfman’s score does such a great job at conveying emotion. While I wasn’t that high on the ending, this was still worth the watch (and drive) at the Alamo. Due for a rewatch soon.

Really wanna know which directors Cord had in mind when making this though, or who his main influences are. Felt like early Payne and Almodóvar in some ways, two of whose works I love. Not bad at all for a directorial debut.



:banderas:
 
BobbyWojak

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Lootpack said:
Such a vibe this one is. The social satire really hit close to home with just how pandering the media world can be. The dialogue is so sharp. There’s not a single odd man out when it comes to performances, and that goes beyond the cast too. Karfman’s score does such a great job at conveying emotion. While I wasn’t that high on the ending, this was still worth the watch (and drive) at the Alamo. Due for a rewatch soon.

Really wanna know which directors Cord had in mind when making this though, or who his main influences are. Felt like early Payne and Almodóvar in some ways, two of whose works I love. Not bad at all for a directorial debut.
Click to expand...

Ironically American Fiction just panders to a different type of person, the kind of Black person who watches the Oscars every year but rails against the lack of Black nominees. Your comment on the performances also confuses me because I don't feel like anyone was asked to do much heavy lifting besides Jeffery Wright and Leslie Uggams.
 
Macallik86

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Watched this @ the theater earlier this week.

Definitely hit me in stride and made me think about under-representation w/i my own community in art. I feel like our stories are regularly centered around trauma, slavery, racism, etc. It's not that these things don't exist or that they don't impact our lives disproportionately relative to other races, but that they're regularly re-explored and potentially over-represented relative to the average black person's experiences. For a lot of black art, race becomes a main character that is type-casted into the same roles that reinforces a lack of depth & understanding of our actual skills/experiences.

OAN, I've definitely crossed my fair share of women like Issa Rae's character in life. I think that they are unconsciously overcompensating for their 'non-traditional black lives and often end up being more closed-minded and making a caricature of the ideals they are trying to learn but don't quite grasp the nuances.

Still digesting the movie and might double back w/ more thoughts in the near future.

Chief said:
Anyone have a link where I can watch this?
Click to expand...
Go spend money on it abd support it if you want to see more content showing overlooked aspects of the black experience.



Can someone get a mod to merge the w/ this thread btw:
 
mastermind

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I’m gonna get the book. The movie apparently changed a bunch of things in the family dynamic and Wright’s character. The movie also removed a lot of class issues (the family didn’t really like Lorraine and she wasn’t accepting of the gay brother).
 
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