American Fiction, a satirical film about art, commerce, and identity, opens in the UK this week. Starring Jeffrey Wright as a frustrated novelist, the movie explores the literary world's appetite for stereotypical Black stories. The protagonist pens a new novel filled with Black stereotypes, sparking heated conversations.
Cord Jefferson is ready for everyone to argue about American Fiction . “That, to me, is the dream,” the writer-director tells Esquire. “All I want is for people to go see it with their friends and debate.” Jefferson will surely get his wish. American Fiction , which opens in the UK this week, is a crackling satire about art, commerce, and identity that's destined to ignite heated conversations.
The film stars Jeffrey Wright as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a frustrated novelist seething with righteous anger about the literary world’s appetite for reductive tales of stereotypical Black life. Early in the film, Monk attends a reading by Sintara Golden (Issa Rae), the author of a breakout novel called We’s Lives In Da Ghetto; where the public sees a gritty bestseller, Monk sees a galling sellout. At his breaking point, he furiously pens a new novel: My Pafology, a pandering potboiler packed with every Black stereotype imaginable. “It’s got deadbeat dads, rappers, crack,” he jokes to his agen
Cord Jefferson American Fiction Film Satire Art Commerce Identity Jeffrey Wright Novelist Black Stereotypes