From the moment Jeffrey Wright’s Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison cathartically sends an overentitled undergraduate running from his lecture hall in tears – within the first several minutes – you’re wholeheartedly onboard. That opening scene also encapsulates the essence of American Fiction: a hilarious straight-for-the-jugular comedy-drama unafraid of tackling complicated issues all the while stressing the importance of appreciating nuance.
Monk’s literary output, whilst critically lauded, is not selling. As an African American he is expected by readers and publishers to produce a very particular kind of novel, one that adheres to the underlying prejudices of self-proclaimed progressives. The kind of novel like We’s Lives in Da Ghetto by fellow author Sintara Golden, which is being devoured by the public. When Monk finds himself the inexperienced helmsman navigating a ship full of family dilemmas, he sits down and writes a send-up of the fiction his agent refers to as ‘Black enough’ – brought to life in a side-splitting scene by Keith David and Okieriete Onaodowan. The novel, My Pafology, becomes a sensation and the more Monk attempts to lean into the ludicrous stereotypes, the more successful it becomes, much to his chagrin. It allows him however, to pay for the care his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother desperately needs.
Based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett, American Fiction is a hilarious and unrestrained savaging of hollow inclusivity – particularly in higher education, the literary world, and of course Hollywood. Their desire to represent is motivated solely for the purpose of making them appear in-touch with modern sensibilities, without really engaging with or understanding diverse demographics. Simply by being Black, Monk is expected to write about a very specific form of the Black experience in the United States, one that couldn’t be further from his own. His family, in their personal lives at least, are all successful. Their family and relationship troubles are not defined by their racial identities. Indeed, they are ubiquitous to all people regardless of creed or colour.
To some extent it evokes the socio-political critiques of Jordan Peele’s Get Out. The trajectory of the story is not unlike Spike Lee’s Bamboozled; both feature an African-American creative producing ironic and grotesquely stereotypical bilge that backfires – although for me American Fiction does a great deal more with the concept.
The film is also a touchingly poignant depiction of aging, love, and loss. Jeffrey Wright is stellar, but the whole cast deliver nothing less than brilliance. I must highlight too the subtle delights of Laura Karpman’s score. A terrific piece of work by director Cord Jefferson and a bona fide must-see that will leave audiences ruminating long after its conclusion.
5/5
