American Fiction Review: Possibly the best American literary, cultural, behavioral satire movie

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MAY 8, 2024

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American Fiction

Movie by Cord Jefferson · 2023

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American Fiction is possibly the best American literary, cultural, and behavioral satire movie in a long time 🫡

❤️

Let me please start the review for this Oscar-winning movie by sharing my favorite dialogue.

'The dumber I behave, the richer I get' ✨

This movie, or rather the story, is a dark mirror (pun intended) of our crazy biases, over-the-top love for tropes, and societal profiting from the guilt of everyone's past. The profiting, this time, is from what the movie likes to call 'Black entertainment'. Once you start noticing these moments, biases, tropes et cetera, there is no going back.

Everything and everyone is in their top form — writing, direction, cinematography, actors 🙌 But my ultimatest, super-duper, most favorite part of this masterpiece is the flow of words, and how subtly they get through you. The dialogue in American Fiction is something else! 🫶

'One day, maybe you’ll learn that not being able to relate to other people isn’t a badge of honor' ✨

Who do I not mention when talking about one of their career-best and yet most understated performance? The director — Cord Jefferson and his cowriter — Percival Everett They truly deserve that Oscar! The actors — Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Erika Alexander, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Leslie Uggams, and of course, Issa Rae and Adam Brody

A devoted African American novelist is frustrated with society profiting from Black entertainment. As a dark joke against the same established people of the society, he writes a hypocritical story in sync with what they are certainly expecting of an African American novelist.

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Erasure

Book by Percival Everett

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P.S. The movie is based on the book 'Erasure' by Percival Everett

Guess when did this novel get published? 2001 The notion shared in the book, is still true after 23 years, and maybe more than ever.

⚠️ Spoilers Ahead ⚠️

An aspect worth highlighting about the movie is how it accepts that the problems of an African American family might not have disappeared, but they are surely changing. It might be time to rethink the notions of the past, which the movie subtly suggests with convincing arguments from both sides.

I have to talk about the characters beyond the 'spoilers' mark because once you know the core idea of this movie, it's the kind of characters who get to live this idea, that will influence your interest in the ongoings. And this story and its core writing lives up to that expectation 100%

In fact, and interestingly so, it's the secondary story tracks — the history of the dad who is no more, the dysfunctional family, a possible chance at romance, the lack of money in the bank, and the mother who's forgetting it all — they give weight to the primary story.

'It’s always easier dealing with other people’s families than your own' ✨

The real struggle though, almost always, is not to make the world a better place, or to get the people around you to accept your annoying habits, but to get down from your high horse, and make peace with the world as it exists today first.

Two ultra-non-cliche scenes to watch are: First, when Monk, the protagonist, starts writing this book that's meant to be his sarcastic take on the society. Let this scene play out and ask yourself if you like the book or hate it?! Second, the award ceremony and whatever happens when Monk gets up from his chair, as many times as it wouldn't play right.

This is one movie that should be included in a must-watch-list for all students worldwide, for it might make them see the world rather differently. And that would be a big win!