American Fiction
A ten-million-dollar masterpiece
Cord Jefferson, the director of American Fiction (2023), won the Acadamy Award for best adapted screenplay for his film. His speech, (mostly) transcribed below, is the most memorable speech of the broadcast, and one that will hopefully not fall on deaf ears in Hollywood:
I’ve been talking a lot about how many people passed on this movie in discussing it, and I worry that that sometimes sounds vindictive, and I don’t want to be vindictive, I’m not a vindictive person anymore, I’ve worked very hard to not be vindictive anymore, and, it’s more a plea. It’s a plea to acknowledge and recognize that there are so many people out there who want the opportunity that I was given, and this is a-I understand that this- (Audience applauds) I only got six seconds, please! I understand that this is a risk-averse industry, I get it, but two-hundred-million dollar movies are also a risk, you know? And it doesn’t always work out, but you take the risk anyway. And instead of making one two-hundred-million dollar movie, try making twenty ten-million dollar movies, or fifty four-million dollar movies! Like, you can, there are so many people, I just feel so much joy being here, I felt so much joy making this movie, and I want other people to experience that joy. And they are out there, I promise you. The next Martin Scorsese is out there, the next Greta is out there, the next Christopher Nolan is out there, I promise you. They just want a shot, and we can give them one, and this has changed my life.
American Fiction is a biting, satirical examination of identity and the commodification of Black experiences in America. Made on a ten-million dollar production budget. Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett, the film stars a perfectly cast Jeffrey Wright, the only Black actor to ever appear in more than one Wes Anderson movie, as Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, an academic and frustrated Black author disillusioned with the publishing industry’s appetite for stereotypical, exploitative narratives about Black life. Monk struggles to get his writing published until the day he decides to write a story under a pen name about life on the streets as a fugitive Black man. The book’s title? “My Pafology.” To Monk, the book is a sick joke.
Everyone else loves it.
Wright’s portrayal of Monk is the heart of the film. He’s a disillusioned intellectual, watching as more sensationalized depictions of Black life receive the kind of attention his carefully crafted, nuanced work does not. Midway through the film, while Monk is struggling to deal with his mother’s health-care situation and simultaneously struggling to comprehend the success of his fictional non-fiction, he breaks down and exclaims, regarding how White consumers view Black stories: “Our lives are so fucked up, just not anything like the way they think it is.” It’s the film's thesis, plain-stated for anyone willing to hear it out. It works wonderfully.
As Monk’s “satirical” novel becomes more popular, the tension builds toward a conclusion that feels both inevitable and unpredictable. American Fiction forces you to reflect on the nature of identity, authenticity, and the stories we tell—and why we tell them. As you watch, you’ll realize that Monk is just a hard-working, nice guy trying to be the best version of himself in a world that doesn’t reject him. Worse, they don’t even know he’s possible.
American Fiction
Written and Directed by Cord Jefferson
2023
117 minutes
English
Recommended way to watch (at time of publication): Streaming on Amazon Prime
You’ll like this if you like: The Producers (1967), Bamboozled (2000)