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Synikul · **The Magic Negro -** 03-19-07

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Obama the 'Magic Negro'
The Illinois senator lends himself to white America's idealized, less-than-real black man.
By David Ehrenstein, L.A.-based DAVID EHRENSTEIN writes about Hollywood and politics.
March 19, 2007

AS EVERY CARBON-BASED life form on this planet surely knows, Barack Obama, the junior Democratic senator from Illinois, is running for president. Since making his announcement, there has been no end of commentary about him in all quarters — musing over his charisma and the prospect he offers of being the first African American to be elected to the White House.

But it's clear that Obama also is running for an equally important unelected office, in the province of the popular imagination — the "Magic Negro."

The Magic Negro is a figure of postmodern folk culture, coined by snarky 20th century sociologists, to explain a cultural figure who emerged in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education. "He has no past, he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist," reads the description on Wikipedia http://en.-wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro .

He's there to assuage white "guilt" (i.e., the minimal discomfort they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest.

As might be expected, this figure is chiefly cinematic — embodied by such noted performers as Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Scatman Crothers, Michael Clarke Duncan, Will Smith and, most recently, Don Cheadle. And that's not to mention a certain basketball player whose very nickname is "Magic."

Poitier really poured on the "magic" in "Lilies of the Field" (for which he won a best actor Oscar) and "To Sir, With Love" (which, along with "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," made him a No. 1 box-office attraction). In these films, Poitier triumphs through yeoman service to his white benefactors. "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is particularly striking in this regard, as it posits miscegenation without evoking sex. (Talk about magic!)

The same can't quite be said of Freeman in "Driving Miss Daisy," "Seven" and the seemingly endless series of films in which he plays ersatz paterfamilias to a white woman bedeviled by a serial killer. But at least he survives, unlike Crothers in "The Shining," in which psychic premonitions inspire him to rescue a white family he barely knows and get killed for his trouble. This heart-tug trope is parodied in Gus Van Sant's "Elephant." The film's sole black student at a Columbine-like high school arrives in the midst of a slaughter, helps a girl escape and is immediately gunned down. See what helping the white man gets you?

And what does the white man get out of the bargain? That's a question asked by John Guare in "Six Degrees of Separation," his brilliant retelling of the true saga of David Hampton — a young, personable gay con man who in the 1980s passed himself off as the son of none other than the real Sidney Poitier. Though he started small, using the ruse to get into Studio 54, Hampton discovered that countless gullible, well-heeled New Yorkers, vulnerable to the Magic Negro myth, were only too eager to believe in his baroque fantasy. (One of the few who wasn't fooled was Andy Warhol, who was astonished his underlings believed Hampton's whoppers. Clearly Warhol had no need for the accouterment of interracial "goodwill.")

But the same can't be said of most white Americans, whose desire for a noble, healing Negro hasn't faded. That's where Obama comes in: as Poitier's "real" fake son.

The senator's famously stem-winding stump speeches have been drawing huge crowds to hear him talk of uniting rather than dividing. A praiseworthy goal. Consequently, even the mild criticisms thrown his way have been waved away, "magically." He used to smoke, but now he doesn't; he racked up a bunch of delinquent parking tickets, but he paid them all back with an apology. And hey, is looking good in a bathing suit a bad thing?

The only mud that momentarily stuck was criticism (white and black alike) concerning Obama's alleged "inauthenticty," as compared to such sterling examples of "genuine" blackness as Al Sharpton and Snoop Dogg. Speaking as an African American whose last name has led to his racial "credentials" being challenged — often several times a day — I know how pesky this sort of thing can be.

Obama's fame right now has little to do with his political record or what he's written in his two (count 'em) books, or even what he's actually said in those stem-winders. It's the way he's said it that counts the most. It's his manner, which, as presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden ham-fistedly reminded us, is "articulate." His tone is always genial, his voice warm and unthreatening, and he hasn't called his opponents names (despite being baited by the media).

Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him.

SOURCE

I think he's dead on accurate. I remember the similar phenomenon among republicans when Colon Bowell was considering a run for the white house.

BlyssfulStorm · 03-19-07

i love how everyone calls him black, except black people.

Dark Messiah · 03-20-07

It's pretty accurate, but this isn't post-modern. This shit started with Uncle Tom's Cabin all the way up to Joe Louis. It's not always just white people, either. For an example of what happens to a black person who doesn't play the good, hard-working, self-respecting negro who marries a good, strong, hard-working negro woman/man and gives back to the good, hard-working and self-respecting strong negro community, see; the life and times of Jack Johnson. Possibly the greatest athlete of the twentieth century, incredibly strong, skilled, intelligent, good-looking and charismatic, and for refusing to play racial games and respect color lines or be anyone's champion (including marrying not one but three seperate white women over the years) he was crucified by the white and black media.

The lesson to take home is that you're lucky if you find in your life one good honest person who isn't a complete dick, forget about a white or black or any color Jesus.

Shok · 03-20-07

Pooh. And I thought this was a thread on lucky things you rub before purchasing a lotto ticket.

doebathory · 03-24-07

Quote:

AS EVERY CARBON-BASED life form on this planet surely knows, Barack Obama, the junior Democratic senator from Illinois, is running for president. Since making his announcement, there has been no end of commentary about him in all quarters — musing over his charisma and the prospect he offers of being the first African American to be elected to the White House.

How fucking arrogant can this get? Why on Earth would anyone be stuck so far up their own ass as to even think - let alone make an idiot of themselves by going as far as saying - that people in other countries would know about this, let alone be interested? Typical egocentric thinking. Most of us have better things to do than to give a flying fuck about who's 'running' the enormous police state posing as a free country that is America.

Billy the Kidd · 03-24-07

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Originally Posted by doebathory

How fucking arrogant can this get? Why on Earth would anyone be stuck so far up their own ass as to even think - let alone make an idiot of themselves by going as far as saying - that people in other countries would know about this, let alone be interested? Typical egocentric thinking. Most of us have better things to do than to give a flying fuck about who's 'running' the enormous police state posing as a free country that is America.

You got your countries mixed up, I believe its England where youre actually losing freedom thus making it the police state. Not the US.

thefr0g · 03-24-07

It was pretty obviously sarcasm you stuck up twat.

Trees are a carbon based life form, I doubt they give a shit about the presidential elections either. He was making a point that everybody is making such a big deal about it. Nice jumping to conclusions though, defensive much?

Wicked Lady · 03-24-07

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Originally Posted by doebathory

How fucking arrogant can this get? Why on Earth would anyone be stuck so far up their own ass as to even think - let alone make an idiot of themselves by going as far as saying - that people in other countries would know about this, let alone be interested? Typical egocentric thinking. Most of us have better things to do than to give a flying fuck about who's 'running' the enormous police state posing as a free country that is America.

I would think that anyone with two brain cells to rub together might give a shit about who will be running the most powerful country in the world, particulary when that person's homeland is so closely allied with the aforementioned country.

Proteus · 04-05-07

electoral college –noun (often initial capital letters) a body of electors consisting of 14 individuals chosen by the voters in each state to elect the President and Vice President of the U.S.

It really doesn't matter who we vote for. Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

Pyrric Dicktory · 04-05-07

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Originally Posted by thefr0g

It was pretty obviously sarcasm you stuck up twat.

Trees are a carbon based life form, I doubt they give a shit about the presidential elections either. He was making a point that everybody is making such a big deal about it. Nice jumping to conclusions though, defensive much?

that's what im hoping, anyone basing an argument about electing an official off of popular movies is....i really dont have a word for it. ill go out on a limb and compare it to hitler and the jews, just a facade to unite the stronger masses.

Pyrric Dicktory · 04-05-07

i think its just the reps getting twitchy, its almost like the dems are tounting the shit out of them.

"hey, look bob and phil, you may have to play golf with :gasp: a black man or a women....hahaha fuck you and your war."

Billy the Kidd · 04-05-07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Proteus

electoral college –noun (often initial capital letters) a body of electors consisting of 14 individuals chosen by the voters in each state to elect the President and Vice President of the U.S.

It really doesn't matter who we vote for. Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges

Only if youre uneducated and stupid it doesnt.

Billy the Kidd · 04-05-07

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Originally Posted by Pyrric Dicktory

i think its just the reps getting twitchy, its almost like the dems are tounting the shit out of them.

"hey, look bob and phil, you may have to play golf with :gasp: a black man or a women....hahaha fuck you and your war."

Which is funny considering theres more blacks and women in positions of power in the Republican party than the Democrat party. Condi Rice? Gonzales? Colin Powell? lol pwned. Or are those just not the right kind of minorities? oh right Condi and Colin and Alberto are all race traitors because theyre conservatives. I forgot.

surreal · 04-05-07

I see the logic.
Don't you?

Pyrric Dicktory · 04-05-07

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Originally Posted by Billy the Kidd

Which is funny considering theres more blacks and women in positions of power in the Republican party than the Democrat party. Condi Rice? Gonzales? Colin Powell? lol pwned. Or are those just not the right kind of minorities? oh right Condi and Colin and Alberto are all race traitors because theyre conservatives. I forgot.

that's like saying "im not a racist, i have plenty of black friends" coni's incompetant, and will never be taken seriously, powell said "fuck it, im going home" and the other guy is so un-noteworthy, ive never heard of him. im not big on c-span and im the first to admit it, but i try and keep up on at least the nightly nation news, ive never heard of him, it looks to me at an attempt to say again "ive got minority friends"

ive really never seen in my short life so many big leaders in a cabinent back out and say by. ive never heard of a defense sec backing out. you care to explain that? im thinking he thought "i fucked this up, ive made enough cash, im going to aruba." looser fucking party. wasted this country. at least i have some respect for reagan and bush part one.

thefr0g · 04-06-07

You apparently dont pay that close of attention to the news. Maybe you've heard mention of a little "scandal" involving the Attorney General.

Billy the Kidd · 04-06-07

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Originally Posted by Pyrric Dicktory

that's like saying "im not a racist, i have plenty of black friends" coni's incompetant, and will never be taken seriously, powell said "fuck it, im going home" and the other guy is so un-noteworthy, ive never heard of him. im not big on c-span and im the first to admit it, but i try and keep up on at least the nightly nation news, ive never heard of him, it looks to me at an attempt to say again "ive got minority friends"

ive really never seen in my short life so many big leaders in a cabinent back out and say by. ive never heard of a defense sec backing out. you care to explain that? im thinking he thought "i fucked this up, ive made enough cash, im going to aruba." looser fucking party. wasted this country. at least i have some respect for reagan and bush part one.

Hmm... so promoting blacks, latinos and women to high offices where they actually have power is still racist. Whereas talking about patting them on the ehad and just keeping them in the dark while not really hiring any etc is not... well you got me beat. Moron.