“American Fiction,” written and directed by Cord Jefferson and released in 2023, takes a hilarious satirical look at the publishing industry, as well as white America’s misconception about the Black experience. As humorous as it is, it also has plenty of elements of drama, enough so that it falls into the dramedy genre. Jefferson’s directorial debut was a raging success, as “American Fiction” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Actor, while Jefferson also took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film centers around Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, played by Jeffrey Wright, who is a slumping Black author whose best work is behind him. While Monk is trying to write the next great American novel, he is forced to take a job as an English professor at a fictional private university in Los Angeles. This is where the story starts off for the viewer, as the first few scenes of the film revolve around an in-classroom exchange he has with a white student regarding the use of the N word in a novel they are studying. These opening scenes of the film serve to immediately start poking fun at the some of the hypocrisy surrounding white guilt and being overly woke, which they do masterfully.
After the student repeatedly tells Monk she is offended by the word and that they shouldn’t be studying the book because of it, even after she ignores Monk pleas to take historical context into account and the fact that it is a class focused around literature from the American south, he finally snaps on her, which gets him into hot water with administration, as is shown in the following scene. During this scene, Monk is meeting with the Chair of the English Department and the President of the university, a meeting in which he gets suspended.
This scene also hilariously pokes fun at the elitism in Academia. The chair of the English department takes a dig at Monk for not publishing a novel in years and also reminds him that he has had three published since Monk’s last novel. Monk, unimpressed with his colleague’s accomplishments and annoyed by his insult, hilariously responds, “This is true, and the speed in which you write proves that only good things take time.” Monk also refers to his colleague’s books as novels one might find in airports.
After Monk is forced into a taking time off, he visits his family in Boston, where he is originally from. During this time, Monk becomes annoyed by a female Black author’s recent meteoric rise, which he feels is fueled by her perpetuating negative stereotypes, generalizations, and misconceptions about the average Black experience. Her work is based on Black characters that are from impoverished inner cities, and she highlights the stereotypical vernacular that much of white America believes to be true about Black people in general, including heavy slang and incorrect grammar.
Monk’s least favorite author also focuses on stereotypical issues within the Black community, including crime, drug addiction, teen pregnancy, and lack of male role models, all of which make Monk sick to his stomach. As a product of an upper middle-class upbringing that included a family beach house in Cape Cod, Monk’s experience as a Black man is nowhere near these stereotypical experiences, and he feels as if these novels by black authors that perpetuate these stereotypes to white America cause more harm than they do to raise awareness.
Fed up with the majority white publishing industry and white America’s craving for content related to the “typical Black experience,” Monk decides to write his own satirical over-sensationalized version of white America’s view of what the Black experience is under a pseudonym, which he hopes will prove a point. However, instead of getting the angry reaction he expects from the publishing company, they love the book and offer him a huge amount of money and want to sell the movie rights. Monk is shocked and appalled by this, but a precarious family situation involving money forces him to have to keep up the charade.
“American Fiction” is well-acted, well-directed and certainly well-written, as made apparent by Cord Jefferson’s Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. It serves as both a comedic and lighthearted view on social issues as well as a serious social commentary on family dynamics and the differences between the economic classes within the Black community.
The lighthearted nature of its approach to serious social issues is the biggest strength of “American Fiction,” but it also has effective cinematography, particularly involving the scenes in Cape Cod, as well as dramatic tearjerking scenes that balance the comedy quite well. The character driven narrative also allows for deep character development and intelligent, memorable dialogue, making “American Fiction,” perfect for viewers who enjoy those aspects of movies.
“American Fiction” has a 93% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5/10 rating on IMBD. It is rated R for language, drug use, sexual references, and brief violence. “American Fiction’s” R rating might deter parents from allowing their teenagers from seeing it, but grasping the complex social and societal themes may prove to be a bigger roadblock than the language and drug use for those under the age of 16.
Overall, “American Fiction” is a hilarious and important take on the potentially harmful social and racial stereotypes regarding the average Black experience in America. It’s easy to see why the satirical drama received such high praise from both film critics and audiences. Cord Jefferson’s film is a deeply intelligent, humorous, and refreshing take on serious issues, making it an instant classic that should be seen by a wide-ranging audience.