Magical Negro: Difference between revisions

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'''[[No Real Life Examples Please]]'''

== Comic Books ==

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* ''[[The Legend of Bagger Vance (Film)|The Legend of Bagger Vance]]'': Bagger Vance; notably, the film is very loosely based on the ''Bhagavad Gita'', with Vance in the role of Krishna, so it's implied that Bagger Vance is actually ''[[God]]''. Admittedly, this is a fairly appropriate translation of the original story. The easiest way to get [[Values Dissonance|Western audiences]] to understand the extreme social distance between the prince Arjuna and his charioteer is to portray "R. Junnah" as white and "Bagger Vance" as black in the Jim Crow South.

* In the second ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' film, the black voodoo lady Tia Dalma seemed to be a [[Magical Negro]]. However, the third film revealed {{spoiler|Tia Dalma to actually be the sea goddess Calypso}} who is searching for a way to {{spoiler|be freed from her mortal body}}, and she's [[Chaotic Neutral|not necessarily on ]]''[[Chaotic Neutral|anyone]]''[[Chaotic Neutral|'s side but her own.]]

* ''[http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0316465/ Radio]'', the 2003 film. Despite being [[Based On a True Story|based on the true story]] of James Robert "Radio" Kennedy.

* ''[http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0316465/ Radio]'', the 2003 film. Despite being [[Based on a True Story|based on the true story]] of James Robert "Radio" Kennedy.

* ''[[The Matrix (Film)|The Matrix]]'' has some interesting cases. Morpheus comes ''very'' close to being one, but he does ultimately have his own goals and character arc independent of helping Neo. The Oracle, however, is an absolutely textbook example in the first movie, although the sequels give her a wider role.

* ''[[O Brother Where Art Thou]]'' kicked off with a [[Magical Negro]] version of Teiresias from Homer's ''Odyssey''. A bit of a parody.

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* Djimon Hounsou also seems to be playing this sort of role A LOT since his role as Maximus' friend in ''[[Gladiator (Film)|Gladiator]]''.

* ''[[Not Another Teen Movie]]'' has a parody of a [[Magical Negro]] in the "Wise Janitor"...played by Mr. T.

* In M Night Shyamalan's ''[[Unbreakable]]'': Elijah Price ([[Samuel L Jackson]]), the black and physically-handicapped mentor to [[Bruce Willis]]' is one of these. {{spoiler|Until the ending when it's brutally subverted. He is revealed to be an [[Evil Genius]] who has been murdering and destroying in the hope of finding a "True Superhero," and [[Unwitting Pawn|any help he gives Bruce is purely manipulative]]. All he wanted to do is find his opposite, because it meant there was a ''reason'' for someone like him to exist.}}

* In M Night Shyamalan's ''[[Unbreakable]]'': Elijah Price ([[Samuel L Jackson]]), the black and physically-handicapped mentor to [[Bruce Willis (Creator)]]' is one of these. {{spoiler|Until the ending when it's brutally subverted. He is revealed to be an [[Evil Genius]] who has been murdering and destroying in the hope of finding a "True Superhero," and [[Unwitting Pawn|any help he gives Bruce is purely manipulative]]. All he wanted to do is find his opposite, because it meant there was a ''reason'' for someone like him to exist.}}

* ''[[Hitch]]'' manages to subvert this trope just by changing the focus. [[Will Smith]] plays a character whose job is ''literally'' teaching white guys how to be as cool as he is - he's a "date doctor" who coaches socially clueless men on how to woo women. However, since Hitch himself is the protagonist, not the white guys -- and, accordingly, he gets a real character arc instead of remaining a static figure -- he's really not at all a Magical Negro.

* The handicapped (black) golf instructor/mentor Chubbs Peterson, whose hand got eaten by a crocodile in ''[[Happy Gilmore]]''.

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** On the other hand, it's completely subverted by Eko. While he seems to be a Magical Negro priest who tries to restore Locke's "faith", he's actually {{spoiler|not a real priest, but a former brutal drug lord in disguise}}. Oh, and he's [[Too Dumb to Live|so idiotic he tries to use dynamite to blow open a blast door]]...

** Locke initially seems to fit the role of a strange white version of a Magical Negro, possessing mystical, almost shamanistic knowledge and a deep, unexplained communion with the island, always ready to dispense nice bits of pop-wisdom and jungle smarts...that is, until later in the series when he goes from subservient shaman spirit-guide to full-blown [[The Messiah|Messiah]]. And then crazy person/gullible dupe, responsible for much ill-advised [[Stuff Blowing Up]].

* Inverted in the 1980s version of ''[[The Twilight Zone (TV)|The Twilight Zone]]'' episode "Paladin of the Lost Hour", which had a magical white man (who does double duty as [[The Obi Wan]]) help the young black protagonist find his destiny.

* Inverted in the 1980s version of ''[[The Twilight Zone (TV)|The Twilight Zone]]'' episode "Paladin of the Lost Hour", which had a magical white man (who does double duty as [[The Obi-Wan]]) help the young black protagonist find his destiny.

** In the short story upon which the episode is based, author [[Harlan Ellison]] states, "One of these men was black, the other white" and refuses to say which one is which. Of course, for a visual medium, they had to make a choice, and it seems that they deliberately chose to avoid the Magical Negro trope.

* Guinan in ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'', played by Whoopi Goldberg, is an El-Aurian, a member of a race with an almost supernatural sense of time and space. She's Picard's [[Black Best Friend]], but she's happy to give a [[Whoopi Epiphany Speech]] to anyone who asks--or anyone else she thinks needs one. She can tell when history has been altered, has centuries of experience and accumulated skills, is a better shot than the Enterprise's chief of security, and is the only person on the ship that scares Q. Despite the fact that she could probably replace anyone on the crew, she chooses to work as a bartender in Ten Forward.

** However, while Guinan fits the trope closely enough to be a definite example, she's also a little more complex than most Magical Negroes -- it's strongly implied that she led her own long life of adventure and heroism before settling down as a bartender, and on rare occasions she does realize she was wrong about something instead of being mysteriously right all the time.

* ''[[American Gothic]]''. Although Mrs. Holt is certainly mysterious, wise, and spiritual enough to be a Magical Negro. The extent of her 'magic spell' to help sway the judge in Caleb's custody hearing is...a nice big bowl of homemade chicken soup. Aside from some hints at African tribalism in her ancestry, a bit of voodoo, and some understanding of how the Afterlife works, she dispenses only common sense advice.

** In one episode her [[Good Is Impotent|ineffectiveness in protecting Caleb from evil]] is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] when Buck, after being thwarted by her interference, apparently makes her verge on choking to death -- presumably he does not kill her because [[Not Worth Killing|she's that small a blip on his radar]] (or such a petty thing would be beneath him). And the advice she gives Caleb regarding Merlyn's spirit being laid to rest is quite sound, namely "don't mess with the dead." Too bad Caleb doesn't listen, and in trying to help her move on instead brings her back...with [[Well Intentioned Extremist|unfortunate]] [[Light Is Not Good|results]].

** In one episode her [[Good Is Impotent|ineffectiveness in protecting Caleb from evil]] is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] when Buck, after being thwarted by her interference, apparently makes her verge on choking to death -- presumably he does not kill her because [[Not Worth Killing|she's that small a blip on his radar]] (or such a petty thing would be beneath him). And the advice she gives Caleb regarding Merlyn's spirit being laid to rest is quite sound, namely "don't mess with the dead." Too bad Caleb doesn't listen, and in trying to help her move on instead brings her back...with [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|unfortunate]] [[Light Is Not Good|results]].

** By the end of the show, though, she has indeed been ditched from the plot, and without even really serving a real purpose other than to give Caleb her halfway house to stay in. We can only speculate whether her role was cut due to [[Executive Meddling]], or if it might have been expanded had the show not been [[Cut Short]].

* Examples from ''[[Degrassi High]]'':

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* ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' has a bit of an issue with this. They made almost all the witches black (and almost all the black people witches). They made almost all the witches spend their time helping white people and rarely using their powers for their own benefit, or even for the "balance" they're supposed to be preserving. Notably, Emily Bennett worked as Katherine's handmaid as well as using her powers to provide her and other vampires immunity from sunlight. ''Why'' she would do this despite obviously not approving of vampires eating people is apparently a [[I Owe You My Life]] situation that is never expanded on. The subtext isn't really helped by the series being set in the American South.

* The sketch comedy series ''[[Key and Peele|Key & Peele]]'' has two such magical African-Americans fighting to the {{spoiler|mutual}} death over who would get to enlighten a success-weary white man.

** The sting in the tail comes when a middle-aged black woman enters and the white man mistakes her for yet ''another'' [[Magical Negro]], to which she replies, "Who you calling a [[N Word Privileges|negro,]] bitch?"

** The sting in the tail comes when a middle-aged black woman enters and the white man mistakes her for yet ''another'' [[Magical Negro]], to which she replies, "Who you calling a [[N-Word Privileges|negro,]] bitch?"

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* Somewhat parodied with Mashed Potato Johnson on ''[[Metalocalypse]]'', in that he gives the boys advice on how to become successful blues musicians, when they're already the most popular musicians in history.

* Played with in season four of ''[[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]]'': Hank wonders if the UPS man is psychic, and Dr. Venture points out "Just because he's black doesn't mean he has [[The Shining|the Shining]]!" {{spoiler|Turns out, he does.}}

* Zecora from ''[[My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' hovers somewhere between playing this straight and subverting it. (Technically, she's a zebra, but they're a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] for Africa.) While everypony is incredibly suspicious of her due to [[Fantastic Racism]] and the belief that she's an "evil enchantress", it's discovered that she's actually a friendly herbalist, and from then on she's happy to assist the mane characters. If there's a problem that needs a magical solution, she's generally got an answer, and also serves largely to warn and advise the protagonists, particularly Twilight. Slightly subverted in that there are some problems, like parasprites, even she knows nothing about, and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] when Applejack wonders if she has a "[[Spider Sense|zebra sense]]" that lets her know when there's problems to be solved.

* Zecora from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' hovers somewhere between playing this straight and subverting it. (Technically, she's a zebra, but they're a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] for Africa.) While everypony is incredibly suspicious of her due to [[Fantastic Racism]] and the belief that she's an "evil enchantress", it's discovered that she's actually a friendly herbalist, and from then on she's happy to assist the mane characters. If there's a problem that needs a magical solution, she's generally got an answer, and also serves largely to warn and advise the protagonists, particularly Twilight. Slightly subverted in that there are some problems, like parasprites, even she knows nothing about, and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] when Applejack wonders if she has a "[[Spider Sense|zebra sense]]" that lets her know when there's problems to be solved.

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[[Category:Race Tropes]]

[[Category:Magical Negro]]

[[Category:Trope]]

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