‘American Fiction,’ and what Black audiences want from Black films

These results made reporters who cover topics related to Black culture wonder, what exactly do audiences want to see from Black movies?

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

To find out, we gave ourselves an assignment. We went, independently, to see “American Fiction,” in order to talk about what we saw, what we liked, and what it might take to push these projects over the finish lines.

Here’s what Najja Parker, DeAsia Paige, Mirtha Donastorg, and Mike Jordan had to say about “American Fiction,” adapted for the screen and directed by a Black journalist, Cord Jefferson.

Mike Jordan: Now that each of us has seen “American Fiction.” What was your opinion of the movie?

Najja Parker: Well, I think that the acting in “American Fiction” was phenomenal. I mean, the full star cast: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown... I was really impressed with the cast and the acting, and what they were able to do with the work. It was extremely funny, extremely relatable and extremely triggering.

Mirtha Donastorg: I was so surprised at how funny it was. I laughed so much. The rest of the theater laughed so much. It was incredibly funny, really thought-provoking and really interesting.

DeAsia Paige: I was surprised at how funny it was, too. I’ve seen a little bit of what Jeffrey Wright has done in the past but I never saw him in a leading role like this before. Most of his lines were funny; that was the most interesting part. But there were so many themes throughout the film that were relatable. We also had an all-star cast, too. The film did a very good job of weaving through many themes, and also having a time where each actor could showcase their talent in the right ways.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

Mike Jordan: I’d been given advance notice that I would probably like it. What caught me off guard that made it better than I expected was the counterweight of the family story and a love story, with the satire and parody. Jeffrey Wright was really good. His performance is still sinking into my head. I thought it was, of course, hilarious. And I’ll just say this: I went to Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema in Midtown Atlanta. The audience was not mostly Black. At the beginning of the film, more of our non-Black theater mates were really enjoying themselves laughing. As it went on, the more things became more culturally specific to the Black experience, the less I was hearing that laughter from earlier. I thought that was really interesting. The comedy started to hit very specifically certain types of people. So I was thinking, as Black people, is it our duty to tell more Black people to go see it, because that’s kind of what I want to do.

Mirtha Donastorg: That’s interesting. I also saw it at Landmark last Friday night. The theater was dark, so I didn’t see everybody that was there, but I feel like, just based off of the laughter and where the laughter came from, it was mostly Black folks in the theater, cutting up, so excited, loving the movie, finding it super funny. But that’s an interesting question: What is our responsibility? Is it to be like, “Yo, you’re Black; you’ve gotta go see this movie. You’re gonna love it. It’s gonna really speak to you.” I don’t know. I was kind of thinking about it.

Mike Jordan: When these movies have come out traditionally — movies by Black directors with a Black cast and Black writers, producers — the sentiment as I’ve experienced it has been, “We’ve gotta go see this, and we’ve gotta go support or else there will never be another black movie made.” It’s almost like if we don’t support this one, we are failing the race, our culture and cultural storytelling. Every Black film that comes out, especially if it’s been well-promoted and there’s budget behind it, we literally have to go see it, no matter what. It feels like it can be a duty-bound kind of thing.

Mirtha Donastorg: It’s almost maybe a little bit of a scarcity mindset, like we’ve had so few we’ve got to support what is there. But now that there are more, it doesn’t feel so scarce anymore. Like, do we have to support?

Mike Jordan: When I think about these movies that are out right now, to your point about scarcity, we have several others: “American Fiction,” “The Book of Clarence,” and “Origin.” With the lack of scarcity, maybe we now have so many options and we’re not feeling as forced to go and support. Do we have enough now, or is the access to so many diminishing the power of the Black dollar at the box office?

DeAsia Paige: I think for these movies in particular, timing is essential. We’re just coming off of the writers’ strike and actors’ strike. And I’m not sure how much of that had to do with the promotion of all of these films, in terms of how well they were marketed. I’m not sure. I mean, I’m pretty sure that maybe all of these films were at somewhat a disadvantage in terms of how well they were promoted. I know some people didn’t even know “American Fiction” was out. The person I saw it with said they wouldn’t have seen it if I didn’t tell them about it. “The Book of Clarence” had a huge budget, but it only made a fraction of what it was supposed to do. People were saying it should have come out during Easter weekend, which sounds great, I think. I mean, if me, someone who does not know much about filmmaking, is thinking it is a good idea for this movie to be out during Easter weekend, I would assume Jeymes Samuel, the director, Jay Z and others also had the same thought. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with the writer’s strike postponing things or what, but I think, with those movies in particular it might be good to think about the context of the strikes, and how much that may have impacted things. I do think there’s a conversation to be had about the promotion of Black films in general and how well they may have been marketed.

Even in my interview with Ava DuVernay and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, they were talking about the struggles of “Origin” being an independent film. How they shot in less than 40 days in three different countries, and Ava really having to fight to get the movie made in general because it’s such a complex idea, based on Isabel Wilkerson’s book “Caste.”

I think there are like many conversations to be had in terms of your question, Mike. And I’m not sure if the top of the year is a great time to put out a movie. You have award season, and going to the movies isn’t a priority for people in January, I would assume. At least not for me. I feel like January is known as the month where films go to flop and tank. Then also I feel like we are getting a lot of money to make these movies. “The Book of Clarence” and obviously “The Color Purple” had a huge budget as well. But I’m not sure if there’s a disconnect when it comes to getting the budget for these films, and then actually marketing these films. And I think some of that even goes beyond the control of these filmmakers. That was a big, long answer. But I thought about this a lot. [laughs]

Credit: Atsushi Nishijima

Credit: Atsushi Nishijima

Mike Jordan: I love it. I want to hear from y’all more on “American Fiction,” bringing it back to that movie particularly. For people who do not have insight or experience into the book publishing world, it just seems like one of those areas where our subject matter is becoming so specific to certain niche experiences that maybe the box office and budget conversations need to be recalibrated.

Because I think “American Fiction” specifically was a movie where I don’t know that everybody was going to run to go see it, especially if not for Jeffrey Wright and the other major stars that were in the film.

Mirtha Donastorg: At first, I paid attention to it because of awards, like DeAsia’s saying. I watched the Golden Globes. There were mentions of it and then I was like, “Oh, wait, I feel like I had heard about this. Then we as a team started talking about it; that’s what pushed me. But before this month it didn’t really break into my consciousness, my awareness of “American Fiction.” And same with some of the other movies. “The Color Purple” has had a huge rollout, since back in like 2022 so that folks knew it was coming. But “Origin,” the only reason I knew about it was I heard Ava talk about at TEDWomen in October… which is not viral marketing.

I feel like when we talk about the movies that really brought this, almost cult-like, huge Black community response, those are like “Black Panther” and “The Little Mermaid” with Halle Bailey. But what do indies like “Origin,” or smaller-budget movies like “American Fiction,” “The Book of Clarence” and all that — where do they fit in and how much we should know about them?

Credit: DISNEY

Credit: DISNEY

Najja Parker: I think I came across “American Fiction” on Instagram; I think Issa Rae may have posted the trailer and because I’m a fan of hers I knew what was going on. And then I immediately sent the trailer to a couple of friends who I thought would be interested in it. I have a lot of writer friends obviously, because of the space we work in — a lot of friends who work in media and in theater. And I was surprised to see such a limited release. The movie theater that I frequent is AMC Madison Yards. I live in Decatur, so it’s about 15 minutes away. And I was a little upset that I had to travel further than I wanted to go see the film. And I think, DeAsia, you said the person you went with did not even know that “American Fiction” was a thing. That was my exact same case. I was telling my friend about “American Fiction,” and they were talking about Aquaman and some other big movies with big action budgets I was completely unfamiliar with.

So I think part of it is taste, and what you naturally gravitate towards. My friend who I went with, he didn’t have the same taste in genre that I have. So there might be a disconnect there as well. But yeah, there was something about the promotion of this film that kind of fell flat. I found myself continually telling people about “American Fiction” and it’s still new information to them, even in January. And the movie was released in December. It has me wondering how much longer is it going to be in theaters? Do they take films out of theaters based on how many people are showing up?

And I also wonder, did we ever recover from the pandemic, like as a whole? Once everything shut down in 2020 did we ever recover? Do we have the same amount of people going back to the theaters as we did back in 2019? I don’t have the data or the information on that. But it certainly took me a while to get back to the theater to feel safe enough to go see films.

Mike Jordan: I wonder too if perhaps if it is pandemic-related. We saw the switch from theaters to streaming, and people were watching at home. I wonder if the nature of the way Black moviegoers want to consume Black movies is by not being a moviegoer and staying at home. I wonder if that’s happening?

Honestly, thinking about “American Fiction,” I’d been hearing about it and I knew I wanted to see it, but what probably kept me from going to see it earlier is that I was like, “Gosh, is it gonna come on Netflix? When is it gonna be on TV so I don’t have to leave the house?” So maybe we’ve become used to the movies we liked showing up on streaming platforms.

And I do remember there was a wave over the past few years of movies that seemed to center Black aspiration on a lot of the streaming platforms. There was “Uncorked,” the Netflix movie about the Black sommelier who came from a family that owned a barbecue restaurant in Memphis. There was the movie about Madam CJ Walker that went straight to streaming. There were a lot of stories of African-Americans with upward mobility, but they were streaming films. And I know one thing that happens with streaming, because it’s digital, is data. So the streaming platforms were probably finding out “Oh, we’re seeing more success with these kinds of movies…” Because you have to imagine less of them would be greenlit if they weren’t seeing the return on investment, or if it weren’t some long-term strategy towards Black audiences who maybe they saw watching and consuming more content at home. I think American Fiction is a movie which probably would do much better if it was released straight to streaming.

DeAsia Paige: Yeah, and that reminds me, I just saw news about “The Color Purple,” you can buy it on Amazon Prime this month. That seems kind of early. But again, I don’t know how these things work. But I know for me, someone who (whispers) has not seen “The Color Purple” yet — but I’m going to — I was like, “OK, there’s my chance.” Because I take my mask everywhere I go. If you know me in person, you know I stay with my mask. I’m very much a homebody, you know; I’m still very cognizant of COVID, and we’re in a surge right now. So even if I do go to the movies, it’ll be during the matinee, where there aren’t as many people.

Najja Parker: You make a good point, because I went to “The Color Purple” maskless, and a couple of days later, I had the flu. It was a packed theater, and I did go opening weekend. So I should have been more diligent. But also to your point, I feel like movies get to streaming services a lot quicker now. I think people are used to that pattern and they decide to wait, because if you wait however more weeks you can see it for free, or at least alongside your subscription.

Mike Jordan: I think there are all kinds of factors involved. It’s not as easy to get to the movies if you have a lot going on. And in terms of household wealth, movies have gotten more expensive. I noticed the popcorn I got was a lot more expensive than it used to be, and it was never cheap.

Mirtha Donastorg: The small popcorn was $9.50. I was like “What is happening?”

Mike Jordan: And that butter tasted a little bit too much like oil; it didn’t taste as buttery. So I just want to throw that out there to anybody who’s listening and wants to work on their popcorn game. If I’m paying $10 I feel like I can speak on popcorn.

Najja Parker: I will say the quality of the nachos has also gone down. There’s something about the cheese that’s not giving. But that’s an aside.

Mike Jordan: I want to ask everyone to rate “American Fiction,” from 1 to 10 and give me a why on that.

Mirtha Donastorg: That’s a good question. I’m somebody who doesn’t watch a lot of movies. I’m not a big movie buff, so take it with a grain of salt. I’d probably give it a 7 or 8 out of 10. I thought it was really, really good. I think it inspired a lot of conversation about the media landscape that I work in, and the role of the media in general.

I think where it might have lacked a little bit is in the full expression of the family storyline. I feel like maybe Sterling K. Brown, the brother, was a little flat in how he was portrayed, but certainly not his performance.

Najja Parker: Mirtha, we are in alignment. I’m right around an 8. I loved the storyline and we already mentioned how funny, relatable and triggering it was. And also just refreshing. I don’t know if I’ve seen that specific story told on the screen before so I appreciate that perspective. There were some storylines I wanted tied up a little cleaner, but perhaps that was the point — for us to use our imagination to fill the gaps. I was also happy to see Erika Alexander on the screen. She’s brilliant. There were just some things I wanted and was more curious about that kind of left me hanging. But perhaps they wanted us to focus more on the satire and the Black experience in the media space.

DeAsia Paige: How often do we get Tracee Ellis Ross in a movie, and in somewhat of a leading role? That’s why I wanted to watch it because “Girlfriends” was a huge show in my development as a person and as a Black woman. Her storyline, working at Planned Parenthood and sacrificing herself for the needs of her family, I think a lot of Black woman can relate to. And I agree with Mirtha about Sterling K. Brown’s character too. I love him as an actor, but I think the way he was written was steeped into stereotypes about queer people being troublemakers. We really didn’t see a nuanced perspective of him but I think he acted well. I just don’t think his part was written in a way that was defined and polished. And I love Erica Alexander as well.

Mike Jordan: I agree. When I saw the trailer, I feel like I saw moments that made me think there were other scenes I missed in the movie specifically related to Sterling K. Brown’s character. I compare “American Fiction” to “Bamboozled,” Spike Lee’s film about the television industry and a minstrel show, in terms of the points it makes. You understand them a lot more if you come from that specific microworld of where it’s focused. Overall, I’d give it an 8 as well. It’ll be interesting to see how it translates to the bigger, broader audience.

And obviously we can’t speak for Black people as a whole, but we can of course speak for ourselves as Black movie-watchers. What is it that you want to see in Black films?

Najja Parker: I want to be able to choose from a variety of Black stories. I’m enjoying the space we’re in and I don’t want to be limited. I don’t want to only have one choice of Black film in the theater. I want to be able to go to AMC Madison Yards and see that there are four different films that cater to my community. And I can choose.

Mirtha Donastorg: I want to be engaged in something I haven’t thought about or realized before. Like I said, I’m not a huge movie fan; I don’t watch a lot of movies. But I want to know more about the movies, so I want better marketing pushes. I want to know when a movie is coming out and what it’s about, just through marketing. I want to be engaged before a movie comes out and during the movie.

DeAsia Paige: For me, just more films made by Black women, queer people, the indigenous community, more people of color, and LGBTQ stories at the forefront, given the budget promotion, a rightful soundtrack… I just want more of those stories told and told in a nuanced way, especially for those independent filmmakers out there.