magical negro

a movie cliché in which a black man with apparently supernatural powers mysteriously appears, helps the white man in trouble get through his problems for no reward, and then cheerfully leaves the story altogether.
legend of bagger vance.
the green mile.
the matrix.
bruce almighty.
a token black guy in films who fills the stereotype of being impossibly old, wise and sometimes able to actually perform magic. usually the magical negro is there to give guidance to the main white hero, which may explain why the magical negro stereotype is most popular in movies geared toward a white audience.

some examples of recent popular negros are:
chef from south park, morgan freeman, oracle from the matrix and barack obama.

some non- black magical negros:
mr. miyagi, jackie chan, pai mei
hero: oh no! i have to defeat my enemy and save the world from certain destruction!

abraham: don’ worry chile, im a wise ole sage heeuh tah help ya through alla yo struggles.

hero: thank you magical negro, i suddenly feel a lot better. see you at the end of the movie! (walks off to begin quest)

abraham: crazy chile’ (smiles and shakes head reminescing, then disappears in a cloud of smoke)
“magical negroes” are characters of color that appear in otherwise totally-caucasian works of fiction. these characters are hardworking, righteous and usually have magical powers, but despite their supernatural prowess they have no impact on the progress of the plot.

the “magical negro” character does not actually have to be of african-american decent, but is always the darkest member of the cast. the character’s race is rarely if ever referred to, and usually speaks perfect english.

this plot device is beloved in hollywood, because it allows producers and directors to say, “see? we’re not racist! we have a minority in a featured role!”

stephen king is especially well known for this device; see scatman crothers as ‘d-ck halloran’ in “the shining” or michael clark duncan as ‘john coffee’ in “the green mile”. see also idris alba as ‘heimdall’ in “thor” or dev patel as ‘zuko’ in “the last airbender”.
examples: scatman crothers as ‘d-ck halloran’ in “the shining”, michael clark duncan as ‘john coffee’ in “the green mile”, idris alba as ‘heimdall’ in “thor”, dev patel as ‘zuko’ in “the last airbender”, magical negroes colorblind colorblind racism
the welterweight champion. better than the juggernaut. master of all things serious f-cking business.™ there’s one for every generation.
the magical negro is serious f-cking business™.