let's just say that decisions were made

I don't think it's a secret that I really love the craft I've made a video about it I rewatch it way too often and being able to show it to my niece last year was one of the greatest moments in my entire life I had a pair of Nancy earrings that I used to wear in my old videos a she was so cute and still believed in YouTube as a platform adorable I love the craft but loving the craft as a black girl comes with being very critical of The Craft Rochelle was the very first black witch I saw in a movie I saw her before I saw Madam's of holes which I also have a video on had a video on R I saw her before I saw elzora from EES Bayou so Rell suffice to say meant a lot to me and of course that means that as much as I loved the craft I kind of resented it too each time I watch it I wish there had been more for Rochelle I wish she got to do more I also wish that she wasn't made to feel bad for getting well-deserved revenge on her racist bully but my empathy isn't only reserved for the character I also wish there had been more for the actress who played her Rachel true who despite being an important part of the movie was intentionally left out of a lot of promotion for the film and who has even been left out of reunion conventions even at the 1997 MTV Movie Awards Rachel was left to sit in the audience made to feel invisible and alienated in 2019 Kate Hudson not that Kate Hudson pinned an opad wherein she pointed out that the Eraser of Rachel Tru from The Narrative of The Craft mirrors the experience of the character to a te what is perhaps one of the more Ging parts of the constant omission and eraser of tr's contribution to the movie is that it's a life imitating art moment any fan of the craft knows that Rochelle faced vicious and overt racism which was a large part of what spurned her into the darker side of what magic offered the coven this is by and large the most sympathetic and relatable reason behind the coven's power play against Sarah Bonnie wanted physical Beauty and Nancy was plain old Power hungry relle on the other hand wanted her abuse to stop and her abuser to be punished when things got out of control I understood Rochelle's participation more than Bonnie or ny's Rochelle was finally in control and her abuser knew what it felt like to have things happen to them for a change how can you erase her from the film's history still when the pool is so small even a flaw depiction like Rochelle felt like a gift and for what Supernatural stories tend to look like for black characters it still does I start with a craft in Rochelle because I find a depiction of relle to be one of the most well-known instances of seeing a black witch on screen and also because her flaw depiction has Echo throughout TV and film for decades from Drea of Sabrina the Teenage Witch to terara of True Blood whose exit from the show is still causing rage to this day we often see black witches as Side characters with either very little development or they're given story lines that are downright torturous think Bonnie in The Vampire Diaries and before you say I'm making that last point up let me remind you that there are plenty of instances where the writers openly mock cat Graham and want to put her character through the ringer just because they can so it's it's really nice that people are um appreciating um the work that Ian and I do together and are are seeing that and recognizing that it really means a lot is that something that you would ever consider do thing it's so their friendship on the show is so powerful it's just so fun she I don't know I'm feeling like Damon is still madly in love with Elena Bonnie's going to maybe have her own love interest this year and it's not going to be Damon so even though we've been able to see more stories where black witches exist it's pretty rare to see stories where they get to be Whimsical and Fantastical and even rarer to see them at the Forefront of those stories I very recently watched the entire Harry Potter series for the first time ever I know I know moving up in the world and I started playing this game with myself every time Alfred Enoch was in a scene I would see how many lines he would get most of the time he didn't get any but there were times where he had a line and I was shocked Harry I didn't know you could do that oh my God he can talk I say all of this not to get into the nitty-gritty of black people and how we are allowed to exist in Fantastical worlds but to also talk about a movie that I haven't been able to get off my mind folks let's talk about the American Society of magical Negros but before I begin please check out intellectual media's extremely well researched video on black women and Witchcraft it's extremely good like everything she's made and if you are curious about the history not just the media depictions this is a great video to get into also check out black femininity video on the depiction of black witches for a more in-depth look on the film and TV side both videos will be linked in the description the film itself there was a fair bit of controversy when this movie's first trailer dropped from the left the right and Center there were tweets Tik toks and think pieces all unpacking what felt for many like a very underwhelming story while some people were up in arms calling the film woke race baiting nonsense by the way don't you guys miss when woke used to mean something I sure do others were perplexed and disappointed by the story The Trailer was presenting they thought they were getting a story about black witches and wizards to find out not only is this a story that plays into the magical negr Trope instead of playing against it but all of this for a love story a love story that doesn't even include a black woman oh the reactions were bable to say the least but that was the trailer what about the movie not much better the movie begins with Aaron Aaron is an artist who is struggling to get anyone interested in his yarn work at a gallery all around him paintings and sculptures are being bought up like hot cakes but while while people briefly observe his work no one is interested enough to make a purchase he's a struggling artist or at least he's supposed to be but given that he lives in an apartment like this in La I have to surmise that struggling artist is just a word he uses to fit in right off the bat we see Aron afforded a level of privilege that the movie won't acknowledge because it doesn't fit into the mold of the very limited narrative while he can be both privileged and discriminated against there's no interest in discussing the duality of that plenty of people struggle to get their art in the room and the movie begins with him at a fancy gala where artworks are being bought for thousands of dollars that's kind of a huge thing but the movie doesn't do much with it after stumbling and fumbling his way through the gala and failing to get his PE spot he's informed by his agent that she won't be representing him anymore and he won't be part of the upcoming Gala Aaron leaves throwing out his yarn sculpture along the way he stops at the ATM to check his bank account a moment that is super contrived because I'm like 90% sure that this takes place in the modern day and he has a phone and a banking app where he can most likely check his balance it's not like he went to withdraw money he just checked his balanc first red flag that the story is going to be a disappointment when he's about to leave the ATM a drunken woman comes up to him and asks for his help asking him to hold her purse as well Aaron does so because he is nothing if not overly accommodating and when the woman's boyfriend comes up all he sees is a black man holding his girlfriend's purse and he immediately goes in to punch Aaron that's when magical negro number one Roger played by David Allen Greer comes in to save the day he uses magic to return the purse to the white girl and deescalate the situation so that everyone walks away happy he then recruits Aaron to the American Society of magical Negroes he drops him off at a class so he can begin his training this is reason number one that this movie would have been better if we explored more of the Wizarding World there is a whole new set of rules and Magic that Aaron has to learn that the movie doesn't spend any time on because it's like like well we really have to get this startup romance going but more on that later so he goes to one class and pretty much immediately gets his Wizarding license and gets his first client shortly thereafter for a movie that follows an ordinary guy being thrown into an extraordinary world we really don't get to see much of Aaron coming to terms with and understanding the rules of this world can you believe we never get one scene not a single scene of him learning to hone his magic that's wild bro on his first day with his new client Aaron meets Lizzy at a cafe he knocks over her drink and offers to buy her a new one that's a real chef's kiss meet cute right there Yar approved actually they have a great moment and immediate chemistry while waiting in line until Aaron has to rush to work where he finds out Lizzy works there too Aaron meets his client a young corporate yepy named Jason and quickly gets to work to make him happier eventually this leads to a misunderstanding that Aaron is trying to set Jason up with Lily Lizzy I'm sorry he's not but now that Jason is interested in Liz Aaron isn't allowed to interfere with their romance because their romance would make Jason happy notice in this world it's not just that witches have to make white people happy and comfortable it's that they also have to make their specific white clients happy and comfortable sometimes at the expense of others maybe others who are also white is Lizzy interested in Jason not at all does that matter to the society who's only trying to make Jason happy at the moment not at all what are the rules my dudes I'll be honest there are a few points in the movie that got a chuckle out of me after Aaron begins working at the tech startup he finds out there was a big controversy with the company and their Technology's inability to recognize Black Faces some of the jokes related to this story line got a small chuckle but a small chuckle in a comedy that is 100 minutes long is not the greatest thing in the world as Aaron and Lizzie fall for each other Aaron has to pull away after learning that if he goes for Lizzy everyone's magic will fail because he broke the rules by disappointing J keep that in your pocket Never Let It Fade Away but as Aaron becomes more distant he begins to question more about the society I think it's great that in the end Aaron knows the society is doing more harm than good but at the same time I don't believe for a second that he was the first and only to question the society in fact we are presented with a scene wherein everyone's magic begins to malfunction and Aaron thinking he was the cause of It prepares to confess when it is revealed that it was actually due to a black woman who didn't speak too kindly to her client even though she's the first person we see to question the society and break the rules it leads to her being excommunicated having her powers revoked and her memory erased later when Aaron is defiant and Breaks the Rules he's meant to have his memory erased but because he gave someone in the society ideas he gets off scotf free whatever risk there had been in the story is immediately removed if the movie had gone for his memory being aase but gave us at least like one scene of Aaron being quietly unap etic we'd know that while his memory was gone his growth had remained it would mean he couldn't be with Lizzy or maybe he could be with Lizzy maybe Roger instead of erasing his entire memory could have erased all memories from the society but kept the ones of Lizzy intact I don't know dude I'm just spitballing here Aaron also learns that Roger had to give up the love of his life because he had to satisfy his white client which is an addition that makes me wonder whether a story like this from Roger's perspective would be more interesting he's been in the society for decades what if one day he realizes that it's done him more harm than good and sets out to live a life for himself and not for the comfort of others and learning about Roger's past Aaron becomes more reluctant to let Lizzie go and he fights for her in one of the final scenes he gives a monologue that ranges from I don't want to apologize for existing to police brutality is bad I have to say it's one of the weakest parts of the movie as his monologue is unfocused with pseudo activism shoehorned in the movie ends with Aaron reuniting with Lizzy and the two of them walk off into the sunset playing it straight there's a key and peel sketch about the magical negr Trope funnily I think there's a key and peel sketch for pretty much everything in this sketch two older black men get into a battle of Wizardry after realizing they're giving advice to the same hapless white man the sketch highlights the absurdity of the fact that the magical negro Trope sees black characters as essentially living for the opportunity to pass on advice and be Pious characters who fall into this Trope rarely if ever have aspirations or obstacles of their own or if they do have obstacles those obstacles are not designed for them to overcome but they serve as lessons for their white protagonists to as insight to gain from the pain and or death of the magical negro who served them I use that word very intentionally but most of the time the magical negro fixes the life of the protagonist they experience no pain but they also experience no joy they're entirely one note always in Marvel of life and wise beyond their years they aren't given the complexity Nuance or room to air as their white counterparts are they are in a word per perfect and they have to be in order to serve their purpose by making a sketch that grants magical Negroes enough autonomy for us to see how silly it is that their sole motivation is to help white people especially in light of the divine power they have ke and Peele put a spotlight on the absurdity of the Trope by turning it on its head what you initially expect from the American Society of magical Negroes is similar you go on expecting some kind of twist some kind of inversion some kind of insight that would make it easy to laugh at in the blackening a movie that seemed to split some audiences right down the middle characters are tested on well their Blackness how black are you are you black enough are you going to have your black card revoked this film while being a really enjoyable horror comedy also cleverly unpacks the question of Blackness and demonstrates through a myriad of jokes how ridiculous it is for any of us to put ourselves in a monolithic box name five black actors that have appeared on the hit TV show Friends Are y looking at me I never seen a show wait is that the show about all the white people in New York yeah on the couch yeah I didn't watch it's easy to deduce that the movie aims to not only unpack the Trope of the magical negro but to debunk it and create a parallel between the Trope itself and what it's like to navigate White spaces as a black person in America I think that's what's so disorienting about watching this movie you can see the target you can see what the film is aiming for and you also see the arrow going way off course and wondering how that happened or better yet watching this movie is like being on a road trip where all the driver has to do is stay on flat land but somehow this happens jeez you had like the whole desert to drive Inland you can't help but notice that this movie really succeeds in an area where given the subject matter it probably shouldn't this was marketed as a story about a black Wizarding World the first images and videos ever released for the film only showed us black people in antique buildings creating potions levitating and using wands the marketing team knew exactly how to sell this at first there was genuine excitement before the first trailer Dro because folks thought we were getting Harry Potter for black folks a full movie that could be Aken to another keyan peel sketch that I love the Vincent cloro public school for wizards sorry for all the key and peel references it's not my fault they were still ahead of the curve and that all feels very intentional to sort of Disguise the fact this movie is about something very different this is at its core a love story The teaser trailer for the film didn't depict a love story the first images didn't depict a love story the first log lines never mentioned a love story and even the PO poster excludes the love interest for our main character even though his love interest is the whole reason for him questioning the society you're kind of tricked into expecting a movie about this Wizarding World but the Wizarding World is not something writer and director Kobe Lee Bay is all that concerned with even if we had spent an equal amount of time in The Wizarding World As We Did in the Muggle equivalent World We Don't by the way but if we did you'd still be able to tell that the magic isn't really that important to lebe because the quality of writing and directing is it's drastically different the first time I saw the movie I described the scenes with Aaron and Lizzy as moments that brought the movie to a complete halt it's not that these scenes are bad it's quite the opposite actually they're pretty good and welldeveloped so much so that it's confusing as to why this movie wasn't just a romantic comedy to begin with there's more love and care given to the development of their relationship than there is to creating lore for the magical Society if any thought had been given to the lore by the way we wouldn't have to question the society's complacency during devastating events because if their mission statement is to keep white people satisfied and if the society has existed for centuries does that mean they were complicit in slavery because it sounds like they were complicit in slavery to quote Max Aaron James review of the film how did the Society come about to where they needed to rely on the relative satisfaction and happiness of white people sounds very much like a curse cast by a white Wizard or witch otherwise explain the benefits of being part of the society which without feeling even more at the whim of white people in the already very white world we live in did the Society of magical negro support and contribute to slavery this story implies such things given their goal these are the questions that linger in your mind that you can't get answered because once again the movie does not care about this Society this at its core is a love story and that would be fine but it is a love story hiding behind something more elaborate it's a love story at the expense of what could have been some really great World building imagine watching a story that is basically Blade Runner but we never learn more about the world because the story is contained to a startup office where a love story with a vast tonal difference is taking place that would be confusing as hell you see why I'm confused right I'm bothered by the Romantic aspect of this movie in more ways than one I'm first and foremost bothered that it comes at the expense of us spending more time in the secret society secondly I'm bothered because this love story is so damn cute Justice Smith and anley Bogan are innocent and they're great in this their chemistry restored my faith in onscreen romances they have this bumbling little meat cute that is equal parts graceless and endearing it is so cute and if the relationship had been in a better movie I could see this becoming a romcom high on my rewatchability list that would keep me company on bad days seriously if there is one Merit this movie has it is the romance between Aaron and Lizzie Smith and Bogan are great in their roles they make a cute couple and damn it I wish they had a better movie to explore this the third reason this romance bothers me is that it takes time away from The Wizarding World that initially piqu my interest for me personally the selling point in this movie is The Wizarding World it's the chance to see black Wizards and witches in a story that is Whimsical for once and I don't think romance had to be sacrificed for us seeing more of this world I wondered why we didn't have a love story that instead took place in this magical Society what if Aaron had met a witch in the magical society and he had to Shadow her and while she's training him the two fall in love but they aren't allowed to be in love not really not when their personal happiness is secondary to their job as pleasing white people maybe this could have been the Catalyst for both Aaron and this fictional witch that I just made up let's call her I don't know Rochelle maybe this could have been the Catalyst for Aaron and Roselle to question the society and why pleasing white people feels like their responsibility maybe this could have been the thing that dismantled the society once and for all if we did have a love story like that we would have gotten more of the Wizarding World while getting to keep Aaron's Arc of standing up for himself and going for what he wants without being apologetic for it also placing Aaron with more black people who share his struggle of feeling the need to make himself smaller the movie could have delved into more of the nuan topics it swears it's observing I watched this interview with Lee Bay and Smith where Smith described his background growing up around white people and feeling like he was constantly and covertly put in his place in a very white Society white community in Orange County California and it was very red County and I experienced a lot of um messaging about what my place is in society and I internalized a lot of that messaging and I made myself smaller and I uh had a lot of Shame and I after I left that left Orange County is when I really started to like uh identifying with you know my autonomy and and defending my identity and um yeah and it's the same the eron goes on in the film and so I knew I could lend myself to this character and I saw the vision for the story once again I saw the Target and I also saw how the movie completely missed it the way Justice describes it this is a good story it's not about a singular black experience it's about his experience as a biracial young man growing up in white communities with white family members and being made to feel like he's lesser that is the story I think leebe wanted to tell and one that I think he could have told well given his background Aaron is basically a standin for lebe after all but it's not the story we get the story we get was more convoluted while also being overly simplistic both too safe and too ambitious for its own good and trying to tell a story about the black experience instead of his personal experience the narrative becomes muddled confused and squanders whatever it could have said when in reality it didn't have to say much of anything okay so speaking just for myself right now the commentary in the American Society of magical Negroes was the main reason I wasn't interested in seeing it before when I just saw saw images and clips without context and without knowing the title I was intrigued but when I saw the title that's when I realized that this movie was likely going to be full of some sort of social commentary most of you watching already know that I'm not want to turn my nose up at sociopolitical commentary and film I mean the work is speaking for itself here it's not the commentary itself that bothers me it's the idea that as black creatives all of our work needs to be commentary I touched on this a little while ago in my video about Black coming of age comedies to get into certain rooms it seems our work can't just exist but that it has to exist as a lesson or as a meditation on our experiences as black people sometimes I just want to see a story where the main character is black and it's not because the story is going to unpack racism of course we're likely to see the character experience microaggressions of some sort because hey they're black but I don't always want their Blackness and the racism they experience to be the whole point of their story and I'm a little tired of horror movies with black characters where they're only black because the story isn't alory for systemic racism sometimes I just want them to exist in a slasher just because they're there it's the expectation that our stories have to speak for our experiences that wears me out there are a lot of films about black girls coming of age that I just adore but some of these stories despite how much I love them are also stories about black girls going through really shitty things where the aim is toct how difficult it is to come of age as a black girl their trauma is the most important to the narrative in a way and that feels exhausting when I look up coming of age stories I you see things like easya a ladybird clueless 10 Things I Hate About You All stories about white teenagers coming of age where life is pretty Breezy for them of course they encounter difficult things like heartbreak and familial strain but their trauma is not who they are in a lot of stories we see about black people living their life their trauma is the most important thing about them and it's tiring I'm tired I guess it's kind of like Rochelle I love Rochelle I love the craft that movie will always mean the world to me I also love getting to see Roselle get sweet revenge against her racist bully who make no mistake deserved every bad thing that happened to her and Roselle shouldn't have to feel guilty about it but I'm split on her depiction in the movie I would have loved to see Roselle getting a narrative that wasn't just about her race on one hand I'm pleased that in the '90s the movie didn't pretend racism didn't exist which is common practice in film and TV but on the other hand I wish her Arc was also just about her as a person because what do we know about Roselle what's her home life like her aspirations I know she has a great sense of humor I think she doesn't want to be white trash anymore or something and I told her like you're white honey just deal with it Roselle Zimmerman you will always be famous the way I feel about Roselle is the same I feel about the American Society of magical Negroes I wish it had left the space for itself to be Whimsical weird and fun I wish it created a space for black witches and wizards to Simply exist as black witches and wizards and not for the purpose of creating a narrative or commentary about Blackness I wish it had the space to exist for itself and not for white people the commentary it does provide feels very forced especially in Aaron's final monologue where he goes on about things and experiences that the movie didn't spend much time exploring because it was too busy showing us a cute but misplaced romance you're meant to feel like Aaron standing up for himself in the final scene is a testament to how fed up he is with how he's treated as a half black man in America but everything that comes before it suggests that it has nothing to do with how Aaron is treated and everything to do with him not being able to get the girl he wants I'm reminded of the scene I mentioned earlier when a black woman is removed from the society after standing up to her client judging from how she tells the story her Defiance came more out of her frustration with her client's ignorance and her refusal to dumb herself down literally make herself smaller in order to appease his temperate ego it's a big contrast to Aaron's reasoning which was mainly due to being loved not for self-preservation so it's a wonder why her Defiance didn't lead to anyone getting any ideas about what they should and shouldn't do but Aaron did we see himself apologize for his existence except the way people treat him without question throughout the entire film so the seed is there but it's only after Lizzie comes into his life and he realizes he can't have her that he starts to stand up for himself his selfishness is because of Lizzy and I wish some of it had been about him I wish he'd said I spent my whole life making myself smaller for other people and I'm tired of it I wish there had been more instances of him gradually being pushed to the edge metap orally not literally okay where we could see that his monologue at the end isn't just because of Lizzy I know that it's not he initially stands up for himself to say that he doesn't like the microaggression someone just said to him but I don't know if there had been more of it burgeoning if we'd seen more of what he had to put up with maybe his monologue could have felt deserved and not like an overly long hodg podge of buzzwords to put it in simple terms the monologue is very goth Punk moment of female rage okay in many ways the movie felt like it was made not for black audiences or even half black audiences to relate to rather it was made for white people to explain how black people may feel being in close proximity to whiteness this is an epidemic of genre films that I see a lot these days movies about the so-called black experience that are only made for white audiences to understand the so-called black experience to quote Shelley Nicole in her review for the film I hated the laughter of the mostly white/ white passing audience as a reenactment of sorts of The Green Mile played during one scene I cringed when they went into a loud uproar of laughter at a line about dialect change and they giggled loudly as Aaron held the door open for one white person but about eight others just kept walking out my blood was boiling it upset me because as the film ticked on I felt more and more that this wasn't one made for me it felt like one made for the education and amusement of white folks and their laughter shaking the theater was the most unsettling confirmation I don't want to dissuade anyone from writing stories that do double s commentary I loved the blackening I thought thought it was hilarious but I also think in the case of the blackening its primary goal was not to dismantle or analyze a system of Oppression it was to make people laugh when people put the commentary a story could provide over the story itself you're going to walk away feeling empty-handed and even cheated tailes from the hood has commentary but it is not a social commentary movie Set It Off has commentary but it is not a social commentary movie get out has commentary but it is not a social commentary movie even though the many children it has birthed will tell you otherwise I think leebe truly had something with his desire to speak on his experiences growing up around white people as a biracial person but I think the misstep was trying to write about a singular black experience to write about racism before writing about people Journeys and human connection mostly I just can't stop thinking about the missed opportunity of this movie one thing is for sure Justice Smith and Ann Lee Bogen are innocent I love to see them in a romcom in the future and as for leee I don't know I'm down to see him give writing and directing another shot before you roast me for that I have seen so many directors fail upwards and as much as I don't like this movie I refuse to write him off completely there's a good story in him somewhere it just needs to come out unscathed by the pressure to perform subtext thank you for watching this video here's a reminder to check out my patreon I do patreon only videos fairly often have a video about Pleasantville zebra head Rome and Michelle and my saltburn video that I posted in January is now only available on patreon not that anyone cares supporting the patreon gives me more ease and flexibility to make these videos so if you are able and are interested in supporting please sign up thank you for watching e e e e e e e

Channel: Yhara zayd

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Id: 4T1I21ots5Q

Length: 32min 26sec (1946 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 22 2024