It is only right that we make a post about American Fiction, the new award-winning upcoming film written and directed by Cord Jefferson. Not only are we enthused because of the nature of the story, but also because of the cast, as well as its relatable career-based topic.
This film is based on the award-winning book Erasure by Percival Everett, which released in 2001. This is a story that many can relate to regardless of industry. How many times have we known of people who love the type of work they do, but don’t love the industry they are in or they simply have their gripes with it. There are many artists in music, for example, who are fulfilled by that craft, but the industry ruins it for them. In American Fiction (and Erasure) we explore these circumstances in a publishing context with the main character Monk (who is portrayed in the film by Jeffrey Wright).
Monk notices that in his field of work, Black authors like the character Sintara Golden (portrayed by Issa Rae) who perpetuate characters deemed stereotypical thrive! All she does is produce New York Times bestsellers and praise.
Monk is baffled. It becomes blatant to him that people have an appetite for garbage, especially at the expense of the Black community. To prove his point, as the logline for Fiction notes, under a pen name, he writes a book entitled “My Pafology” that is seemingly so offensive that it rivals Golden’s catalogue.
“The dumber I behave, the richer I get,” Monk says in the movie trailer.
Fiction, a film from MGM studios, received the People’s Choice Award from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and is slated for a December 15 release. This is Jefferson’s directorial debut.
What I am interested in seeing in terms of story is whether Monk’s intention to conduct an experiment catapults into him selling his soul, especially as stakes rise in his personal life. Check out the trailer below!
Fun fact: Rae is an author in real life of the memoir Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.