MovieChat Forums > The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) Discussion > The magical negro character can work in ...

The magical negro character can work in movies


All movies employ some stereotypes and cliches. It's how well they employ them that makes the movies good or not. Like a lot of movies end with gunfights but the gunfight at the end of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is still a lot fun. And like I said the magical negro can work. Look at Scatman Crothers in the Shining. That was a magical negro stock character but he still did a great job and it fit well into the story. Or look at Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost. That was a terrific performance and she got an oscar for it which she totally deserved. But Will Smith as Bagger. Just....no good. Cheesy goofy. Antiquated. I know Will Smith is good at doing the whole cocky Will Smith /Fresh Prince of Bel Air thing. But when he tries to do something else. Like something more dramatic like Ali, Seven Pounds or this. The end result is pretty horrific. And he might have ruined that stock character for people

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Maybe you should care less about "magical negroes" and care more about working on your grammar and punctuation. First of all, you should never begin a sentence with "Or" "And" or "But". It might also help if you try replacing some of your periods with commas or semicolons (e.g., "That was a terrific performance and she got an Oscar for it, which she totally deserved but Will Smith as bagger...just no good, cheesy, goofy and antiquated.").


All typos and misspellings courtesy of a public educational system.

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Yes, the magical negro character can work well in movies but I'm not sure if this one qualifies. The race of the Vance character was immaterial to the plot of the film.

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The Green Mile is the best example of the mythical negro hero working in a plot line. His magical abilities tied into perfectly the racism of the day and age it took place and prejudices of those around him. The Legend of Bagger Vance was just a large bit of corn and silliness.

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Plus, Bagger was a manifestation of a Hindu god. The story is a westernization of a Hindu holy book.

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