let's just say that decisions were made 

wish i could have included more clips of the film but copyright was not messing around, babes

I'm with you: it is genuinely exhausting seeing almost every movie centered around Black folks revolving around police brutality, racism, poverty, etc. We need more stories of Black people going on adventures, having romances, being superheroes and magic users without "the struggle" being a major part of the narrative. Can we just be allowed to have fun at the movies for once? I know there are some, but there needs to be more.

My first depiction of black witches was Twitches, lol

The most unbelievable thing about this is how his agent fires him and he THROWS AWAY the art that has been paying for his $3000 a month apartment.

The thing I'm most upset at is how this amazing film title is now used up

Rochelle being the only one without a family was always weird to me as a kid

I had no idea that Rachel True was left out of The Craft promotion and reunion junkets. Very disrespectful and angering, but not surprising. I can't bring myself to spend money on this movie. Aisha Harris' NPR review had me screaming though "he has no community to speak of - no friends, no real job, and no family, except a white mom he offhandedly mentions. (This is somehow both very illuminating and not at all illuminating at the same time.)" 💀😂😂

Honestly I think this film was made because someone saw that Key and Peele skit and just thought it'd write itself as a feature film.

I think it was in the Horror Noire documentary that Rachel True joked she knows a hundred ways to say "Is everything okay?" because she only ever gets cast as the helpful black friend.

We could’ve have a movie about a magical HBCU and instead we got… this 😑

*_sigh_* at least we got to see Justice Smith go on a cool magical journey in Dungeons and Dragons last year.

Daughters of the Dust is the best portrayal of Black women and witchcraft to this day. And as problematic as AHS is, Angela Basset carried as Marie Laveau

this movie should have either been a black romcom involving magic and just removing all the half baked social commentary, or should have removed the romcom aspect and have been about why the trope is so weird and racist. its just crazy that theres a rare piece of fantasy media with a black main character and it still is about yt ppl

I’m tired of Black stories needing to involve White people somehow. Why did we need a non-Black love interest? Why is the magic system about appeasing White people? I get its social commentary, but it’s been the same commentary since Get Out. American Fiction wasn’t perfect, but I’ll still say it was a really good film that had a lot to say about Black art, representation, and reception. Comparatively this film seems to be copying off the homework of other Black scripts without adding anything new.

casting a mixed black/white man and a non-black love interest is insane

the only review i was waiting for.

21:16 "It's not the commentary itself that bothers me. It's the idea that as black creatives.. all our work has to be commentary. To get into certain rooms, it seems our work can't just exist, but has to exist as a lesson or as a meditation as our experience as black people." I would HIGHLY recommend watching the movie American Fiction, which is about this very thing!

The 2019 film, “Yesterday” is another example of wasted potential for the sake of a surface-level love story. The whole world had forgotten the Beatles existed and the protagonist gets famous off of singing their songs, but the film never engages with that phenomenon deeply🫠

Everything about this movie just makes me go "how the fuck did this get greenlit and why the fuck did anyone agree to work on it"

I was not expecting one of this film's issues to be a half-decent romcom taking up unnecessary space in its narrative. What a weird problem to have.

I feel like this movie would work a lot better if it was some Lovecraftian horror shit. Random Black people forced by some insane racist God to perform the narrative role as Magical Negros against their will. It makes way more sense than this movies vague magic rule bullshit.

I literally stopped watching Vampire Diaries specifically because of the way they mistreated Bonnie. For my podcast, Nerdgasm Noire, I wrote a post asking "Which show hates Black Women more? Vampire Diaries or True Blood?"

There’s an edit of all of the harry potter movies together but just when a bipoc character is speaking and it’s 8 minutes long.

As an artist i am personally offended that someone in a gallery show like that is still classified as struggling

As a young black person, I'm beginning to think that we might be inadvertently shaping our own monolith. It seems we're navigating a cultural landscape where the emphasis is starting to lean towards crafting narratives that resonate with white audiences rather than authentically representing our own set of multifaceted identities. It's about more than just our collective racial experiences or the trauma that often accompanies them, right? It's about the rich, diverse nature of who we are as unique beings. This shift in focus is not just a suggestion; it's a necessity for the future of our representation. I'm tired of coming-of-age films constantly perpetually glorifying our struggles but not celebrating the full spectrum of our lives-our joys, our dreams, our complexities. It's time we prioritize stories illuminating our individuality, not just those echoing our collective pains.

If you want a story about black witches, I recommend this book called Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury! It's about a Trinidadian-Canadian teen witch who has to sacrifice her true love to save her family's magic.I love how the author intertwined magic with her family and culture. All witches in the book are only POC(asian too) and the reason why black witches gained magic in the first place was to combat slavery and escape to Canada. In hindsight, it makes sense to have only POC witches because they are the ones who've had to fight oppression.

The impact of "adding diversity for no reason" statement is why we need a reason to just exist. I am over the Kenya Barris style "let me explain Blackness to my white friends that are watching." I'm over it. Let me finish watching Domino Day

So this could have been a romcom with some magical elements. But it wasn't and we all have questions now.

Horn Book has an article called "Our Modern Minstrelsy" by Kekla Magoon about how black creators are pressured to conform their stories to white ideas of what black stories are, boxing POC creators in, this video made me think of it

LOVED THE VIDEO! I was super disappointed when the Ryan Coogler vampire movie starring Micheal B. Jordan announced the plot was black vampires fighting the KKK. Like we knew it would be the Jim Crow South but damn... I feel like the last third of the video perfectly articulated how I'm feeling about the state of Black-led fantasy stories right now

Unfortunately I the sequel to The Craft was an empty cash grab that backfired. I wish they brought back Rachel True, as Lovie Simone's mother...versus the dumb plot they went with. They had a chance to right there wrongs and actively chose not to. Shame!

the blackening! was the surprise of the year I went in there expecting something dumb, I went in to expecting some nonsense. But I truly enjoyed that movie so much. So good

black stories do not always have to be commentaries!! yes!!

Glad I found your review. There are so many ‘anti-woke’ creators that pop up for reviews and I wanted a review from someone who isn’t inherently anti-black. Glad to get a genuine reflection that wasn’t "tHiS iS rAcIsT aNd aNtI-wHiTe." On Note, everyone references Key & Peele’s skit, which is well deserved, but a lot of people overlook a skit done by Astronomy Club which focuses on the rehabilitation of the magical negro. If you haven’t seen it you should. It’s honestly what this film SHOULD have been.

I knew this movie wasn't made for us the second I saw Aaron's name was spelled Aren.

Saw the poster for this at a local theater, had to look it up when I got home and it was just... "oh."

Native Americans share a similar sentiment. Almost always, they're depicted as suffering due to colonization or are used as a way for the writer/author to have an avenue to insert paranormal aspects into their writing. It's always some ancient native folk tale or some ancient native medicine. They're also used to explain some ancient type of history that non natives don't know about and that explains what's happening to the audience.

I'm glad to hear someone other than me express the desire for black narratives that aren't about our trauma. We could've gotten a cute romcom or a fun magical world but instead we got this movie for white people

This sounds like Yesterday: a movie with a really high concept that uses that concept as a jumping-off point for a very bland story.

The blackening was such a fun movie, I was genuinely surprised because the name is so stupid 😭

That quote from the reviewer about her discomfort in the theater was exactly how I felt when I was one of four black people watching American Fiction in a filled showing. Unfortunately, I have come to realize that white audiences who go to see any black commentary film, good or bad, suffer from that issue. The reality that white audiences struggle to identify with black characters and black stories becomes apparent, especially in comedies, when you realize they laugh at the scenes that portray caricatures of themselves only and not at any of the other noncoded jokes just because its being said by a black actor. I had never felt so uncomfortable watching a movie before, even though I liked American Fiction a lot.

I am baffled why a mixed man thought his personal experience as a mixed man was enough for him to write an entire movie abt the Black experience in America...kinda,since like you said this is just a sloppily put together romcom. The magical negro trope being there was so unneeded, esp since they didn't do anything interesting with it. Also... Mighty funny the fully Black woman gets the boot for rightfully standing up for herself, while the mixed, light skinned, MAN is rewarded. Idk nothing abt this movie sits right with me.

I didn't watch The Craft until I was older, I was definitely disappointed in Rochelle's lack of story line compared to the others, and how her story ending just made me feel like they did her dirty. It's even more disappointing to find out that the actress just got tossed aside in the press too.

Universal really hoping people forget about this movie and fast

I remember watching ‘The Craft’ with a friend in college and she came up with a Rochelle story off the top of her head: Rochelle had a beloved aunt in the inner city struggling with substance abuse issues so her niece worked magic to help end the addiction. It backfires when it drives her aunt insane and she ends up dead. Rochelle then gets to struggle with her love of magic and her guilt simultaneously until the showdown happens at the end. In her reflection, she’d see herself as a haggard addict or even her aunt in ghostly form. That character (and by extension, actor) deserved so much more. They could’ve even made the main character in the second one her daughter grappling with the magic. Great video! It feels awkward even typing the title into the search bar. God bless the algorithm lol

i think the idea that trying to write about a concept before writing about people is so true. if you start writing a story going "i am going to make a story about (insert social problem)" it's likely going to fail. i loved this analysis so much and it always sucks when a movie with so much conceptual potential falls short

I also love the craft and how Rochelle was treated by the script made me deeply sad. Learning how the actress got treated off-screen made me even sadder.

we get blamed for making everything about race, and then in media those are some of the only narratives we're offered

I would also like more black centric films that are actually fun again. I'm legit considering just watching those African movies my mom watches just to see something black centric that isn't about "the struggle".

Dude. I literally think about this shit so much. When it comes to black fantasy, it's very scant and few and far between, it feels like the reality of being black is hyperfocused on in the media (especially the violence) and the refrain from including black people (black women specifically) in those fantasy stories always gave the impression they don't want us to see ourselves in those fantasies, that we're not allowed to enjoy them unlike white girls- who always fit into the magical girl mold. (or at least those kinds of shows are created with white girls and viewers in mind)

The Tara mention. I need a True Blood retrospective from you very badly. Hell, a TVD one too. But specifically with the black characters. I thought Justice Smith was lovely in this movie the romance scenes were so cute but def jarring as hell. Like woah?

Other mysterious society concept: The Manic Pixie Dream Girls. A group of spunky women who gain magic by having to help dudes learn how to come out of their stupid shells and embrace life or some shit. Hair must be quirky and at least 1 hyperfixation as an aspect of their personality is necessary.

Not the exact Key and Peele skit you brought up in my recommends while I watch this video

The Astronomy Club’s Magical Negro Rehab was also such a fun angle!!

I unironically love the Key and Peele Inner City Wizard School sketch just as a premise. It's like Sky High, like the combination of a fantastical setting with the relatability of characters that aren't powerful within that setting is great and I hate that during the HP knock off craze we never got stories like that (besides Sky High kind of, although it didn't handle it well at all). Like back when I was into Harry Potter I was disappointed when JK Rowling revealed the names/details of all the other wizard schools specifically because it meant the Key and Peele sketch couldn't be canon.

This was genuinely a shame. I really wish they had played with the premise a lot more, but the focus was in the wrong place with the romance.

All the ads for this movie made it seem like satire a la Get Out, but comedic instead of horror. Why did they make it a romcom?? Maybe they were afraid to make an actual political statement? Idek

Ooooh on the topic of media screening over Black witches, let's not forget how CW really screwed over Madeleine Mantock/Macy from the rebooted version of Charmed. She was badass and they really gave her the short end of the stick

It’s films like this that lead me to create my own fantasy/sci-fi story, "The Collective: Forsaken Faith," where instead of relegating melanated protagonists to supporting roles or turning them into walking traumas, they are able to take center stage and occupy their rightful space within the narrative

Damn, i was hoping this movie wasn't going to be what you've described. This premise really is such a great starting point.

Please do a video on Tara Thornton! Her character’s conclusion was so strange I felt like I was missing a lot of off-screen context

Seems weird to me that a movie about magic (and by extension magical world) shies away from showing the magical world itself 🤦🏾

As someone who practices witchcraft and has gone back to watch The Craft many times, I was always disappointed in what they did with Rochelle. She's easily the most intriguing character yet gets the least amount of attention. When I was younger the scenes that stuck in my head were always Rochelle's (the shower and light as a feather) but I was surprised at how little shes focused on. Its honestly a disservice to make a movie about witchcraft and not focus on a black woman, a lot of magical practices are straight up stolen from black people's practices and cultures so having them not only do an "unrealistic" wiccan version of witchcraft but to also not focus on the one that would be most likely get into witchcraft seems like SUCH a disservice. (Btw wicca is like the most white washed form of witchcraft you can find, made in the 40s by a white guy appropriating a bunch of different cultures and bastardizing their teachings. The main rule "do as you will if it harm none or it will come back times 3" which is the opposite of a lot of teachings, and a way to keep victims from standing up for themselves in their craft. I've seen discourse of wiccans literally hate mobbing victims of assault when they learned the victim hexed or cursed their abuser)

I really hope that the adaptation for sorcerority actually makes it to screen

so my nerd buds and i have a conspiracy theory. the internets are going "who was this movie made for" "why did they think this was a good idea" "how could this film be made". here is our conspiracy theory with references so you who have seen the films can see the similarities to property this film clearly ripped off. there is a comic book from image comics called EXCELLENCE which came out in 2019 and this movie has been sitting on the shelves (alledgedly) for two years. by black creators (writers and artists), all black cast and was even rumored to be made into a movie with michael b jordan who one of the main characters is clearly based on. how is it similar? a secret society of black wizards (complete with wands) secretly go about protecting and guiding white people in america on their destiny.....the people the wizards work for? an all white illuminati type organization. basically how in real life modern slavery is the prison system thats what this is an allegory for. the whole subplot of magical n where the lead falls for the girl who is supposed to be with his charge? that happens to one of the characters in the book who defects from the order and runs away with his white queen lol (i dont think she was white in comic but she definitely wasnt black). those are the bare bone similarities. the differences come in where they go from there. in excellence the main character decides to lead an uprising against the system (white people) so it becomes an action fantasy slave rebellion vs this satire romcom hodgepodge. cant have a modern inspirational tale that can be far more accessible than the slave trope that so many of us are tired of. nope, we always got to be in physical chains and talking all "yessims" and "I's be ah coming". read the comic, spread it out amongst your circles, and raise up! imagecomics.com/comics/series/excellence

This video reminds me of Joriah Kwaméh. 4 years ago, he participated in the Write Out Loud project where famous Broadway stars perform songs written by people trying to break into the industry. The song was performed by Regine George herself Taylor Lauderman and it was an adorable song about a girl who was in love with another girl from her school, but she felt too pressured to be perfect to get out of the closet and be with her. The fandom of The Owl House discovered the song, felt it sounded like one of the characters and blasted the song to oblivion. Josiah got a lot of attention for that, so he decided to write his own musical based on that song and story. Unfortunately, he was also bogged down by the messaging, and the cute little story about a girl trying to come out of the closet turned into a white girl juggling the romance and the need to stand up against racism at her school. Never heard from the musical again, and I don't think it will ever be made. We could have had a black girl lesbian teenage romance, and now we won't have even that.

Making him chase a non black woman and NOT making commentary on that in a movie like this is a slap in the face of all black folks and women especially real rap. That light bright director has no true black experience and it shows. Not all skin folk are kin folk. Justice playing straight leads is also extremely unbelievable. I’m gay and I don’t buy him as a romantic lead not one bit.

Always love your videos and I mostly agree with you. However, I disagree that we need to see another black male character pining after and losing sleep over the affections of a yt woman. What purpose would that serve but to contribute to the continued erasure of blk woman in leading roles and as love interests entirely. I’m frankly tired of playing nice and allowing mixed race or white passing writers, directors, and producers to create narratives that blk women are and should play background to yt women and blk men finding true, authentic love in each other. I can’t help but feel how harmful this is. And the problem is people like Kobi, only know how to tell the story of the tragic male mulatto (or monoracial blk man with the baggage of wanting to be mixed race) seeking validation from and affections of yt women. It’s lame and tired.

i watched the craft earlier this year w my older sisters and my cousin and omg i wanted sooooooo much more abt rochelle i would LOVE a movie abt rochelle abt her life, her past etc bc how interesting that she'd legit fall in w the witches of the school shes literallt the only black girl at the school. is her family rich? is she there on a scholarship? did she move there kinda like our main girle whose name i cant remember? or was she raised in that city. did she have a previous interest in magic before she met nancy and the other girl? i have so many questions.

I really feel like this concept would have been flawlessly executed had it been in the hands of the Sherman's Showcase cast + crew

Thank youuuu I’ve been waiting for reviews from actual POC about the movie before I even remotely got excited about it

I was in Jail and the TV kept playing commercials for this movie and the other inmates would mock the way the announcer would say "SocIeTy oF MaGiCaL N*grOes" every single time hahahaha, I could never take it seriously after that

Rochelle had further characterization... in the deleted scene lol It was frustrating because I feel like that while the discussion of racism at the time was rare, it also feels like they chose that as her main struggle by default. There is also the fact that the main four were lined up with elements: Sarah - Earth Nancy - Air Rochelle - Water Bonnie - Fire I know Rochelle's story did have the pool *implying* water in her story, but for the characters themselves it would have been really interesting to see how they interact with their respective elements. In magic and astrology, there are properties and characteristics given to every element... water is connective, empathetic, psychic, and imaginative... and it felt like Rochelle had NONE OF THAT. You'd think if the creators of The Craft did THAT MUCH research, they could implement some of this stuff in the characters... Rochelle deserved better for sure.

when you talked about how tara's exit from true blood is still causing rage to this day i could _feel_ myself get heated, god what a terrible way to write out your whole best character

the blackening was awesome 🤎

Oh no not the HOLES video! Pouring it out for the realest one I ever seen ;_;

when I first saw images for this movie I thought it was an expansion on the Magical Negro sketch from the Astronomy Club sketch comedy group. I wish it was more like the Key and Peele Black magical school.

If they want to make a romcom, specifically a romcom starring Justice Smith, they should just do it! He's a cute and charming enough guy! This could have been two separate movies

It's also speaks to the film industry there fantasy and scifi books by black authors (both widely acclaimed and and little known) that have never been adapted becsuse...? Like Neil Gaiman & George R.R. Martin fangirl over N.K. Jemisin yet none of her stuff has been brought to screen. Where's Octavia Butler? Any of the authors writing pan africian magic series rooted in cultural tradition?

Was really hoping we were getting a satirical black modern Harry Potter

A rom-com with a white male protagonist but has a black supporting character with his own character arc, his own motivations, his own flaws, and his own personal life is Jerry Maguire. That aspect of the story often under appreciated, and should be studied more often.

me having to skip through the segment about bonnie cause im just now starting tvd 😭

I just feel like I should note that one strange thing about Anne Rice's Witch series is that its mentioned that there are black Mayfair witches and aside from Merrick from the Vampire Chronicles there are only a handful of scenes with that side of the family (The witches from The First Street House are all an offshoot white bloodline)

WAIT!!!! I'm back, I just found out the writer and director of the movie is is the same complexion as the lead character furthermore he is married to a white woman and his parents are white(Mom) and black(Dad). It all makes sense now! The movie was about his damn self!

This film treats wypipo like Yosemite Sam from The Looney Tunes Show.

This movie literally made every point made in American Fiction ring even deeper than before.

I'm glad to see some better criticism than I've seen. I watched and connected to the movie personally, but I'm also happy to be able to hear someone articulate some of the same limits that I saw in the writing. Like the first person we see get kicked out of the society, and how the layers of her being black, a woman, and a scientist, casts a shadow over similar intersections in the rest of the movie. Liz was another capable professional woman who is limited by her white male counterparts. But the first woman didn't make a big splash in the society, it seems. I didn't see a lot of the marketing, so I didn't have the same hope of a more magic heavy story and clearly the writing didn't either. Magic is symbolic for the power given to black people by the trope, and used to smooth over various story moments. But I was expecting a reveal that the society was ultimately manipulating its members. The way the mentor character talks to Aren in some ways feels like he's running the routine he runs on clients. And the way that could reflect on the reveal with Lizzy, and her magic society (which also starts to fuck everything up because do black women have to choose one or the other?). I think in the end I just related hard to Aren so enjoyed the movie, but then likewise the reveal feels like it killed the romance for me because I absolutely think Aren was the client and therefore, conclusion, a woman needs both magic and a social infrastructure to fall for a guy like Aren.

Omg you were the one who made that Holes video! I was trying to find it again to show my roommates and spent two hours trying to find it only to give up. Now I know why :( Are there any other sites you uploaded it to? It was such a good video

I mean, at least Justice was a sorcerer in the DnD movie and was pretty fun, as that movie is a pretty good adventure comedy. He's actually really good in that movie, pretty class english accent and I left the cinema knowing he was a really good actor and hope to see more. I was one of those ppl who saw the title and thought it might be fun, with the title being more of a fun wink to the trope than what the movie was actually about. And then we saw the trailer, I lost interest, and honestly forgot it was even coming out.

I just started rewatching The Worst Witch, and the leading friendship group consists of a black girl named Ruby Cherrytree and an Indian girl named Jadu Wali and their races aren’t politicised at all. There is a rebellion for students' rights later on, and the main character, Mildred, is a rare witch from a non-witch background attending Cakle’s academy. and she struggles a lot at the school, and pretty much half the school wants her to fail, so there is discrimination in its world that is applicable. Ruby is interesting to me because, besides being a witch, she’s also a tech-head, and I like the concept of magic and technology not only co-existing but combining.

This kind of movie is the new White saviour genre.

I've seen this tactic a lot in the past few years. In "Yesterday"'s trailer and poster (before it came out) they didn't focus on the love story but more on the premise of "traveling to another universe where The Beatles didn't exist" but the movie was all about the love story and the Beatles plot was just a backdrop, a little fun fact to be on the background. It was kinda weird lol this is similar if not even worse, because the black wizarding world seems like an infinitely more interesting plot but to be also used as just decoration in the background is so disappointing

If i had a nickel for every justice smith project that wanted to tackle the sociopolitical nature of being black in america from the perspective of someone torn between a black movement and the power of white dudes I'd have two nickles which isn't a lot but it's weird that it's happened twice (The other is the get down)

5:16 my reaction to finding out that this movie existed to freeze, stare in absolute bewildered confusion tinged with that white horror that comes from seeing a title like that, and to dissociate completely about it. It felt like i was walking into a heated discussion about Kwanzaa and i did NOT want anyone to even look at me to offer the chance to give input lol.

Part of me wonders if the parts of the film a lot of people were hoping for were left on the cutting room floor or nixed by executive meddling. One horror movie with a black protagonist you might like is "The Color Out of Space". The protagonist's pigment isn't really part of the narrative beyond meting a meta level statement to say that the creators of the adaptation aren't on board with the racism displayed in the other works of the original author.

I love that this movie was a bait and switch until you see the preview like “Oh this is just a convoluted way to do a corny ass romance comedy with dumb ass racial tropes in the background. And a way better story forced into exile.”

How does it just keep getting worse 😭 the point that if they've been around for centuries that makes them at the very least complicit in slavery absolutely did me in 😅

American fiction was the same way, they advertised it as a movie about black creators having to create Work that white people comfortable by using stereotypes but that was cover for a family drama. I have to assume they had to do this to get the family drama, and a love story to get them made. and then studios can say they made a woke film

Off three top of my head, I can only think of the movie Our Song as a coming of age story of just a small group of friends that happen to be non-white. I haven't seen it in forever, so hopefully watching it as an adult doesn't disappoint lol.

"without the pressure to perform subtext" YESSSS!!!