Watch the official trailer for #AmericanFiction, starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, and Sterling K. Brown. From Writer/Director Cord Jefferson. Only in theaters this December.
AMERICAN FICTION is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
AMERICAN FICTION is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 How did you come to write this book?
00:02 What really struck me was that too few books were about my people.
00:06 Where are our stories? Where's our representation?
00:10 Would you give us the pleasure of reading an excerpt?
00:13 Yo, Sharonda! Girl, you be pregnant again?
00:18 If I is, Ray Ray is gonna be a real father this time around.
00:22 [applause]
00:25 Thank you.
00:26 [applause]
00:31 Monk, your books are good, but they're not popular.
00:36 Editors, they want a black book.
00:38 They have a black book. I'm black, and it's my book.
00:41 You know what I mean.
00:42 Look at what they publish. Look at what they expect us to write.
00:47 I just want to rub their noses in it.
00:50 [laughter]
00:56 I be standing outside in the night.
00:58 Deadbeat Danz, Rappers, Crack.
01:00 You said you wanted black stuff. That's black, right?
01:03 I see what you're doing.
01:05 We sold your book.
01:08 No.
01:09 We believe Mr. Lee has written a bestseller.
01:11 It's a joke.
01:12 The most lucrative joke you've ever told.
01:14 Now, is Stag a pseudonym?
01:15 Yeah.
01:16 Mr. Lee can't use his real name.
01:18 Is this based on your actual life?
01:22 Yeah, you think some bitch-ass college boy can come up with that shit?
01:26 No, no. No, I don't.
01:27 Can I ask what you were in for?
01:31 Was it murder?
01:33 You said that, not me.
01:35 They ran 300,000 copies.
01:37 Your books change people's lives.
01:39 They're offering $4 million for movie rights.
01:41 Yes!
01:42 The dumber I behave, the richer I get.
01:44 This has gone too far.
01:50 Stagar Lee is still on the run from authorities.
01:52 You haven't done anything. It's not like they can arrest you.
01:54 Wish I could go back to not selling books.
01:59 Is it bad to cater to people's tastes?
02:01 People want to love you, Monk. You should let them love all of you.
02:04 There's already so much buzz because of the movie deal.
02:07 Michael B. Jordan is circling.
02:09 We want to put him on the cover in one of those, um, scarves.
02:12 I guess you would call them, tied around his head.
02:14 A do-rag?
02:16 Do-rag, that's it.
02:17 Do-rag and a tank top with the muscles showing.
02:20 Something called the fire department.
02:22 We're thinking we can get it out in time for Juneteenth.
02:30 (upbeat music)