‘American Fiction’: A Charming Satirical Film And Dark Horse Oscar Contender
Director Cord Jefferson says he is lucky that his critically-acclaimed first-time feature even got made
Overwhelmed by family tragedy and an unraveling professional life, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison acts upon a spark of madness within him as a writer. He types out the words, “My Pafology by Stagg R. Leigh.” Two Black characters, a young man in a doo rag and a deadbeat father, appear in front of the desk where Monk sits.
The scene in “American Fiction” evokes the parody of 1987’s “Hollywood Shuffle,” produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend. Both Van Go Jenkins and Willy the Wonker could easily be graduates from “Black Acting School,” and that may not be a coincidence.
Cord Jefferson, who wrote and directed “American Fiction,” described “Hollywood Shuffle” as a “spiritual ancestor” to his project.
“I loved that movie,” Jefferson told the New York Times. “I probably saw it before I was 10. It opened my eyes to this idea that you can talk about these things that are very serious but also have fun with them, that not only is it OK to laugh, you need to laugh because otherwise you’ll just be miserable all the time. It blew my mind wide open.”
More than 35 years later, Townsend’s first-time feature is a beloved cult classic. But “Hollywood Shuffle” never had the success with critics that Jefferson’s first-time feature has enjoyed.
It is well-known that Townsend spent $60,000 of his own money and maxed out several credit cards in order to complete “Hollywood Shuffle.” Fortunately, Jefferson did not have to risk going into debt to make “American Fiction,” but it was never a guarantee that the film would be made.
After he stumbled across Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, Jefferson adapted the book and pitched the project to over a dozen companies. Orion Pictures (owned by Amazon MGM) was one of only two companies to offer a deal.
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