The Magical Minority Trope is Still a Problem

The Magical Minority trope has been widely condemned for its racist undertones and problematic takeaways -- yet to this day it’s strangely difficult to get rid of. It involves a person of color existing in a film or TV show seemingly just to serve the heroic endeavors of the white protagonist. The Magical Minority uses a special “gift” they possess, whether it's mystical connection to the supernatural, hyper-intelligence in a specific area, or an exceptional talent. And they apparently expect little to nothing in return besides the satisfaction of helping the white person find themselves.

The Magical Minority actually stems from fake progressivism and a surface attempt to create “positive” media representation of people of color. But given the realities of race in America, this trope is a white writer’s fantasy. It soothes white guilt by providing white audiences with sympathetic white protagonists to see themselves in, without having to shift focus away from the white character’s experience. And it depicts people of color as helpers or servers, instead of as whole, autonomous people with their own dreams and goals.

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[unrealmai]

In The Vampire Diaries, Bonnie is quite LITERALLY an example of The Magical Minority

[inescastellano]

This trope was mocked in The Simpsons when the family had a black therapist and Homer kept saying he was an angel 😭

[WildWestSamurai]

Since it's mentioned that the Magical Minority is an inverse of the White Savior, now I can't help but imagine a parody where a white schoolteacher goes to an inner-city school to "save the children" only to come into conflict with a Black janitor giving the one white kid in class a bunch of folksy wisdom. Hijinks ensue and they battle each other for dominance as the better mentor while the kids manage to do just fine on their own.

[trinaq]

In "Moxie", protagonist Vivian is inspired to start an anonymous feminist zine by plucky new girl Lucy. While it's a decent film, I kept wishing that we were following Lucy's story instead, since she didn't need anyone to "inspire" or "teach" her.

[lilil]

An example that was a little annoying was in The Queen´s Gambit (a series that i otherwise liked a lot) the black friend tells the heroine (who is going trough a breakdown) that she is not there to be her guardian angel or to save her...except that´s exactly what she does and the last scene of her is smiling because of Beth´s acomplishments, they awknowleged the existence of the trope but didn't defied it in anyway to validate Jolene´s words.

[Wura]

You guys should talk about how black protagonist in Disney films Are literally human for 15 mins in the whole movie and are not human for most of the movie

[beccachan]

Excuse me. Holes is a straight up deconstruction of this trope. Like Sam and Kate's story is a villain origin story for Kate because the two fell in love but they both ended up in danger because they lived in a society that wouldn't allow for a mixed race couple. And Madame Zeroni cursed the Yelnats because they used her as a stepping stone to better themselves and that curse is only broken when Stanley helps her great great grandson recover from food poisoning.

[yttwitterfbfreak]

The magical minority trope could also be seen as a tool of justifying the appropriation of POC's ideas, culture etc; because in the context of the magical minority, the POC gives permission for their ideas/ gifts to be used by the white protagonist in order for them (protagonist) to better themselves vs the POC of colour using those same ideas/ gifts for themselves.

[JuanWonton]

...not the misunderstanding of 'Holes' oh no. Sam and Kate was literally about racism, and Sam literally was the only person to learn what the lizards don't like to protect themselves. And Madame Zeroni cursed The Yelnats BECAUSE he used her as a stepping stool. Stanley broke the curse because he got to know Hector as a person, and no longer held himself as higher or better than him.

[mundaneamazing]

I love that y'all brought out "the silent Asian" and "the black sidekick". These are things I HATE to see in popular culture because it rarely gets called out.

[mitsiejc]

Please do the Dehumanization Transformation trope where Black characters and other POC in animation are needlessly transformed into animals or another non-human creature to learn a “lesson”. Examples are: Princess and The Frog, Soul, Brother Bear, Emperors New Groove, Spies in Disguise

[msjkramey]

Are you really going to gloss over what really happened in Holes like that? Sam wasn't *just* Kate's handyman. She kept on asking him to come fix things because they fell in love and that was the only socially acceptable way they could spend time together *because* of all the racism. Sam didn't die because he fixed her school house. He died because a jealous racist white man caught them kissing and formed a lynch mob. If he fits any trope, it would be the "girlfriend in the freezer" trope because that's the inciting incident for her to become Kissing Kate Barlow and start robbing and killing rich white people.after her initial vengeance on the people responsible for Sam's death

And you also completely glossed over all the racial themes in the rest of the movie, too. Zero couldn't read because of being homeless and not in school, which led to his eventual arrest. When Zero asks Stanley to teach him in exchange for help with digging his hole, the other campers/inmates antagonize both of them for making Zero into his "personal slave, " which leads Stanley to say he can dig his own holes and still teach zero. Not to mention that they were *friends* and cared about each other. And you left out the fact that Zero and his family also got rich at the end because the two families split the treasure 50/50

Holes might be "baby's first look at racism" as far as movies go, but it was there and you really had to reach and leave things out to turn it into a magical minority trope. Smh

[kimifw]

But when you're talking about Asians, you have to think about the stereotypes of their respective countries. They're all stereotyped as stoic, but Japanese are stereotyped as polite while Chinese are stereotyped as rude.

[jackspde]

Even if the black character is a just a friend and not magical, a lot of times they still don’t flesh out their stories or show that they have any other black friends or relatives. It’s always just some black person there for “diversity” and often time they make that character gay to check off two diversity boxes. Sick of that shit

[marygracebuckley]

The Karate Kid does have this trope in full effect, except in one scene in the middle of the movie. Daniel finds Mr. Miyagi drunk, in his old army uniform and clutching a letter. The letter informed him that his wife and child died (possibly in an internment camp?) while he was away fighting (during WWII, I think). He’s gotten drunk because it’s the anniversary of their deaths. Daniel reads the letter aloud while Mr. Miyagi continues to get drunk. It’s a really good scene, but the narrative doesn’t delve into that part of Mr. Miyagi’s past further. The movie could have examined why he chose to help Daniel (may because he still misses the family he lost and he wishes he had a son to teach martial arts to), but the narrative keeps focusing on Daniel instead.

[Mac]

Key & Peele's sketch on this is hilariously on point

[rahbeeuh]

No Bonnie Bennett from The Vampire Diaries? She's a PRIME example of the magical minority trope. JP can step on Legos for what she's done and still does to Bonnie's character.

[rocketpoweredunicorn]

I keep seeing Lucius Fox, Morgan Freeman’s character from Batman- does he really fit the mold of a magical minority? While he is a side character in a story with a white protagonist, he’s also a professional with a very long career, and the head of a division in Wayne Enterprises, a talented scientist, and his purpose in the story isn’t to ‘save’ Bruce or give him moral support- they work together.

[niteshade]

This trope affected me in such a sub-conscious way. I watched a show a long time ago with a black main character and my first thought was "cool, getting introduced with a side character first, i wonder who the main character is?" until i came to realize he was the main character. I felt so ashamed.

[cccccccchkie]

I once told a colleague about an herb that my tribe loves incorporating in dishes. She then exoticized my narration and blew it out of proportion as if I was a wise man from ancient times. Little does she know, said herb was just scallions crushed on mortar. Nothing "mystical" or "magical" about it. We just preserve traditional cooking methods. Nothing more, nothing less.