Cord Jefferson clinched the coveted Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay with his compelling work, “American Fiction,” adapted from Percival Everett’s novel, “Erasure.” Seamlessly blending drama with biting satire, the screenplay boldly confronts the microaggressions and stereotypes entrenched within the African American creative sphere in publishing and film. Jefferson’s narrative leaps off the page, offering a poignant reflection of societal complexities.
“American Fiction” delves into the world of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (played by Jeffrey Wright), an erudite yet disillusioned author grappling with the commodification of African American culture in mainstream media. To challenge prevailing narratives and societal norms, Ellison adopts an alias and pens a captivating but stereotypical novel, inadvertently thrusting himself into the limelight.
As a first-time director and now an Academy Award recipient, Jefferson underscored the significance of his win, emphasizing the film’s poignant critique of narrow portrayals of African American life. His achievement serves as a testament to the power of storytelling in dismantling stereotypes and fostering inclusivity in cinema.
ON THE CONTRADICTION
CORD JEFFERSON:
Hopefully, the lesson here is there is an audience for things that are different. There is an appetite for things that are different and a story with African American characters that’s going to appeal to a lot of people. [African American films don’t] need to take place on a plantation, they don’t need to take place in the projects. It doesn’t need to have drug dealers in it and doesn’t need to have gang members in it. There’s an audience and market for depictions of African American life that are as broad and as deep as any other depictions of people’s lives.
ON BEING RECOGNIZED
CJ: There’s a Victor Hugo quote that says, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” And so, you know, I was very passionate about this film. Everybody who worked on this film is very passionate about it. Nobody was there for the money because we didn’t have any money. So people were there because they believed in it. And so, to be here now and to receive this … feels incredibly surreal.
ON THE POWER OF POSITIVE WORD OF MOUTH
CJ: We didn’t have a huge marketing budget, so we relied on word of mouth a lot and people who liked the film telling other people they liked the film. What I tried to convey in my speech is that there’s an audience for things that are different. There is—there is an appetite for things that are different. And, you know, a story with Black characters that’s going to appeal to a lot of people doesn’t need to take place on a plantation, doesn’t need to take place in the projects, doesn’t need to have drug dealers in it, doesn’t need to have gang members in it. But there’s an audience for different depictions of people’s lives, and that it…there is a market for depictions of Black life that are as broad and as deep as any other depictions of people’s lives. Does that make sense?
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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