Reply #95: Huh. Wiki's entry is interesting anyway.

[bunkerbuster1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_negro

The magical negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.<5> He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist.<6> He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness."<7> To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters."<6> They are patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and are "closer to the earth."<3>

The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them.<3> In this way, the magical negro is similar to the Deus ex machina; a simple way for the protagonist to overcome an obstacle almost entirely through outside help. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character."<5> It is this feature of the magical negro that some people find most troubling. Although the character seems to be showing African-Americans in a positive light, he is still ultimately subordinate to whites. He is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to "like individual black people but not black culture."<8>

To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself, as Sidney Poitier did in The Defiant Ones, the prototypical magical negro movie.<3>

Of course, thinking more about this, Rush's parody is more pathetic wishful thinking than anything. The Dems don't need a "magical negro" to rescue them; if Barak isn't our candidate (and I'm leaning toward hoping he is, these days) then whomever we wind up with still kick Republican ass in November '08.