American Fiction

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

So, I ran downstairs to my wife. “Guess, who won Best Picture?”

“American Fiction?” she asked warily.

“No, Oppenheimer. It was a good movie,” I said.

“I didn’t like it so much,” she replied.

We then talked about a young kid who got into all three private schools on his applicant list. Now the parents can relax and enjoy the Open House process. Not that my opinion matters but I hope the kid and his parents choose the Bishop’s School in La Jolla, a fine school by the ocean.

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I ran back upstairs and discovered American Fiction had won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Yeah!

Although Oppenheimer was a great movie and deserved Best Picture, American Fiction held a special place in my heart.

American Fiction engaged caricatures and stereotypes in a truthful way. I recognized my life.

American Fiction brought to the silver screen the summer place in Black American families. Oftentimes I write about Sag Harbor and Oak Bluffs and the Inkwell Beach and I feel readers don’t get it. It was nice to see the writer Monk Ellison at the bungalow on the silver screen. The known world of cousins and in-laws, Our Kind of People.

American Fiction mocked the idea that all black writers must be of hood and thug life. It’s hard out here as a writer who grew up in a small town. Monk made me feel less alone.

Every family has drama. My family has drama. Monk could have been my brother, if I had a brother.

Conclusion: Tonight was a win/win. Oppenheimer was rewarded for epic movie making. And American Fiction gives us hope that Hollywood appreciates the black writer committed to honesty in life. Take a bow, Monk Ellison, and you too, the Distinguished American writer Percival Everett who wrote the novel Erasure (2001) adapted into an Oscar winning Adapted Screenplay by Director Cord Jefferson.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival_Everett

American Writer Monk Ellison