TR's Fuller as Magical Negro

[Erik T. Burns]

he's also the brush man...



On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 8:33 PM, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I see no magic about him....I see him as a purposely 'flat' --see Forster;
> Gaddis does not pretend to know how to create a rounded
> character in him, unlike the world he knows well.,.......
>
> To me, Fuller embodies the plight of the serving class in America, many of
> them black. I will never forget the way Gaddis found to show how trapped
> a whole class could be/was----by Recktall knowing of and taking
> Fuller's ticket to 'freedom'. Heartbreaking. And Fuller suffers it just like
> the powerful---
> rich white men---want him to. Resignedly. Hopelessly but without despairing
> or rebelling. As so many have had and still have to in America....
>
>
> From: "edmoorester at gmail.com" <edmoorester at gmail.com>
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Sent: Friday, July 8, 2011 2:45 PM
> Subject: TR's Fuller as Magical Negro
>
> TR's Fuller as Magical Negro
>
> I do not intend to offend with this topic but Fuller does strike me as a
> trope.
>
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_negro
> The magical negro is typically but not always "in some way outwardly or
> inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social
> constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.
>
> He usually has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but
> not the sort of thing one typically encounters."
>
> He is patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and is
> "closer to the earth."
>
>
> http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalNegro
>
> Uncle Remus from Song of the South epitomizes this trope, a key reason why
> the movie isn't seen much today.
> Even the horrors of Jim Crow can't dampen his determination to be a cheerful
> mentor to white children
>
> Of course I have to note Scatman Crothers in "The Shining"
>
> Stephen King admits to doing this a bunch (also "Green Mile")
>
> While I don't really care for the magical negro trope my favorite
> is the "holy fool" ala Forrest Gump and Ralph Wiggum.
> also Terrence Hill from "Superfuzz" and "My Name is Nobody" (from Ulysses
> story)
>
> Super Fuzz (1980) trailer (so bad it's good)
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngvYJtpXkM4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
>
>
>
>
> ed
>
>