A3 Post #2: Response to the Magic Negro

Morgan Freeman was the most static character in the entirety of Evan Almighty, but reviewers of the film did not really seem to notice this. In fact, they seemed to accept the idea that Morgan Freeman portrayed the role of "God" very well. The main focus of reviews seemed to be on the fact that the movie cost over $150 million to produce and wasn't exactly the greatest comedy made. With that fact aside, Morgan Freeman was truly a magic negro because he never really did anything other than tell Evan to simply build the ark. Sure, there was the initial push with the sending of the materials for the ark and the permanent outfit that was fit for Noah, but even then, Freeman himself didn't really show up for most of the miracles that occur throughout the film. There was no development on the part of God in the film, not even a back story or anything. The only information we know about God is from the previous movie, Bruce Almighty. Morgan Freeman's sole purpose in this entire film was simply to get Evan to build the ark, nothing else.

The reviews did seem to notice that Freeman had a static role in the film, but for the most part, they ignored the characters, with the exception of Evan, in favor of criticizing the movie in general. In a movie review on Slate, there was literally a parenthetical citation that noted that Freeman was a magic negro and no other reference to the racial implications of that action. After looking at over a dozen other reviews from various sources from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to various blogs, there seemed to be little mentioned in regards to the fact that God was black, but perhaps people were simply used to God being played by Morgan Freeman from Bruce Almighty. Whatever the reason, there was not really much commentary on the fact that Morgan Freeman was such a static, "magical negro" character in Evan Almighty.