Hollywood may brag about its level of wokeness in the culture, but there’s not enough identity politics in Tinsel Town to save them from reusing the tired trope of the “Magical Negro.”

It is filmmaker Spike Lee who is said to have popularized the phrase back in 2001 as he expressed frustration with Hollywood directors using a spiritual black character to help out the white protagonist, such as in the films The Green Mile or The Legend of Bagger Vance.

Lee said at the time, “Blacks are getting lynched left and right, and (Bagger Vance is) more concerned about improving Matt Damon's golf swing.”

“I’ve got to sit down,” Lee continued. “I get mad just thinking about it. They're still doing the same old thing... recycling the noble savage and the happy slave.”

Culture site TV Tropes defines the term:

"With such deep spiritual wisdom... you might wonder why the Magical Negro doesn't step up and save the day himself. This will never happen. So enlightened and selfless is he that he has no desire to gain glory for himself. He only wants to help those who need guidance, which just happens to mean those who are traditionally viewed by Hollywood as better suited for protagonist roles, not, say, his own oppressed people."

Whoopi Goldberg was a “Magical Negro” in the 1990 film Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, playing the role of a powerless psychic who could somehow channel the spirit of a dead white man who needed to save his white girlfriend. 

Then, there’s Morgan Freeman, considered a “repeat offender” by the AFP, who assumed the stereotypical roles for The Shawshank Redemption, Bruce Almighty, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and most recently, the Ben-Hur remake.

In 2016, actor Laurence Fishburne saved the day in Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, when his character handed over a crucial item to the protagonists on his death bed. 

And now, ABC has a new dramedy titled Kevin (Probably) Saves the World starring Jason Ritter. Playing the part of the “Magical Negro” is Kimberly Hebert Gregory, who has been asked about the trope during press for the upcoming show:

“I understand that concept but the character is not an angel. She's flawed, she's not angelic. She doesn't necessarily behave like an angel, she doesn't use language that's angelic. She has a real purpose and her purpose is really bigger than just helping Kevin do what he needs to do."

The show’s co-creator, Tara Butters, insists Gregory’s character will be “her own hero,” adding, “And as the show expands over multiple episodes one of the things she'll realize is that, as much as she is there to help Kevin, Kevin ends up helping her. They end up creating this really interesting partnership.”

Stereotypes are a-ok in Hollywood. Just don’t try any of that "really interesting partnership" stuff outside of the bubble, you racists.