History Film / AmericanFiction

* TitleDrop: Surprisingly, the movie's title is woven into a smaller scene. Monk goes to a bookstore to just check if his books are in stock and is quite irritated to find out that his work has been placed in the African-American Fiction section. This directly ties to the central conflict of the film, that Monk is tired of being "shelved" a certain way when his writing is not defined by him writing as a black man. He even points out to the store associate that it has nothing to do with the black struggle, yet was placed under African-American Fiction. The title of the film is pointing out that all of this story came about through one man's fiction writing and that he is an American fiction writer, ''not'' an African-American fiction writer, and that pigeon-holing black and African American authors to a single section inside a bookstore does more harm than good.

Thelonious "Monk" Ellison is a black author who is struggling to sell his books because audiences only want to read books from black writers if they wrote about “black things.” As family financial troubles start mounting up, he writes a stereotypical “black” novel on a whim in one night to prove his agent wrong. Only problem is...[[SpringtimeForHitler publishers love it, and so do audiences]].

* AteHisGun: It’s heavily implied this is how Monk’s father died. Coraline accidentally blurts out that she thought the house was haunted because there was a rumor that "an old man blew his brains out in there" and then she realizes it's the old man's son she's talking to and she profusely apologizes and offers him a drink to make up for it. They hit it off after that.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Ellison family has so many issues that it's readily apparent why Monk avoids them. His mother is a judgmental homophobe. She means well, but she says cruel things to her children at times like calling Monk fat when he's pretty much the average weight for a man his age and later telling the recently outed Cliff, during one of her Alzheimer moments, "I always knew you weren't a queer." His sister has been divorced since her husband cheated on her and is back to smoking again, which [[spoiler: is possibly what kills her in the first act.]] His father committed suicide and was cheating on his mother the entire time he was a kid, but since Monk loved him so much, he never caught on and had to be told by his siblings later. Then there's Monk himself, who is a brilliant writer, but he is also judgmental and sharp-tongued, often insulting anyone who angers him to the Nth degree, and it ends up [[spoiler: costing him a loving relationship with a woman he truly liked.]]

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: [[spoiler:After reading Monk's movie script about his experiences, Wiley thinks it needs a better ending. When Monk jokingly pitches one where he is gunned down by the police when they raid the awards ceremony to arrest Stagg R Leigh, he loves it, showing that he completely missed the script's message about how the media silos black characters into specific stories like police brutality.]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: It is a bit contrived that Monk returns home [[spoiler: just before his sister dies, leaving him needing to step up and take care of his mother and form a bond with his very troubled brother Cliff as well. He initially doesn't want to sell the book despite the truly insane advance that's offered to him--$750,000--but after his sister dies and he finds out his mother has early onset Alzheimer's, he reluctantly takes the deal.]]

* DidNotGetTheGirl: [[spoiler: Sadly, Coraline doesn't return his calls after their big fight. It's possible over time, maybe she forgives him and reaches out, but the ending is with him alone again and it was a hard lesson for him to learn.]]

* TheFunInFuneral: Monk spreading [[spoiler: Lisa’s]] ashes into the beach is interrupted by a nosy complaining neighbor that Cliff has to chase off.
* GallowsHumor: [[spoiler: His sister's final letter for her surviving family members is exactly this and it's fitting given what we see of her before she unfortunately passes away. It visibly makes Monk and his family chuckle as they cry before dispersing her ashes in the ocean per her wishes.]]

* HeadDesk: Monk’s response when some businesspeople approval of his ironic proposal to rename ''My Pafology'' to ''Fuck.''

* TheHeroDies: The StoryWithinAStory ''My Pafology/Fuck'' apparently ends with the protagonist getting killed by a police officer. [[spoiler: The movie Wiley and Monk make about the events of the publication of ''Fuck'' also ends with Monk being killed by the police, since that is the only ending Wiley feels will be good and profitable (despite Monk's objections).]]

* MinorityShowGhetto: [[invoked]] In-universe. Monk is a talented writer, but his manuscripts keep getting rejected by publishers that want him to write more “Black” stories and his books are even put into African American literature section of the bookstore despite having nothing to do with it. He writes My Pafology as a parody of the tropes in this.
* MultipleEndings: Monk pitches Wiley multiple ways to end [[spoiler: the movie based on his recent experiences;]]
** [[spoiler: [[NoEnding The story ends just as Monk gets on stage and is about to confess something]].]] Wiley rejects this for being too ambiguous.
** [[spoiler: [[RaceForYourLove Monk abruptly runs out of the award ceremony to Coraline’s house]].]] Wiley rejects this one for being too cheesy.
** [[spoiler: An annoyed Monk pitches an ending where the police raid the awards ceremony after Monk’s confession that he is Stagg R Leigh, [[ShootHimHeHasAWallet mistake his trophy for a weapon]], and [[MultipleGunshotDeath gun him down in a hail of bullets]].]] [[SpringtimeForHitler Wiley approves of this one.]]

* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Monk’s sister, Lisa, is an OB/GYN and his brother, Cliff, is a plastic surgeon. In contrast, Monk himself presumably has an academic doctorate as a college professor.

* RageAgainstTheAuthor: When Monk is initially writing ''My Pafology'', he imagines the scene of the 2 characters he’s writing. When one shoots the other, the shot character calls Monk out in annoyance to which he just shrugs.

* SmashToBlack: DiscussedTrope. The film seems to end on a SmashToBlack just as Monk gets up at the awards dinner--but no, it's just the first ending Monk pitches to Wiley the director.

* StraightGay: [[spoiler: Cliff is portrayed this way, so much so that Monk either didn't notice or didn't care to notice. Cliff also is a very late bloomer for coming out, as he didn't do so until well into adulthood ''and after having a wife and kids.'' It's not fair, but it is understandable that his wife and kids hate his guts since as soon as the news got out, the whole family was humiliated by their own community. That being said, he doesn't display many of the gay stereotypical behavior except for having a lot of sexual partners and they're quite a bit younger than him. Despite this, it's not a negative portrayal of a gay man.]]
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: It's very sad, but it's not unrealistic that [[spoiler: Coraline dumps Monk after their big argument and won't return his calls and text messages.]]

* WhiteGuilt: Wiley is a movie producer that specializes in these types of films with his latest one being a horror flick, ''Plantation Annihilation.''

!! ''American Fiction'' provides examples of:

* DeadHandShot: Monk can see [[spoiler: Lisa's]] feet moving as the ER team tries to revive her, when they stop, he realizes that she's died.

* DifferingPrioritiesBreakUp: [[spoiler: Monk was already on edge because of the stress of his mother's failing health and the book blowing up when he hates it, so when he finds a copy in Coraline's bag, it makes him snap at her rather nastily. Coraline, however, does not take his judgmental abuse and breaks up with him over it, sadly not returning his calls and texts when he eventually realizes his folly and wants to apologize.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: After the very tough scene where his mother tells him "I always knew you weren't a queer," Cliff decides to fly back and candidly tells Coraline, "This family will break your heart." [[spoiler: Sadly, he's right. Monk snaps at Coraline when he finds a copy of "Fuck" in her bag and she defends the book to him, so she breaks up with him over his rude comments.]]

* CelebrityParadox: Creator/MichaelBJordan is mentioned as a possible star of the film version of ''My Pafology''. Jordan costarred with Sterling K. Brown (Cliff) in ''Film/BlackPanther''.

''American Fiction'' is a 2023 dramedy film written and directed by Cord Jefferson, starring Creator/JeffreyWright, Creator/SterlingKBrown, Creator/TraceeEllisRoss, Creator/AdamBrody, and Creator/IssaRae. It is based oh the novel ''Erasure'' by Percival Everett.

* AmbiguousEnding: Monk steps up to the award show microphone to admit the truth and the film cuts to black. He says to the director he didn't say anything at the awards regarding being the true author of "Fuck/My Pafology." The director knows this--he addresses Monk as "Monk", and the film they're making is about Monk's experience in writing the book--but it's not clear who else does.

* DeadHandShot: Monk can see [[spoiler Lisa's]] feet moving as the ER team tries to revive her, when they stop, he realizes that she's died.

* DeadHandShot: Monk can see Lisa's feet moving as the ER team tries to revive her, when they stop, he realizes that she's died.

* AdvertisedExtra: Creator/TraceeEllisRoss [[spoiler:because her character dies fifteen minutes into the film]]. Creator/IssaRae is in around ten minutes overall.

* PetTheDog: It's not entirely within her control due to the Alzheimer's, but Monk's mother, like a lot of black boomers, seems intolerant of gay men...until the wedding reception. She is seen dancing with Cliff's two gay lovers and seems perfectly content doing so, which is nice considering earlier when she just destroys Cliff's spirit by saying, in a spell of her condition, "I always knew you weren't a queer" while slow dancing with her.

* RunningGag: His family teasing him about bringing a white woman home one time.

* MinorityShowGhetto: [[invoked]] Monk is a talented writer, but his manuscripts keep getting rejected by publishers that want him to write more “Black” stories and his books are even put into African American literature section of the bookstore despite having nothing to do with it. He writes My Pafology as a parody of the tropes in this.

''American Fiction'' is a 2023 dramedy film written and directed by Cord Jefferson, starring Creator/JeffreyWright, Creator/SterlingKBrown, Creator/TraceeEllisRoss Creator/AdamBrody and Creator/IssaRae. It is based oh the novel ''Erasure'' by Percival Everett.

* BlackAndNerdy: Monk actually has to lose the glasses and try to dress more casual when he's forced to do a face to face meeting with the executive who wants to buy the movie rights, so he lowers his voice and tries to use more slang to sell that he's an ex-con fugitive. He does fumble with the persona, though, and asks for a Sauvignon when the waiter comes by, which is not something your average ex-con would order.

* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Monk’s sister, Lisa, is an M.D. and his brother, Cliff, is a plastic surgeon. In contrast, Monk himself presumably has an academic doctorate as a college professor.

The film premiered in December of 2023 and has been nominated for five Academy Awards.

* AmbiguousEnding: Monk steps up to the award show microphone to admit the truth and the film cuts to black. He says to the director he didn't say anything at the awards regarding being the true author of "Fuck/My Pafology." The director knows this, but it's not clear who else does.

* UncleTomFoolery: Monk writes this type of book to spite the trope, but it becomes a success.

* HypocriticalHumor: Judges for the Literary Award talk about how ''Fuck'' is important as a sign that people are listening to black voices, when three of the five judges present are ignoring the black man and black woman actually rejecting the idea that ''Fuck'' is worthy of an award.

* BittersweetEnding: Monk comes forward to the world about his writing of ''Fuck'' as a parody of itself and seems to be fine, even striking a movie deal based on his experiences. He’s also bonded with his brother. However, he still is reeling from the loss of his [[spoiler: sister]], his mother's dementia is still progressing, and his love interest Coraline [[spoiler: will likely never speak to him again.]]

* DeadHandShot: Monk can see Lisa's feet moving as the ER team tries to revive her, when they stop, she realizes that she's died.

* WhereTheWhiteWomenAt: Monk's father once kissed a white woman while still married to his mother, which his sister saw. Monk also gets made fun of by his siblings and mother for having brought a white woman home at some point, while his brother Cliff was also married to a white woman, though he declares that "[[The beard Beards don't count]]."

* WhereTheWhiteWomenAt: Monk's father once kissed a white woman while still married to his mother, which his sister saw. Monk also gets made fun of by his siblings and mother for having brought a white woman home at some point.

* EveryoneHasStandards: