Before American Fiction, Cord Jefferson wrote the best episode of the Watchmen series

Before receiving the Oscar for best adaptation for this successful film, he was acclaimed for This Extraordinary Being, co-written with Damon Lindelof.

By receiving this weekend an Oscar for his work adapting the book Erasureby Percival Everett, on his first film American Fiction, Cord Jefferson delivered a strong speech, thanking its producers for“having trusted this black forty-something with no experience in cinema”, and pushing studio bosses to hire more new voices, and to produce more small films:

“I understand that it's a risky industry, but you know, producing $200 million films is a risk too. It doesn't always work, but that risk is taken. So rather than making a film at 200 million dollars, try to make ten to 20 million? Or fifty to 4 million? There are so many people who would love that.”

What is American Fiction worth, the Oscar-winning film that arrived by surprise on Prime Video? (critical)

American Fiction, it's the story of a writer so jaded by clichés about black Americans that he decides to let off steam by writing a novel full of stereotypes, hoping that this denunciation will hit the mark. It's a hit, but for the wrong reasons, and the man finds himself trapped by his bad joke.

Jeffrey Wright is great in the role, and the film works perfectly as a satire full of irony and anger, but also as an intimate, family drama.

No doubt: Cord Jefferson is a talented author himself. Moreover, before directing his first film, he was noted for his writing, notably for that of a flagship episode of the series Watchmendesigned in duo with Damon Lindelof.

Episode 6, “This extraordinary being” (“This Extraordinary Being” in VO), was a shock for the public when it was broadcast in November 2018. Retracing the Tulsa massacre, a dark, little-known page in American history, it placed a secondary character from Alan's comics at the heart of the plot. Moore and Dave Gibbons, Hooded Justice. Unlike in comics where the true identity of the superhero was never fully revealed, here she was at the heart of the story, and her personal story brilliantly intersected with that of all of America.

Watchmen: Damon Lindelof explains why he unmasked Hooded Justice

“A twist too as stunning as it is unstoppable”, Première wrote about this at the time, but watch out for spoilers : The rest of our review details the key elements of this episode.

“The Masked Vigilante is black, and he is the grandfather of Angela (Regina King). This is the only way to explain, according to the showrunner, why the identity of the member of the Minute Men had never been revealed:

“He had to be African American and had to hide his identity because you couldn't be a black superhero in the 1940s,” Lindelof explained. “He would have literally been murdered if his identity was known. That idea really shook me, but I couldn't get it out of my head. And the whole season was spent trying to pull off this story of authentic way.”

Damon Lindelof plays with Watchmenhaving fun filling in the holes while respecting the “cannon” by Alan Moore. The Masked Vigilante's skin color is thus added to his homosexuality, and his relationship with Captain Metropolis, which is attested in the comics. Two reasons for him to live in hiding. Moore had not decided the fate of the Vigilante, who had vanished after the ban on the wearing of masks without us knowing if he had died, and when. A breach perfectly exploited by Lindelof which made Will Reeves a centenarian still determined to do good but consumed by this life of secrecy. And who realizes that he has transmitted, despite himself, the vigilante virus to his little daughter.”

If at the time the credit had mainly been given to the creator of the show, especially since his writing on this series recalled key elements of Lost or This is Usthere is also an undeniable link between Cord Jefferson's work on this series and that which he has just accomplished on American Fiction. A way of placing the history of Black Americans at the heart of that of the entire country, and a reflection on clichés and what we transmit (to our grandchildren or via our novels). Linking the intimate with History with a capital h is not an easy thing, and the duo of screenwriters did it perfectly: they also received an Emmy Award in 2019 for the screenplay of their adaptation of this particular episode of Watchmen.

Prior to this, Cord Jefferson had appeared in other successful series such as Master of Noneby Aziz Ansari or The Good Place And Successionthen he developed Gawker And Station Eleven for Apple TV+ just before signing to realize American Fiction. Who, a few months before receiving the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, won the jury prize at TIFF, the Toronto international film festival.

The trailer forAmerican Fictionavailable on Prime Video: