Issa Rae

In American Fiction (2023), Issa Rae’s Sintara Golden gets a long conversation with Monk, whose contempt for her bestseller has helped set the story going. Cord Jefferson lets her challenge him instead of making her the fool he expects. We were relieved to hear her answer him: a satire so busy finding targets becomes more interesting when one of them can object. The part suits an actor whose comedy understands the discomfort of having to explain yourself, and it gives her room to be somebody Monk has misjudged.

Rae had already made that sort of discomfort central to her own work. She created, wrote and starred as J in The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl (2011), then co-created Insecure (2016–2021) with Larry Wilmore and played Issa Dee across five seasons. Internal monologue and voice-over allow the private thought and the public behaviour to sit alongside each other. Her timing makes those everyday embarrassments funny, while the attention to Black female friendship gives the characters lives beyond the next joke. Acting, writing and producing have allowed her to decide what those women get to say.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023) offers considerably less freedom. Rae, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef and Sharon Rooney get perhaps a dozen lines between them as Barbies, despite their prominent billing. We liked the film’s wit, but there is little space here for Rae to develop a character or do much with her comic timing. The reservation is about the writing: hiring Rae ought to mean finding something for her to do.

Jefferson gives her a useful way forward: a woman with an opinion the leading man would prefer not to hear. American Fiction does not quite bring its publishing satire and family drama together, but Rae’s scene makes us wish Jefferson had spent longer with the disagreement. We would welcome more parts that let her be difficult, assured or simply unconcerned with being liked. Start with Sintara, then try Insecure for a longer acquaintance.