Tout simplement noir: Simply Parody or Complex Paradox in France’s (Post)Racial Utopia?

Abstract

In July 2020, the comedy film Tout simplement noir by Jean-Pascal Zadi and John Wax was released at the height of “Black Lives Matter” marches around the world. This compelling text of the times can be interpreted either as a simple parody of identity politics discourses, black rights movements, and celebrity self-aggrandizement, or a complex paradox demonstrating the antinomic potentialities of the film exposing both racial and post-racial utopias. This article aims to explore briefly these two possible interpretations of the film, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive and can co-exist to further understanding of both the particular text and the underpinning context. Ideological posi..