What's the connection between Mr. Nancy and fried chicken?
In American Gods season 2 there was a scene where Nancy and Mr. Wednesday were both on a car, between them was a bucket of chicken which Nancy mutters to himself
This m***f*** asks me if I want something to eat, and then he gets in the car with a bucket of fried f***ing chicken!!
then tosses it out of the window.
That part I don't get, is there something between Nancy and chicken?
Best Answer
This, like many things in the show, is a reference to American culture, which might be why you didn't completely get it immediately.
Eating fried chicken is pretty much a racial stereotype for African Americans for various reasons, apparently stemming back to the Civil War and to slavery. Now add to this that Mr. Nancy, or Anansi, as an African god has come to be a representative for the suppressed black community in America in the show, as he also expresses very often himself.
So for Wednesday to get Nancy fried chicken above everything else is either a direct insult, insensitivity, or a total coincidence. But no matter the reason, it's an offense to Mr. Nancy and a joke fitting to the many references to American culture throughout the show.
You could even go further than being a simple joke with this. While Mr. Nancy only makes a short appearance in season 1 (albeit also in a slavery context), season 2 puts a lot more emphasis on the racial issues within American society and Nancy's role therein. In fact, the season so far seems to show that Nancy is trying to rally up the other African gods in order to get his own fight going for the cause of the suppressed African Americans that he understands as his followers and feels responsible to care for.
So this fried chicken thing might just be another incident showing that Wednesday isn't taking him serious and might just be using him. It shows Mr. Nancy yet again that Wednesday ultimately might not be fighting for what he feels worth fighting for and that he might have to go his own way.
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What God is Mr Nancy?
Nancy is Anansi, one of the Old Gods, and a central character in American Gods. He is also the titular character of the novel Anansi Boys.Who is Mr Anansi?
Anansi is both a man and a spider who is a successful trickster, going so far as to steal stories from the sky god. From this point on, he owns all the stories. He shows up as a character and god in folk tales of the West African diaspora, especially in the Caribbean and the Southern United States.What episodes was Mr Nancy in American Gods?
Nancy in episode 2. See for yourself: Mr. Nancy -- aka Anansi -- is an African trickster god who was brought to America when his followers were transported to the New World as slaves.Who plays Anansi in American Gods?
Former American Gods star Orlando Jones has congratulated Delroy Lindo on his recently announced casting in Amazon's Anansi Boys. After last week's announcement that Amazon would be a developing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel, it was revealed that Lindo had been cast in the role of Anansi (Mr.what. (Bo Burnham FULL SHOW HD)
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Answer 2
It's related to the stereotype that African Americans love fried chicken.
It is a commonly held stereotype that African Americans love fried chicken, which race and folklore professor Claire Schmidt attributes both to its popularity in Southern cuisine and to a scene from the film Birth of a Nation, in which a rowdy African-American man is seen eating fried chicken in a legislative hall. The stereotype is occasionally portrayed as "chicken and waffles".
And since Nancy in the show is one African American God and one that protects the African Americans, Mr. Wednesday assumes by the stereotype that Nancy likes fried chicken.
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Images: Pixabay, Cliff Booth, Pixabay, Ryutaro Tsukata