Yes, it is viewed negatively because it is another form of "Orientalism" in art, whereby people (who are otherwise normal people), are actually magical beings because they are "exotic".

White, upper-middle class, default lefty types like that from Martha's Vineyard are actually just as racist as your average stormfag; they just happen to have a sense of maternalism towards what they consider to be inferior races. Those also happen to be precisely who are making these films (or the children of those people)