Color Book

Color-Book
Color Book

On June 8, director David Fortune presented Color Book at the Tribeca Film Festival, which had the theme Untold Stories; It is set in the quiet neighborhoods of Atlanta and focuses on a widowed father named Lucky, played by William Catlett, who is raising his son Mason (played by Jeremiah Daniels), an 11-year-old boy with down syndrome, after his wife and mother Tammy (played by Brandee Evans), died in a vehicular accident, this is a movie about a black father and the importance of fatherhood in the black community while dealing with disability and the loss of a parent in life. By far, this movie encapsulates the importance of fatherhood within the Black community along with having to endure the intersections of disability and losing an important figure in one’s life.

In this black-and-white film, Fortune presents emotions surrounding loss in a manner much more complex than most and grief isn’t something that will just come and go. Color Book starts out with Tammy assisting her child, Mason, in crafting a necklace that says her name while she plays with him. Next scene, Mason is and the audience sees Lucky who is brushing Mason’s hair preparing breakfast, and leading the breakfast with prayer.

When one pays close attention to the films, there are tasks usually done or said by the females such as the mother combing her kid’s hair, preparing food, or reciting a family prayer. Unfortunately, Tammy is deceased and Lucky has stepped into her shoes as Mason’s mother. However, she is also a father in this scenario.

It is clear that throughout the hardships of dealing with the death of their spouse, Lucky did not consider himself very tolerant of his child’s progress in the beginning of the story. In a clip where Mason is being taught by Tammy how to create a beaded necklace, it is clear that she was also cautious of her offspring’s abilities to learn and mimic others. However, feeling a wide range of loss, Lucky seems to snap easily at Mason for not listening to him as his son should. In the movie, Mason is emotionally connected with a balloon that he remembers his mother’s memorial with.

While Mason has been waiting for a baseball game invite that his dad and him were both invited to, he tries to take a balloon only for Lucky to yank it out of his hands. It would also appear that Mason’s feeling the emotion of depression the same way Lucky does, for both of them have lost someone so dear.

Lucky recalls numerous memories of being together with his spouse as the plot progresses. For instance, while going to retrieve items belonging to his wife from the wrecked automobile, to a necklace made by Mason with his mother, the balloon that Mason wished to fly, and to a different balloon that makes him distance himself from Lucky. However, after the eventful chaos of everything that can go wrong going wrong, Lucky comes to terms with how he has been ‘snappy’ to his son and learns to control himself, which is definitely a positive change.

The male orientation towards family is expressed through Lucky’s stance and commitment as a father to his son, who he believes in and loves, no matter the odds. It is overt that he loves his son despite Mason’s differences from most kids. However, even though his son has down syndrome, Lucky is determined to raise his son as a proud self-sufficient man and as part of this objective, engages his son in various activities like warming up the petrol pump while his father fills up the tank.

For all their troubles in getting to the game, Lucky saw it through to the end, which also reveals the ways in which he is trying to seek his child’s happiness. As a single father and provider, he is characterized by composure which over time enables him to appreciate the significance of Devils Lake also known as Marion gas stations in Masons young life. Father and son have an affectionate bond that is strong, secure at the same time vulnerable, which was particularly central to how it was played out by Fortune.

The film has as its central message learning to go on with the unresolved grief of having lost a loved one. Relaying his emotions as Mason realizes he left his balloon on the train and wants to go back for it, he says that he craves his mother’s presence. Towards the closing parts of the movie, Lucky asks for Mason’s promise. However, before they reach the pedestrian crossing to the stadium, Lucky turns to Mason and says, “You gonna hold my hand, and we gon’ keep running, you hear me?” and adds: “We not gon’ look back.” Such meaningful moves, which symbolize their progression through the pain of Tammy’s death, are indulging and promising for the future. Even though they miss the match, the fact that they have spent the entire day together helps them to work through their sadness and do it together.

In totality, Color Book is an intense portrait of sorrow, love and persistence of the humans who act in perfect harmony while the telling of the story leaves you thinking long after the ending credits.

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