How This Film Hit Me Hard in a Minute
For most of the runtime, I enjoyed a film that Linklater’s Before Trilogy must’ve inspired. “So what do two black folks do on a Sunday afternoon?” After a one-night stand, they enjoyed the city and each other’s company. That’s what they did, and that’s what I was watching.
Turns out I was watching a black man with the same passion and low tolerance for BS as myself. And that’s when the film hit me! It is a guy with the same existential crisis I have. Often being the only black Puerto Rican in indie, punk, or hardcore shows, I realized I’m not the only one bringing up the same racial issues in alternative culture. And that’s without getting started on interracial relationships. It is always noted when one person is black.
Micah was right about all of that. And he needed to vent all his frustrations about race and gentrification on someone. Most likely, Micah enjoyed hooking up with Joanne. But it was more than that for him. He wanted to cure his melancholy, and she was the perfect. She gave him medicine for his hangover, and her company was that spiritual medicine he needed.
Each Other’s Medicine
Micah wasn’t the only one in need of company. Joanne (though it wasn’t as evident as him) also needed that companionship. It just took singing Mr Rogers’s song out of tone to get her attention and to enjoy the ride. Have someone from the neighborhood with the same glee to run, dance, joke, compare songs with their samples, and f*ck on a Sunday. We don’t see the sexual chemistry from the previous night, but we see how they enjoy each other’s company.
Coincidentally, I was in the same age range at the time. I was experiencing the same recession, anger, frustrations, and existential crisis as Micah in 2008. But also the same desires. It’s the kind of film that triggers nostalgic feelings. The desaturated color palette helps make it feel like a memory. My medicine for melancholy is movies like this.
