{"id":2855,"date":"2025-10-20T23:22:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T23:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mackis.com\/?p=2855"},"modified":"2025-10-20T23:23:45","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T23:23:45","slug":"medicine-for-the-melancholy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mackis.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/medicine-for-the-melancholy\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicine for the Melancholy – The film that changed how I look at films."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Medicine for the Melancholy is an anomaly\u2026I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Medicine for the Melancholy is a film that was written & directed by Barry Jenkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was released in 2008 & was his feature directorial debut\u2026aka his first full length film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It stars Wyatt Cenac & (you may remember him from The Daily Show) & Tracey Heggins (IMDB states that this was just her second film, but The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn was probably her biggest.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Okay, so here\u2019s why Medicine for the Melancholy is an anomaly. Barry Jenkins basically wrote & directed a \u201cBlack\u201d film & then made you forget that you were watching a \u201cBlack\u201d film by simply changing the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also edited the film visually, by giving it a monochromatic tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything looks over-saturated & washed out, but it matches the tone of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even with that\u2026it would\u2019ve been irrelevant had he not made the genius decision to do something different with the background music & soundtrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all know that it\u2019s human nature to judge humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can ask Google or ChatGPT the question \u201cIs it human nature to judge humans?\u201d for an in-depth & concise answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I said that to say\u2026when you see a Black man & woman leading a movie, you\u2019re probably thinking that this is going to be a Black movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when the background music drops & it\u2019s punk rock, soft rock, alternative\/indie rock, hell just rock, rock\u2026all of a sudden, it\u2019s not that simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The subject matter is undoubtedly\u2026Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They speak about interracial relationships, gentrification & Blackness in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But because the background music isn\u2019t the stereotypical music for a Black film\u2026you\u2019re somehow hypnotized into paying attention to what they\u2019re saying & doing in a way that you probably wouldn\u2019t have before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Had the music been the same old, same old\u2026it would\u2019ve felt familiar, but nothing about this movie felt familiar\u2026it was very unfamiliar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He found a way to make viewers pay attention to what\u2019s going on in the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s controlling the flow, tempo & vibe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s making you listen first & look second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\u2019s making you not be dismissive to what looks like a Black film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I watched & listened to this movie differently than other movies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the first time that I\u2019ve ever seen a film with Black people in it. Touched on Black issues\u2026but you can\u2019t call it a Black film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though it\u2019s literally a Black film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s pure genius.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Medicine for the Melancholy is an anomaly\u2026I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a good thing. Medicine for the Melancholy is a film that was written & directed by Barry Jenkins. It was released in 2008 & was his feature directorial debut\u2026aka his first full length film. It stars Wyatt Cenac & (you may remember him from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2856,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","category-lifestyle"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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