Fast Color (Ceci Bradley)

The 2018 film Fast Color follows the story of Ruth, a young woman with supernatural seizures who is pursued by government scientists looking for a solution to Earth’s eight-year drought. As the title suggests, color is the predominant aesthetic—the film’s palette moving from the dark noir of deserted alleyways and spare barn houses to the eventual neon kaleidoscope of Ruth’s realization of The Colors. Fast Color tropes Afrofuturist narratives by stripping the central idea of progress in Black female communities through the use of an uncharacteristic rural setting. The film was written and directed by Julia Hart with assistance from Jordan Horowitz and can be viewed on Netflix.

Fast Color Trailer

 

 

Discussion of The Colors at Breakfast

Fast Color. Directed by Julia Hart. Codeblack Films and Lionsgate Films, 2019.

Though the viewer is briefly exposed to Ruth’s seizures and Bo’s ability to disintegrate and rebuild objects at the beginning of the film, it isn’t until the breakfast scene that the characters reveal the extent of their powers. Having never seen them herself, Ruth questions her daughter about The Colors. Lila describes the experience of rebuilding an object as, “Really warm. It’s like when you’re about to cry, but you’re happy.” Not only does this scene solidify the film’s over-arching tension, but it also establishes Bo, Lila, and Ruth’s supernatural powers as a metaphor for the unique agency and qualities possessed by Black women. 

Bo defends her family

Fast Color. Directed by Julia Hart. Codeblack Films and Lionsgate Films, 2019.

After making the mistake of abandoning her family, Ruth manages to control a seizure and sees The Colors for the first time. She races back to her mother’s farm, only to discover that Lila has been kidnapped by the government scientists. With Lila in danger and Ruth resolved to fight, Bo begins to shed the family's inhibition to hide their powers. As Bo confronts the government scientists in the streets of Garrison, she says, “They’ll always come after us. I’m done hiding.” United as a family and community, Ruth, Lila, and Bo acknowledge the forces working against Black women and take control of the narrative of their powers.

"You’re scared because the world is dying, and you don’t know how to stop it. But I do. A new world is coming. This is only the beginning."

The Black experience for women at any stage of life—daughter, mother, or grandmother—remains one of forced limitations, whether that be in a dystopian world or the modern day. However, as Ruth is reunited with her family, the characters realize the learned behaviors imposed on them by white patriarchal forces as constraints against their agency. Though the process of self-realization has only begun, each character demands attention in their own way: Lila insists on leaving the farm to explore the world. Ruth embraces the role of motherhood. Bo demands a place in the world. 

Discussion Questions

1. The opening line of the trailer states, “The world is gonna die. I feel it coming.” Considering the social, cultural, and/or political significance of the film, what ideas (that cause the world’s deterioration) might be challenged in Fast Color? 

2. (extra credit) After watching the film, how does Lila act as a foil against her mother and grandmother? And how does that foil exemplify or resist one of the reoccurring quotes in the film: "If something is broken, it stays broken."