Film Treatment: Taste the Rainbow
Logline: A colorblind girl discovers a party drug that allows her to see more than black and white. Her desire to live life in color leads to her dying from drug abuse.
Market Research
This film relates to our cinema studies class in that it features a strong female lead who is not overshadowed by typical patriarchal characters. She is not over-the-top beautiful and is not surrounded by love interests. Colorblindness is not usually addressed or featured through characters in films, and having a main female character who suffers from it is very unusual. Many dramatic films that star women as the main character have a male lead that saves her either from herself or others.
Often when a film addresses drug usage, it portrays those who are involved with the parties and the usage of any kind of recreational drugs in a completely negative light. In this film, no one person is portrayed to be wholly positive or negative, not even the dealer, because in reality, none of those people are generally actually bad people at all. This film will seek to change peoples’ understanding of those involved in drug-usage and addiction, and to open up a positive dialogue about it.
Description of Major Scenes/Characters
Major Characters
Jada: 19 year old girl with short hair. On the quieter side, independent. Struggles with colorblindness and comes from an unsympathetic family.
Trevor: 21 year old boy, average looking. Local campus dealer, first to offer Jada the drugs. Considerate, stops Jada’s supply when he becomes worried for her.
Camila: 19 year old girl, classmate and friend of Jada. Comfortable with the party environment, but a reliable person.
Ayanna: Roommate of Jada. Friends from high school who normally get along , but end up fighting in the movie.
Parents: Love their daughter, but do not care what she does in college. Don’t show concern for her. They’re busy and trust her to make good choices.
Major Scenes
The film starts out in class on a Friday. Jada is looking down at her desk and everything is monochrome although it appears normal. When her classmate speaks to her and she looks up, the audience realizes that she is colorblind. They talk about the coming party that weekend.
With loud music and a lively atmosphere, the first major scene is a house party. Jada is enjoying herself, and goes to go to the bathroom. She sees a smaller group of people inside a room on her way. She goes in and is offered a party drug by Trevor, whom she is familiar with. (This drug is a slightly psychedelic upper to those using it and not intentionally for colorblindness.) She hesitates, and Trevor says that it’s fine if she refuses, but she still feels some pressure and takes it. She thanks Trevor and leaves to head to the restroom. As she drinks more, her vision begins to blur, but, for the first time, slight color is introduced into the film. Here she would be seen speaking to Trevor again about how pretty everything looks, making him question what she can see.
Cuts to the next Monday in class, again in black and white, where Camila mentions that she helped Jada home that weekend, and if she is doing okay. Jada says that she is fine, but mentions the weird experience she had with the drugs, and is curious about trying it again. Camila gets in touch with Trevor, and later Trevor hits Jada up. He is interested in the effect that she is experiencing, as most just experience an elated high on the stimulant, and wants to hear more about it. She takes her first pill since the party and experiences shades of color that she has never seen before.
A series of choppy scenes follow where we see Jada continually taking more and more of the drugs. These scenes take place in her daily life, showing that it isn’t disrupting her at the moment. Visually, the colors begin to become more saturated in the film.
Jada continues taking more of the pills, becoming more fidgety and paranoid. When Jada can’t find some of her pills, she angrily confronts her roommate, who doesn’t know how to react. Later she calls her mom, about her paranoia, but her mom responds in a cavalier manner, brushing her off by saying that she is overacting to the situation.
When Jada hits Trevor up for more pills, he expresses concern for her and the current trend and refuses to sell her more. That night, Jada steals from his residence and makes away with a semi-large quantity of the pills. By this time in the film, the color is pretty intensely saturated and Jada is more strung out than ever.
The final sequence is a cut of her taking an excessive amount of pills over a few final days. The color becomes unbearable and the visuals are very jumpy. Eventually the scene cuts back to black and white, with Jada presumably dead.
(If this movie were extended, Jada could survive and the movie could show her transitioning to living without using the drug. The emotional impact of her living a ‘colorless life’ again could be explored, with her potentially getting back into using it but responsibly.)
Discussion of Themes
Jada is an independent girl who is not infatuated with guys or pursued by a love interest, which gives it a feminist appeal. Those who are a part of the general college nightlife are not portrayed in a negative or demeaning light, which breaks some of the norms associated with that group of people. The pills represent the ability of anyone to fall victim to the internalized pressure to fit in, and also the reality of addiction.
Film Treatment by Clare Arrington and Sally Marrazzo
