The film's producer, Roger Ross Williams, made one of the strangest feature films I've ever seen, 2016's Animated Life, which explores the ways in which Disney films help an autistic person connect with their environment. a world that once seemed out of reach. "Master of Light" is profound and insightful in revealing the therapeutic role that photography played in Morton's life, allowing him to deal with his anger at a system designed to reduce people to his position. His stated goal is to carry forward into the future artistic traditions that "people of African descent have not had a decent presence in" over the past centuries.
Walking through the Morton Art Museum, there is a strange 360-degree pan around him as he finds himself surrounded by the framed faces of Caucasians. He compares his experience of being handcuffed in Oklahoma to being on the auction block because his prison was chosen for him. Many of the film's most moving moments revolve around Morton's relationship with his nephew, who uses his fear of police brutality to fuel the Black Lives Matter movement. Morton claims that in reality, people like his awakened nephew are white criminals who fear the monster inside them, and it's great to see a young up-and-coming artist writing rap songs as a way to deal with his own demons.
As I watched Boesten's film, I was reminded of what Bratton told me about the power of forgiveness. ""If I had endured everything that happened, I wouldn't be here," he told me. "I'd be upset at a bar, mad at the world." I imagine Morton feels the same way, and indeed, there's a moment in "Master of Light" where it's clear he's ready to cut ties with his mother for good, angry at her attempts to stop him from succeeding. life But later she tells her therapist that she finally wants to believe her mother, who denied her children's accusations and sent her son to prison. In many ways, this film makes for a very rewarding double bill with Bratton's "Inspection," both of which take a rare candid and sensitive look at how to cope with rejection.