watch this: "Mr. Happy," starring Chance The Rapper

Painting by Kevin Spring

I woke up this morning to two emails and some Facebook mentions about Mr. Happy, a Colin Tilley-directed short that I apparently needed to see. The 23-minute film stars Chancellor Bennett (aka Chance The Rapper) as Victor, a depressed, desperate young man who, after a failed suicide attempt, is searching for a quick and tidy end to his daily pain.

Mr. Happy explores depression, suicide, euthanasia, and the horrors of coexisting with obnoxious druggy White coworkers hope and hopelessness. Tilley, most known for directing music videos by Chis Brown ("Strip"), Nicki Minaj ("Anaconda"), Rick Ross ("No Games") and others, describes Chance's character as "dark, broken, and extremely vulnerable." I don't know much about Mr. Tilley or Mr. Bennett, but the synopsis and promo photo (above) sold me. I can relate to Victor's sense of being tired of being sick and tired. I can relate to Victor's need for an alternative to this cruel life of sugar grits and obnoxious druggy White coworkers. I, too, have struggled with wanting to die, but not knowing HOW to go about it, with both minimal effort and pain. I say all of that to say: you should watch this. Bring on the aggressive emotioning.





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