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Additional Themes in 607 Clark Ave
Coming of Age in the Segregated South
Young Debbie is deeply affected by Huck’s and Jim’s time on the River in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when the White boy and runaway Black slave live as equals. Debbie realizes that she and her friends have never ventured across the railroad tracks at the bottom of Clark Avenue to the all-Black neighborhood. Dottie also shares her story of unwittingly forcing Blacks to move to the back of the bus on a visit to New Orleans through her choice to take a set in the middle. And on a trip to Mark Twain’s home in Hannibal, Debbie tries to figure out what makes her uncomfortable about the plantation atmosphere of a hotel dining room with Black waiters dressed in white gloves.
Domestic Bliss is Too Often Not What It Appears
As years pass, there are growing signs of trouble. Debbie finds her father asleep in the afternoon instead of going to work. Her parents are drinking too much and arrive dangerously late to pick her up as a tornado approaches. When her parents fall into a compromised relationship with another couple, Debbie sits out her father’s birthday party and witnesses a painfully comical fight between her mother and another woman.
My aspiration for the film is to recall the classic Sandlot and especially Stand by Me, but focused on young girls, like The Florida Project and Eight Grade, and the Amazon series Anne with an “E”.
Deborah Merola
