Blog Post

Moonlight 

 

Masculinity can be interpreted in many different ways. In the movie “Moonlight” directed by Barry Jenkins, it takes a complex step as many themes were seen, such as sexuality, identity, masculinity, family and societal expectations. The movie is separated into 3 timelines which explain the main character’s life.

I. Little 

This chapter was about Chiron’s childhood. In the beginning we were introduced to Juan, a drug dealer that soon became Chiron’s role model and the father he never had. From the start Juan found peace in taking care of Chiron, who was also nicknamed “Little” by his bullies, and made sure to teach him a couple of things about life. At that time, Chiron had trouble with his identity, he was always quiet and picked on by other kids. Chiron’s mother, who was one of Juan’s clients, did not like the fact that he was around her son, but she never really paid attention to him and never took her role as a mother seriously as she became a heavy drug user. Paula emotionally abused Chiron as she chose drugs over her son, which explains why he found comfort in Juan. One of many significant moments in this chapter is when Juan told Chiron “At some point, you’ve got to decide for yourself who you gonna be, can’t let nobody make this decision for you.” 

II. Chiron 

Second chapter was his teenage years, in which he suffered heavy bullying, and his sexuality became the elephant in the room. He was consistently getting picked on by his classmate, Terrel who was the “norm” or the ideal of a young African American male in high school. He was overly masculine and proved that with violence. Chiron found comfort in his friend Kevin who used to call him by the nickname “Black”. The two had an intimate moment at the beach but that quickly turned when Terrel pressured Kevin to beat up Chiron in front of everybody. With the pressure of the people around him and the desire to fit in, Kevin eventually punched Chiron. At that point, Chiron was alone and wronged, it’s truly unfair that he had to stay strong when all he needed was somebody to at least care for him, to be able to experience things like other teenagers and to be able to find his identity. The environment and the people around him left him no choice but to become someone he’s not and he got arrested for hitting Terrel in the back with a chair. 

III. Black 

The last and final chapter was about his adulthood, he moved to Atlanta and took after his role model Juan because he was the only one who truly took care of him. Becoming a drug dealer was his new sense of masculinity, he started working out and dressing up differently. In this timeline, Chiron was pictured as the societal tradition related to his community. This new look was far from who he was and who he truly is, because that way nobody can question his sexuality. Although, creating this false reality was not an effective escape.