Moonlight was an absolutely phenomenal film to watch, and I am so glad that I got to watch it in the comfort of my own home (so that I could properly react, of course).

The film shows Chiron as he grows older. The film is divided into three sections, all labeled based on the names as he has grown up. I think that it was a wonderful way to show his growth and changes, because as I talked about for my post on Pariah, names are super important to identity, both for yourself and for those around you.

The first section, “Little,” was about Chiron’s younger years, and how he dealt with bullying. His mother, an addict, seemingly knew that he was queer, and already disliked that part of him; however, her disdain was more about her access to drugs and the judgement of the people around her.

Chiron was found by Juan, who, with the help of his girlfriend Teresa, ended up having a huge role in raising and taking care of Chiron, into his adulthood.

The second part of the film, “Chiron,” was set during his teenage years, and ended with him assaulting a man (who had bullied him for years, mind you) by smacking him with a chair in the middle of class. He showed his violence, but ultimately his breaking point.

After that point, and his time in Juvie, we see “Black,” the third and final section of the film. This section, which is named based on his old friend’s nickname for him, is ten years in the future. Chiron has moved on, and has begun to resemble the late Juan, selling drugs and visually taking after a lot of his qualities (in dress, his car, accessories, earrings, etc).

He has tried to act “hard” but after he meets up with his old friend, and first and only person he was at all intimate with, Kevin, he explains that it was all fake. He hadn’t even been with anyone since, because he had been so emotionally damaged after Kevin had beaten him up, to stay in line with one of the more popular men at the school.

The last scene is incredibly heartwarming, as the two men sit in silence, just working through their emotions, separately but together.

The Fourth Wall?

One of the most impactful parts of this movie, to me, was the eye contact between Chiron and the viewer. This happens distinctly twice in the film: once when he is in the principals office after hitting his bully with a chair, and once at the very end of the movie, in a very cinematic scene involving only young Chiron on a beach at night. In both of these moments, as he looks incredibly deep in thought, he looks deeply into the camera, almost as if he is searching for an answer.

I think that this searching gaze can be so meaningful, especially given the point of the film. Chiron is a black queer man, and he has so much to hide, and yet he is looking for an answer that will allow him to be himself, while also being safe. He struggles to find this for years, but as he reconnects with Kevin, it is the only version of Chiron that we see who doesn’t look to us for answers.

Even though he had to hide so much through his adolescence and adulthood, he is beginning to understand that he doesn’t want to. He wants to be himself, regardless of how that makes others feel. This process will always be a difficult one, no matter who is trying to do it, and will take him a while longer, but the lack of gaze to the audience shows that he is now willing to try.

Even though this was such a small detail in the film, I think that it was so intentional. When the first instance occured, while he was in the principal’s office, I thought that it was just coincidence, but after watching the movie through to the ending, it is clear to me that it was purposeful. Watching young Chiron, as he sat on the beach, which would prove to be an important place in his childhood, staring into the camera, it was clear that this was a choice made by the film makers, and that they wanted us to truly see him for what was in his soul.

Works Cited

Moonlight. Directed by Barry Jenkins, A24, 2016.