Moonlight Film Review “Moonlight” directed by Barry Jenkins is a powerful film about a young African male who grows up trapped by his society expectations of masculinity. The film is cut into three different chapters, “Little”, “Chiron” and “Black”, that shows us three stages in the main character Chiron’s life. Chiron first gets bullied at school for being weak and smaller than the other kids, as he grows up people start to notice that he is different, and they discriminate him for his differences. His lives with his drug addicted mother who does little to nothing to help Chiron in times of need and distress. Chiron doesn’t have the presence of a male in his life and house hold so while he grows up he struggles with self identification and …show more content…
You're not a faggot. You can be gay, but you don't have to let nobody call you a faggot. This dialogue really captured me as a viewer because the emotions and aura expressed in this scene was thoughtfully realistic and really captured Little’s innocence. This goes to show how messed up society can be, and the power it can hold over an individual. Not only that but this demonstrates that no matter how much we try to eliminate discrimination it will no be gone completely, but as a parent or guardian you must care for, explain, and listen to their problems and concerns. People want to place him in a category before he even knows what that means Many great cinematic elements were used in the making of this movie, but one that stood out to me was the use of source music. The classical music used signifies Chiron and his inner self. Through all the chaos of his outer environment he is yearning for peace and self expression. The use of source music, in this case classical, really gives us the audience a contrast between how Chiron feels compared to how he is expected to feel. A good example of this is the scene where his mother yells at Chiron at the doorway in their house, and which where only the soundtrack is heard this shows us that Chiron disconnects with his harsh reality to cope with what he must deal …show more content…
The cinematography in this film is undeniably beautiful and every camera and sound choice has a clear purpose, which allows us to feel Chiron’s emotions and what he’s thinking. I would give this film a 4.7 of 5 stars. I really was intrigued by how the movie was split into the three chapters in Chiron’s life, it shows that growing up we may feel like different people from the emotions we feel to the way we look. Nevertheless, all three chapters came together smoothly and with more interpretation you can make connections into how Chiron developed into what he did in the movie. I can’t directly relate with Chiron, but indirectly can for he feels pressure by his society’s expectations of masculinity and for me it is society’s expectation as well as my parents to how I’m supposed to act and achieve in life. This movie really got me thinking how lucky I am to go to a school where for the most part the community is friendly and supportive, and which everyone tries to encourage each other rather than brining each other