The Movie Moonlight

Moonlight is that rare movie that succeeds in almost every way possible for a film of its kind. It’s the story of how to save a child by teaching him self-acceptance. This film is really not a love story in the traditional sense, it is a self-love story. The very core of this story is about a boy we all knew, but didn’t uplift and support like we should have. Moonlight told one of the most compelling, consistent and specific stories you will ever witness, which is fairly hard for a film about people of color to do. It changes everything.

Moonlight is about this introverted nine year old kid, Chiron (Alex R. Hibbert), from Miami who gets his fair share of bullying from his classmates who has labeled him "soft" and dubbed him "Little". Ironically

enough the only person to show him compassion happens to be a dealer, Juan (Mahershala Ali) and his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe). You would think that this would just be a ploy to try and get a young, impressionable kid to grow up and move weight for him, but that's not the case.

Chiron, a teenager (now being played by Ashton Sanders), is staying with Teresa and still getting bullied in school.

He at least kicks the "Little" nickname he was christened with when he was a child. His crack addict mother, Paula (Naomi Davis), doesn’t make his life any easier either. In his youth, you see how Chiron must live while being attacked in and out of home. Besides his drug king mentor, at least he had his friend Kevin (played by Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, and André Holland) for support. As adult Chiron (Trevante Rhodes), who now goes by “Black”, he takes after his mentor and starts to deal drugs.

Moonlight is, according to the director and screenwriter (Barry Jenkins), loosely based on "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney. This amazing film does a fantastic job of showing the human experience and all it's glory and lowliness. The fact that a gay black child is put in the very center of this special narrative just elevates the film's potential from the

get-go.

One would think directors and screenwriters who are minorities feel pressured to make an extensive story that can be representative for their people. Moonlight definitely has some elements of that, but this movie is also about very distinctive characters who grew up and evolved in a very specific area who are going through very specific trials of youth. Within this very definitive world there’s something universal about Moonlight. Though, it shouldn't have to be.

This is the type of burden black people have to go through when making art. One thing a lot of us noticed when the legend Muhammad Ali passed away was that almost everyone from actors and musicians to journalists and radio/television personalities described The Greatest in some way, shape, or form as "transcending race." White America started to turn their back on Beyoncé once she started to embrace her blackness in her music. Seldom do we get to express ourselves naturally and be unapologetically black without having to make it universal to pander to the masses. Our art usually has to take a back seat unless we want to make people uncomfortable. The movie does have several universal and familiar subjects such as love, friendship, character, status, and coming of age. One thing that is different, however, is how specific these themes are told in the story. This movie has been very descriptive about the black experience in ways that are very distinctive.

Black films have always had a recurring problem to be solved. How might we best get the stories we have to tell into the world if the general population who have the last say over them don't completely comprehend our reality? What if we lived in a world where everyone is on equal footing. Try to imagine a world where we can truly express our experiences, non-filtered. Envision how defenseless we could truly be. Art is all about bleeding out your vulnerabilities onto your canvas.

Moonlight is one of the first films in recent memory to actually take this concept, explore these kind of ideas, and create a different world. After watching the movie I went online to see how other individuals were rating this movie. I saw one tweet on twitter that struck out to me. Someone said that there were no white individuals in the film. That was surprising for me to hear. While watching the movie, I didn't notice at all! I actually think that you aren’t suppose to. The story is not attempting to be something besides what it should be.

There are moments in Moonlight that will strike you in a way that feels truly unique. The moment that I personally still can't get over the most from Moonlight is the very final scene. The scene of adult Kevin embracing adult Chiron. They didn't say anything. It was just a accumulation of circumstances that had grown between them up to that point. If you have ever in your life fallen in and out of love with another human being (which is most of us have of course) then you can understand the want for an embrace similar to that special one. The hug from someone you once fool-heartedly thought you’d spend the rest of your life with who is now a stranger after immensely hurting you (or maybe you were the heartbreaker). A hug from someone you didn't, in your wildest dreams, think you'd ever even miss until you catch a glimpse of them. Most people perhaps just saw a hug. I saw forgiveness being manifested in a physical representation. Which was just a downright gorgeous to watch and should definitely be more appreciated.

Just the story by itself is amazing, but Moonlight’s cinematography is absolutely the most captivating thing about the film. Bravo to James Laxton for the stunting visuals in this film. His ability to paint the agony within the story in such a beautiful manner is astonishing. They were able take that very beauty and juxtaposed it with the anguish of everyone within the movie. For practically a low budget indie film that are usually filmed and edited in way to look realistic and almost documentary like, Moonlight forgoes that and gives the viewers a more ethereal-like experience.

If we are talking visuals, it would be hard not to also mention the stunning score by composer Nicholas Britell that accompanied it.

The film doesn’t have a soundtrack, instead it has a mostly original score which is “chopped and screwed” throughout the piece. Britell was able to do this after learning of the director’s love for the sub-genre of hip hop. Chopped and screwed music is this form of southern hip-hop where you are taking tracks of music and you slow them down. Anyone knows when you slow music down like that, the pitch goes down. You would also repeat and reposition certain phrases. You do that to the point where the music, an exceedingly weird manner, is stretched and bent. Hip hop artists tend to talk very fast and in the wake of this mumble rap error, there many times you can miss what they are saying. With a track gets chopped and screwed you can feel the emotion behind it like you never heard it before. Same emotions that Barry wanted conveyed in the

film.

Moonlight shows that people of color and LGBT lives have values and their stories are worth telling. I urge you take the time out of your day to go and see this film because it is every bit as beautiful and compelling as they say. Don’t take my word for though, Moonlight is only the first ever LGBT, Black, Indie/low budget film to win “Best “ at the Oscars. What? You thought La La Land won? You turned of the Oscars as soon as the film won? Yeah, I got some news for you.