Personal Response
I love the cinematography of this movie. The walking shots were beautiful, almost panoramic, and they really make you feel immersed in the environment. The close-up shots were also incredibly high quality. Emotionally, all I wanted to do was hug Chiron. He carries so much trauma and has had a difficult life since childhood. Juan became a role model for him, and losing him left Chiron completely alone. It reminded me that some people in the world grow up with no real support system, no family, and no one to guide them.
It is interesting how Chiron eventually ends up following in Juan’s footsteps even though Juan himself told him not to, and even though Chiron knew those choices were wrong. Sometimes we follow examples because our role models unknowingly give us permission to repeat their mistakes. Even when we know something is unhealthy, it feels familiar. It feels like Chiron fell into the only structure he had ever seen, even if he didn’t want to.
The last conversation with his mother broke my heart. She tells him she loves him, and now that she is in rehab, she finally understands how badly she hurt him. Her choices shaped Chiron’s entire life. Even so, she is still a mother who loves her son unconditionally. A mother’s love never disappears. She tries to be empathetic when she tells him he doesn’t have to love her back. That is devastating, because he carries so much resentment, but what is he supposed to do at this point? Hate her more? She has apologized, and her life is miserable. That is already its own punishment. It made me think about how huge the responsibility of a parent is, and how easily you can damage a child forever.
That brought me back to Juno. Did Juno do the right thing by giving her baby up for adoption? Instead of risking messing up her child’s life, she gave someone else the chance to raise them. In a way, she prevented the same generational pain we see in other films. I love finding little connections like this across different movies.
I also found it very interesting that throughout Moonlight, everyone around Chiron seems to know he is gay, but as a viewer, it is not immediately obvious. He does not have any cliché gay mannerisms, like being feminine. It reminded me of Brokeback Mountain and Heath Ledger’s character, because if no one said it explicitly, you would never assume he was gay. And I think that is revolutionary. It breaks the stereotype of what gay people should look or act like. It helps us see people as people, not as a set of traits tied to their sexuality.
I was talking to someone about the movie, and I mentioned that I did not think it was very gay. She said she thought it was extremely gay. And in my mind, yes, the main character is gay and he struggles with being closeted. But I think the movie is more about his life stages, his trauma, his mother’s addiction, and his relationship with Juan. There are so many rich and important themes happening that his sexuality, while present, did not feel like the main plot to me. Yes, he is gay, but that is not the entirety of the story.