Moonlight’s camera work and mise-en-scene, specifically the lightning, is one of the film’s most important parts of its cinematography. Moonlight’s cinematography uses bold colors and stunning shots to create an emotional experience. Similar themes are present in both films, but Jenkins’s sophomore film shows how much the filmmaker has improved. Both films use color to reflect the mood of the scene and what the characters are thinking. Barry Jenkins’s first film, Medicine for Melancholy, has a similar theme to his second feature film.
Moonlight is a coming of age movie of a young African American man through three stages of his life. WordPress, 8 March 2019.Moonlight was directed by Barry Jenkins, adapting the unproduced play called In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney. “Racial Identity Development in T.H.U.G.” Gender and Diversity in Film ENGL 359. “LGBTQ Definitions Every Good Ally Should Know.” USA Today, 25 June 2017. Moonlight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). WordPress, 8 March 2019.īond, Margot, Kennedy Ecker, Riley Head, Donald Shields “Laura Mulvey, ‘Afterthoughts on ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.”” Gender and Diversity in Film ENGL 359. “‘In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue:’ The Subversion of Hypermasculinity in ‘Moonlight.'” Gender and Diversity in Film ENGL 359.
The consequences of this scene further demonstrate that such heterosexist masculinity is accepted within the social order, because Chiron is punished for his actions and refusal to play into the oppressive patriarchal structure.īritell, Nicholas.
The spinning of the camera and the dramatic power of the score not only create anxiety in the viewer, but they also place the spectator in Chiron’s gaze, asking that the audience empathizes with his helplessness. As the agent of chaos, Terrel emulates villainy in his cruel eyes, eager hands, and ominous theme music. The fight scene begins with what is arguably the most powerful and devastatingly emotional long shots of the film the shot first frames only the back of Chiron’s neck as he leaves the school building, then it breaks from him to closely follow Terrel as he walks around Chiron and rounds up his comrades, finally ending on Kevin ( Jharrel Jerome), Chiron’s only friend, who is charged with throwing the first punch.
Juan even teaches Little how to swim, and we as the audience are sutured into Little’s internal turmoil. Juan is the protective, affectionate father that Little never had, feeding him literally and metaphorically as he introduces Little to a stable, domesticated home with his partner, Teresa ( Janelle Monáe). Hibbert), develops a paternal relationship with Juan ( Mahershala Ali), a morally ambiguous masculine figure who cares deeply for Little, yet participates in the drug dealing that victimizes their neighborhood. Without a father of his own, Chiron’s boyhood self, “Little” ( Alex R. Learning to Swim, and Survive Troubled Waters These scenes emphasize their ideological importance through mise-en-scene, shot and cut discontinuity, and thematic musical scores. Through significant interactions with such characters, the film demonstrates that upholding Freud’s assessment of active, power-wielding masculinity excuses the social and personal instability that it causes. Heterosexist masculine figures not only devalue passive identities, but they also sew chaos throughout the narrative, creating instability within Chiron and his relationships. As a result of his deep uncertainty about his individuality, every intimate and emotion-laden shot trembles incessantly and brings the background into soft focus. Chiron’s journey, conveyed in three distinct parts of his life, demonstrates that the enforced status quo acts as a barrier to stable and healthy self-identification. The film triumphs in subverting such attitudes, and contributes to a growing body of cinematic work, such as The Hate You Give, that deeply explores the intersectionality of racism and other identities. This environment upholds toxic, heterosexist masculinity as the accepted social norm, devaluing all other forms of gender or sexual identity.
We follow the protagonist, Chiron, throughout his life as he faces school bullies, endures his mother’s drug addiction, and encounters his sexuality in a social context that emasculates him. Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins, depicts the heart-wrenching coming-of-age story of a gay, black boy in the Miami projects. Written by Margot Bond Emasculating “The Other”