The Film Moonlight By Barry Jenkins

Even though Juan tries to help Chiron by teaching him how to swim and stand up for himself, he is ultimately contributing to the dysfunction in Chiron’s life.

In the film, Crash by Paul Higgins there is the incorporation of numerous perspectives and theories of societal issues. The film brought up various issues we face in our world today such as racial discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice etc. One theory that is seen is the symbolic interaction theory. There is the usage of different symbols in the film. Each character in the film comes from a different culture; socioeconomic background etc. and they each have their own story.

This is a criticism of Moonlight, a film directed by Barry Jenkins. It is a coming-of-age story, telling the journey of a young gay black man named Chiron. Through linear character development the film follows a young Chiron from adolescence into adulthood while growing up with alpha males in Miamis black ghettos. The Story is told in three parts, with a different actor playing the lead role in each section: a young Chiron named “Little”, as a teen named “Chiron”, and an adult named “Black”. Despite a compelling lead performance by Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris, and its great soundtrack, Moonlight falls flat and never gets out of the shadow of its typical cliche plot, all the while, the film continued to never overcome the obstacle of

Again the danger of parenting is depicted through walls’ use of symbolism. Jeannette being a child (three years old) and having to cook and take care of herself is substandard. Having to be surrounded by hardship and

In If Beale Street Could Talk and “Sonny’s Blues,” author James Baldwin shows that embracing suffering, rather than being trapped by it, leads to growth and enlightenment.

When he returns home his mother immediately tells him “find somewhere for you to be. I got company tonight.”[4] Once again Chiron is rejected from his community and even his own home continuously being dominated by others, he turns to the only place he feels safe Teresa 's house, as Juan has now passed away. Chiron returns to school and is mocked yet again continuing to keep his head down he once again lets those around him dominate his inner emotions. On his way home from school Chiron is confronted about where he 's going when the bullies conclude that he is returning to Teresa 's house they begin to mock Teresa saying “Oh yeah. That chick fine as fuck! Juan been dead a minute, that bitch give free head?”[5] Chiron grabs his bully by the collar and drives him back, for the first time in the entire film we see Chiron retaliate against his oppressor but unfortunately it was not him standing up for himself but standing up for others. After this confrontation with his dominator Chiron visits the beach where he shares an intimate moment with his best friend kevin and for the first time we see Chiron 's true self as expressed through his seexuality. Just as quickly as we see Chiron express himself we she him shut down as the following day at school kevin is dared to beat Chiron in a game called “Knocked Down, Stay Down.”[6] In this scene it is as if Kevin regrets his decision in sharing a moment and is begging him to be his

The two poems “White Lies” by Natasha Trethewey and “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes were written to express racial dilemmas that the authors went through. Thematically, they represent the American Dream. In “White Lies” we see that Trethewey went through some racial identity issues. She felt as if she had to lie to blend in with the rest of the whites, which was easy for her because she was mixed. To understand the full meaning of this poem, one assumes that Trethewey was the product of an interracial marriage. This type of thing was frowned upon during the time she grew up. In the poem “Theme for English B” Hughes seems to accept the fact that he is different. Hughes does not seem to have a problem with expressing his difference. He looks at as his individuality and strives to let everyone know that he is proud of who he is. The two poems have many similarities and differences.

In James Baldwin 's short story "Sonny 's Blues" a young man questions his brotherly obligations after finding that his younger brother has been arrested for using drugs. In the attempt to rectify his younger brother 's behavior and life, the young man faces his own feelings for his brother and comes to terms with the life his brother Sonny lives. The developments of certain elements-plot, character, point of view, setting, symbolism-in the story help accentuate the narrator 's struggles and theme(s) of the story.

The film Glory by Edward Zwick is one of the most well-known films of all time. The film itself is solely based upon the first formal unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War which consist of all African American men. They were essentially the very first unit of United States Colored Troops. They were formally known for their courageous attempts to and actions at Fort Wagner in 1863. The film is set in many different locations such as New York, Maryland, South Carolina and Massachusetts. In each of these different locations events took place that shaped our history. For example on November twenty seventh of 1862 Robert Shaw started to train soldiers. July eighteenth 1863 the Colonel Shaw and his troops attempted to take Fort Wagner, which didn’t succeed.

The film, Confessions of a Sociopath, was made by the critically acclaimed director Joe Gibbons. Joe Gibbons is famous for his experimental films, and this film is perhaps his best project to date. The film is an hour long and takes the viewer through real life events that have occurred in Joe’s life. In the film, Gibbons acts as a fictional version of himself where he finds a room full of footage from his life with events that he can no longer recall. The film describes his earlier film experiments, his descent into constructive behavior and his bottoming out on drugs and alcohol. It is intriguing to see a side of a well-known film maker that no one would have thought existed. The film is also greatly intriguing because it is not made in the traditional professional way. The viewer is taken through a series of events that seem normal and completely unscripted. It is also clear that most of the events in the film were shot without the assistance of professional cameramen and directors save for Gibbons himself.

The Blind side is considered one of the best sports biographies and one of the best sports related inspirational stories. The blind side was published in 2006 and was written by Michael Lewis. This book is based on a Memphis native, Micahel Oher’s. The Blind Side contains two stories within its plot. One story begins with Michael Oher. The book explains the trials and tribulations of the young African American teenager. Micheal was from one of the worst neighborhoods in Memphis. He lived with anyone would would give him a place to stay for them night, The story follow his journey from being poor and then meeting the Tuohy family, who is a wealthy Memphis family who took him in and helped make his dream come true of playing the the National Football League. The book then goes into detail about the evolution of Micheal trying to play in the game of football. Lewis describes in the book how the left tackle position is one of the best positions on a football team, because the person maintain gin this role is responsible for protecting the quarterback 's “blind side” (“Blind”).

In Owning Your Own Shadow Robert Johnson best defines shadow as our rejected and unacceptable character being collected in the dark corner of our self for too long that they start to take a life on their own (4). Johnson argues, "The shadow is the part of us we fail to see or know," (4). What I think he means by this is that the shadow can be an outlook for the unlived life caused by a specific pattern of life decisions. I strongly agree because a lot of times we deny the realities and are unable to face the truths. The way Johnson explains shadow is not the way I understood shadow before rather just understanding that a shape is created by a body coming

Humans are constantly criticized for being “different,” so forming an identity within a judgemental and violent community proves to be mentally exhausting. Moonlight (2016) by renowned director Barry Jenkins, vividly depicts three different stages of the life of a boy named Chiron while he transforms from a young boy to a man who struggles with coping to find who he truly is. Living in a poor crime-ridden neighborhood in Miami, Florida, Chiron goes through many trials and tribulations throughout his life to find who he is in a society that gives no mercy to anyone in it. Throughout this story, Chiron battles with forming an identity for himself as he comes to terms with being a homosexual black male who is trying to conceal the utmost fragility of who he really is. Through clever techniques used within the diegesis and mise-en-scene, Moonlight illustrates the difficulties a low-class homosexual African American man must experience throughout his life to be accepted into society as a result of not always conforming to ideas surrounding gender and race.

In the scene where Chiron is driving around in his car with a man it is clearly visible that Chiron has changed. He is wearing baggy shorts with a tank top showing off his muscles and has a gold grill. He passes some hood members and he pulls out a pistol for protection. This proves if Chiron didn’t adapt and become “tough” then he would’ve still been taken advantage of and probably killed. Another very important scene within the movie is when he meets his mother when he is older. His mother emphasizes “I messed up. I fucked it all the way up. I know that. But yo’ heart ain’t gotta be black like mine baby.” This shows that Chiron’s mother knows she messed up and adapted to the way of life within their city and she is noticing that he is changing as well. This relates to society because in all different places around the world especially in dangerous areas, if the people who live within those areas adapt to the lifestyle than they could be in huge danger. Violence has a major existence in these areas which is a big cause of people needing to adapt, “In communities where gangs thrive, violence and intimidation are common occurrences…Other behaviors in which gang members engage that present serious threat to law abiding communities include assault with deadly weapons, home invasion, arson, intimidation of victims and witnesses, and car theft. Moreover, respectable residents are confronted by a growing street culture that increase community

Identity is transitional. Not one identity is held constant throughout one’s life. Thus, the intersectionality of one’s identity conveys how complicated humans are. This complex nature of humans is brought to life in the movie Moonlight. Directed by Barry Jenkins, this coming of age film explores the many facets of identity in the main character, Chiron. Chiron is not the only fully thought character; every named character parallels people of all walks of life. Through the intricacies of the characters, stereotypes are presented and shattered. But, the film’s central point is not to counter stereotypes. Moonlight tells a story of reality where stereotypes are rooted in truth. Consequently, Moonlight plays into a majority of stereotypes of class, race, gender, and sexual orientation.