Moonlight

So apparently there’s a new popular television show out called Timeless where three main characters, one of whom is black, travel back in time to protect our present from the dastardly criminals who are out to change the past, strictly for their own benefit of course. Well being a black person myself, I’ve always wondered how the black character ever survived the first 10 minutes of the first episode. I mean, unless the farthest back they travel is the 1970’s, he’d be lynched the very second someone saw him on the streets with a pretty white woman. Trust me, I know this because it’s 2016 and I still see a number of Stephen Bannons giving me the Hail Hitler sign whenever they see me on a date with a girl. So you can just imagine how bad things were in the 30’s and 40’s; Make America Great Again indeed.

Well while the streets remain tough at times, we have at least made progress when it comes to the big screen. We aren’t quite to the point where a black man can have sex with a white woman outside of a porno but Will Smith sure has dated his fair share of Latinas in recent comedies. And once studios realized that this was a possibility, it opened the door for Heath Ledger to spit in his hand before getting with Jake Gyllenhaal in the mountains. And now that we’ve reached that plateau, who knows what’s next; maybe Rush Limbaugh will finally feel comfortable with releasing the sex tape he made with his farm’s pig just in time for next year’s Thanksgiving rush. One can only dream.

Well before that paramount moment is upon us, Hollywood has found somewhat of a middle ground in Moonlight. I honestly believe that this is the film critics wanted Brokeback Mountain to be all those years ago, but instead they all they got stuck with was a raunchy tale of two dudes who wanted to get buck wild (see what I did there) in the woods. And while being gay is universally accepted in the Black community if you’re the church’s choir director (only slightly kidding), it’s usually frowned upon in any other circumstance. This is why Moonlight has resonated with so many audiences.

It’s a look into the three most important phases of Chiron’s life, a young black man who grew up in the rough streets of Miami. Early on as a small child everyone in the neighborhood could tell that he was a little different, so naturally they branded him as gay and he was teased and bullied mercilessly as a result of it. He really didn’t have an outlet for his frustration because his crackhead mother (Naomi Harris) was more concerned with getting high and banging dudes than she was with raising a son. So his only refuge came in the form of a local drug dealer named Juan. Juan and his girlfriend (the almost unrecognizable Janelle Monae) take him in and help him out whenever they can, or whenever his mother allows them to, but he is so shy and clearly damaged that he has trouble opening up to anyone. The expressions on this kid’s face alone almost brings you to tears as you don’t expect him to survive the first act of the film given all of the crap he has to go through.

But thankfully he does, as director Barry Jenkins does an excellent job of not turning this into a clichéd tale that resembles a classic Greek tragedy. As you see Chiron’s evolution from scared little child to timid teenager to local drug kingpin, you see him constantly searching for some meaningful connection in life. And even though he at times he seems to be surviving, he clearly hasn’t found a safe place in life where he feels comfortable.

What I found remarkable was that even as you travel through each stage of his life, he looks dramatically different, yet you can easily tell it is him given his glaring vulnerability. Even as the convincingly tough drug dealer, you just want to go up and hug him and tell him that everything is going to be alright. Drug dealers can be sensitive too y’all; just remember that the next time you order your ounce for the weekend. While we may not all be as unsure about our sexuality as Chiron was (in spite of what Moby says) we all can connect with him on some level as we have all struggled with who we are at some point in our lives. And I truly believe this is what makes this film so special. I for one don’t get excited to see gay sex scenes but the short one that does exist in this film is about as honest and as tastefully done as you can expect in a culture that relies so heavily on shock value to fill the seats. Moonlight is a sure fire hit for this Oscar season and I give it a rating of FRESH.