Embedded Files
Moonlight (2016), directed by Barry Jenkins, was my choice of film set in Florida to review for this project. The film is set in Liberty City in the 1980’s, a real neighborhood within Miami that struggled with poverty and has experienced lots of drug use, especially during this time. Moonlight has won multiple awards including best picture in 2017. Moonlight follows a boy named Chiron as he grows up, it takes place in three parts: starting with Chiron as a child, then as a teenager, and finally as an adult. It focuses on themes of poverty, family issues, sexuality, and identity in general. Moonlight directly relates to our argument about Florida and its representation of wealth disparity. We see a range of levels of wealth in the film, particularly through Chiron himself, who starts off very poor, and eventually finds wealth. This wealth is achieved through crime, which is another theme our group is focusing on. Even when wealthy, Chiron is searching for more, which relates to our third theme, that in films set in Florida, there is often dissatisfaction with wealth. After reviewing certain scenes in the film, I have concluded that Liberty City or even Miami, acts as more than a setting in this film. Place helps to shape Chiron’s identity, trapping him in cycles of poverty and crime, as well as emotional suppression. This film has been called a "beautiful nightmare” as its scenery and color are calm, enticing, and warm, yet the film is dark and honest. Moonlight fits into our thesis that structural inequalities represented in Florida films often lead to wealth disparity, sometimes through crime, and that wealth can be unsatisfying even when it is achieved.
The representation of Liberty City in Moonlight and the representation of Florida as a whole in film, according to our thesis, reflects real social conditions. The portrayal of the Liberty City neighborhood plays a central role in the film, laying the groundwork for Chiron’s problems in the beginning of the film, and his decisions in the later part of the film. As an independent film, made by a black director, Moonlight shows a unique and unconventional view of Florida films. It may show viewers who have only experienced Florida through its tourist image, a more reality based view on places like Liberty City. Liberty City is shown as a place of poverty, crime, and a lack of outside help or resources. The housing is small, cramped, and falling apart. Drug dealers seemingly run the streets with no pushback. Liberty City was actually like this in real life too during the 80’s, according to a study that examines Miami and Liberty Cities drug use and violence patterns. According to the study, “The city has an active street drug trade that is concentrated in areas where much of the city’s African-American population resides in the downtown or northern sector of the city. A bustling open-air drug market once dominated the “Avenue,” NW 17th Avenue, a street marking the western edge of the Liberty Square area.”(Martinez Jr. et al). This background context not only emphasizes the meaning and truthfulness of Moonlight, but also adds an important notion relating to our thesis, these themes shown in Florida films of wealth disparity and crime are rooted in racial and systemic issues. The portrayal of Liberty City in Moonlight is overall negative in almost every way, yet Chiron decides to return in part three of the film. This speaks to the dissatisfaction he feels in Atlanta, as well as the idea of returning home no matter the past. Moonlight fits in with other stereotypical representations of Florida in film, in its own unique way. As discussed in the book Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies, around the 1970’s themes of many Florida set films changed to violence, drugs, and crime. Moonlight follows these themes but not in the basic ways you may expect, rather in a way that shows how growing up in a place like Liberty City affects you throughout your life.
Scene One
Scene One
The first scene I wanted to review, and the most important scene relating to our thesis in my opinion, is the argument between Paula and Juan, (27:00-30:30). Juan, a top drug dealer in Liberty City and a father figure to Chiron, is making his nightly rounds at a popular dope spot. He sees two customers smoking in their car right outside the spot, which is not allowed. When Juan confronts them, he finds Paula, Chiron’s mom, and her man smoking crack, which he just sold to them. Juan already has a relationship with Chiron at this point, so he yells at Paula, insinuating that she is a bad mother. Paula yells back, blaming Juan for selling her the drugs and asking if he will raise Chiron if she is not fit to. Although Paula is obviously doing a bad thing, her argument has a point, and Juan knows this. As Walcott notes, “the arc of the story—coming of age, drug addiction, bullying, sexual exploration, poverty, and so on—are not unfamiliar to this particular "genre" of film, that of a coming-of-age story in Black cinema in which the central "troubles" revolve around where the main protagonist might land in the context of family tensions, usually represented by an antagonistic mother”(Walcott 338). Through this scene we see Paula is this antagonistic mother, but it is due to the drugs and crime that Liberty City and Juan himself provide. This scene directly relates to the wealth disparity and crime parts of our thesis, and raises interesting questions about the dynamic between dealer and buyer. We see direct wealth disparity between Juan and Paula’s home lives. Paula lives in a cramped and dirty house, and Jenkins shows this visually by using mise-en-scene. Paula’s apartment is dimly lit and cluttered, making it claustrophobic for the viewer. In contrast, Juan’s house is bright and open, making it feel warm and safe. The wealth disparity is shown directly through the living spaces as Paula is unable to provide for herself or her son in a legal way, and she spends all her money on crack. Juan on the other hand, while living in the same neighborhood, is living a much wealthier life. He has a nice house, a nice car, a wife that loves him, and we see he is always eating good food and making the most of his life. This disparity is caused by the drugs that connect Juan and Paula, Juan is receiving the benefits, while Paula is taking the consequences. This wealth disparity also affects Chiron as a young child, and impacts him the rest of his life. He believes to make it and find satisfaction, and to find himself, he needs to become Juan and achieve wealth. Even as a child, he often leaves his poverty ridden house, to be with Juan, surrounded by wealth. As we discussed in class, one way wealth disparity can be portrayed in film is the relationship between driving and walking. We see Chiron walk to Juan’s house multiple times, surprising Juan due to the distance. This juxtaposes Juan, and later Chiron as an adult, as we see them driving around. Juan’s wealth is directly a result of Chiron’s misfortune, which can also be attributed to the landscape itself and the systemic issues that exist in Liberty City.
Scene Two
Scene Two
The second scene I wanted to review was in part 2 of Moonlight. It is the scene where Chiron mentally breaks and attacks his bully, Terrell, with a chair, seriously injuring him, and leading to Chiron’s arrest, (1:04:30-1:06:00). The scene is built up to by multiple scenes of Terrell bullying Chiron, pushing him past his breaking point. This scene shows how place can change people, it paints Liberty City as a place that turns innocent souls into violent people. Not only is the violence allowed near and around the school, but places like this almost encourage violence when it comes to masculinity and identity, which is another theme of the film. This scene is another example of how the landscape is more than just a setting in this film, it conforms Chiron to become something he was not supposed to, because he has no other choice. Jenkins shoots this scene with a handheld camera, it is shaky and chaotic, much like Chiron’s mental state. When Chiron picks up the chair we get a close up of his face, and we see him make the decision that will change his life. Leading up to this scene, Paula is falling worse into drug addiction, and Kevin, his first sexual experience, was forced by Terrell to jump him. The endless torment by Terrell, as well as his homelife, and the pressures of his neighborhood's social environment, all come together to turn Chiron into a violent man. This change, along with his desire for wealth, eventually turn him into this drug dealer, Juan type of character, that Kevin even points out, isn't Chiron’s true self. This transformation is stereotypical in films set in Florida, the rise of the poor man through some criminal means, to eventually achieve wealth, yet yearn for something else. Unlike most films however, Chiron does not have much of a choice in his decisions. It was too much to take and he had to do something, and violence was all he knew. This scene shows how Chiron is just a projection of his surroundings. This point is emphasized in the book Sunshine in the Dark: Florida in the Movies, “For others, including many who have never visited the state, Florida is viewed as the example of “whats wrong with America ""(Fernandez and Ingalls 16). Viewers of this movie from other areas may not be able to connect with this film. This relates back to what we talked about in class, how people view media and create their own ideas about them, leading to more and more confusion about the real landscape.
Scene Three
Scene Three
The final scene I reviewed was in the third and final part of the film, where Chiron, now an adult and going by Black, returns to Miami, (1:21:00-1:22:00). Black is going back home after a long time in Atlanta after receiving a call from Kevin, his old friend and love interest. Black has changed himself tremendously since the last time we, as the audience, or anyone in Miami, has seen him. We come to understand Black has made a good amount of money in the drug trade in Atlanta, he is also very muscular now, in contrast to his old smaller size, which relates back to masculinity themes. In the car scene, we see Black in a very similar way as we did Juan earlier in the movie. They both have gold grills and watches, and even have the same crown on the dashboard. They drive and nod their heads to the music the same way, and it is obvious that Jenkins mirrors this scene to Juan’s earlier driving scenes. He uses the same low angle shots, similar framing of the crown on the dashboard, and the same warm yellow light is used. The audience understands that Chiron has turned into Juan based on just this scene. This shows not only did Chiron probably see Juan as a father figure, but that Chiron also probably thought this life was the only way out. The other importance of the car scene is his return home itself. Black could stay in Atlanta with his wealth and more successful life, yet he is still unsatisfied, and returns to a place he knows is a trap in some ways. This relates back to our thesis and how even when wealthy, Florida is often portrayed as a place with dissatisfaction of wealth. The direct correlations between Juan and Black show how wealth disparity can lead to loss of identity, or an over ambition for wealth that can only be fed by crime. Chiron only saw wealth as Juan, so when he had the opportunity, he turned into Juan. As Walcott describes, “Barry Jenkins's adaptation...is a masterful execution that has tapped into a lacunae of images, emotion, and Black aesthetic desires, by drawing on well-known images and stories of contemporary Black life”(Walcott 338). The images of Black and Juan in their cars are the well-known images Jenkins shows the audiences, a drug dealer with grills and a nice watch, but Jenkins complicates things by giving each character's identity a deeper complexity.
Moonlight is a film that shows its landscape as more than a setting, but rather a factor that shapes Chiron’s decisions throughout his entire life. Through the argument between Juan and Paula, Chiron’s fight with Terrell, and Black’s drive home, Jenkins emphasizes a place that is in poverty, filled with violence, and struggling with identity, along with its people. Even when Chiron does achieve wealth, we see he is unsatisfied, going home to the place that trapped him. This is common with films set in Florida, we see things like wealth and the American dream are not equally available to everyone, and in some areas, even achieving wealth does not provide true peace.
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