He cries, telling the principal she doesn't understand. he asks. " Moonlight " ends with a flicker of hope. Boring, but we remain hopeful. The film is packed with breathtaking sequences and emotional moments in Chiron's life, but one of Moonlight 's most gorgeous and memorable scenes comes in the first act, as drug dealer Juan. "Moonlight" was one of the best films of 2016, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. What was the significance ofTeresa? -M-NUva. After that moment on the beach, Chiron would oftentimes show up at Juans front door seeking refuge from his neglectful home life and drug-addicted mother, Paula. Does Tsunade Die In Naruto? Teaching him how to swim and how to trust. Written and directed by Berry Jenkins, Moonlight revolves around the main protagonist Chiron, whose life is presented in three different actsLittle, Chiron, and Black. As such, his character is played by three different actors, Alex Hibbert (Child Chiron), Ashton Sanders (Teen Chiron), and Trevante Rhodes (Adult Chiron). In a way, this proves true when Kevin betrays Chiron by beating him for public show, a knife in the back of his new lover. Chiron is then picked up by a police car, which leads into the third act. I felt comfortable doing it because it seems like were defying stereotypes, but no, thats a real person. What happened to Juan on Moonlight? Kevin turns around, feeling Chiron's presence, and asks, "You good, Black?" Original Wednesday Addams Actress, Lisa Loring, Dies at Age 64, Adele Reveals She Suffers From Debilitating Back Pain, Nordstrom Shutting Down All 13 of its Canadian Stores, 28-year-old Hong Kong Socialite Found Murdered and Dismembered In Village. On December 12, while searching for a priest to administer last rites to his uncle, Juan Diego was visited by Mary again. One night, the two have an encounter where Juan ultimately berates her for her drug addiction as it leads to little to no parenting. Why classes are used in Java? These memories ended up making the beach a safe haven for Chiron. theGrio:What was it about Tarell Alvins McCraneys play that made you want to retell the story in film? I believe much of this has to do with the significance of Juans role in Chirons story. Either way, Juan had gone much too soon in Chiron's story. Yet, a few simple steps such as mindful eating, exercise, and focusing on whole foods can help you reach your weight loss goals and improve your overall health. Afterwards, Juan takes Chiron home to his crack-addicted mother, Paula, who scolds our hero for worrying her. Wait 15-20 minutes. In 2017, "Dancing in the Moonlight" was featured in the video game "Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Signs" and serves as the opening song for the second episode. When Terrel challenges Kevin about his attachment to Chiron, Kevin beats Chiron up, and then Terrel jumps on him, too. The movie brings out the painful struggle that sexual orientation has on the identity of a young black boy, Chiron, growing up in Miami, Florida. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . Just because someone else saw Juan as one way, under one particular light, it did not mean Juan identified with the way others perceived him. Ludwig van Beethoven is considered one of the greatest classical composers of all time. In the film's second act, viewers learn more definitely that Chiron is gay, as he is just starting to understand his sexuality. a lizard. Juan passes away, but his wisdom sets Chiron on his journey from boyhood to manhood. But the moment of love doesnt last. Paulas drug addiction has escalated and so has her anger. She. "Moonlight" was one of the best films of 2016, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. BJ:That character is what the whole project is based off. What Really Happened in this Game? Everyone who watched the film Im pretty sure assumed that happened to Tarell. TG:Teresa, who is played by Janelle Mona, serves as a surrogate mother to Chiron and contrast to his actual mother, Paula, who is a drug addict. Zadie Smith and Jeffrey Eugenides on Writing. Throughout the rest of the film, it is only explained through dialogue that Juan has died. You gon tell him why the other boys kick his ass all the time?. In Moonlight, it's the process of keeping the audience aware of the maker's hand and of the actors playing. Cookies help us deliver our Services. You tell that bitch, 'you better not forget it,'" referring to Teresa. Nov. 24, 2016 A man teaching a boy how to swim turns into a powerful moment of communion in this scene from "Moonlight," directed by Barry Jenkins. Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding his death are never revealed in the film itself. Twenty years later, I still dont know how Jenkins got this flick made. She mentions Juan's name, and Chiron noticeably tenses up. Chiron eventually returns home, only to be told by his mother that she's having company over tonight and has found "somewhere for [Chiron] to be." Tarells like, no I was neverinvited into a penis competition (laughs). Kevin shrugs this off and starts sharing a blunt with Chiron. While he can heal others, he can't heal himself. That final shot of him on the beach, as a boy, tells the audience that he is hopefully finding a way to better understand and accept himself, by finally reconnecting with Kevin in the film's closing moments, pointing toward a hopefully more emotionally open future. He later tells him that in his homeland, when he was a child, an elderly woman nicknamed him "Blue" because "in moonlight, black boys look blue" when he was running around on the beach before telling him he must take charge of his own life. -Welcome to the Hero/Protagonist wiki! By the second act, years have passed and Chiron has become a teenager. How does it make a boy whos been rejected because of his skin color, his sexual interests, and his sensitivity feel? I was just hooked. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Can't let nobody make that decision for you. Although this scene on the beach is in some ways a victory for Chiron, because it marks the first time he's able to act on his sexuality, it also kickstarts his downfall by lulling him into the security that comes with reciprocated love. The boy doesnt even say his name, Chiron, until Juan nudges him: You dont talk much but you damn sure can eat. The affectionate scolding makes Chiron (Alex Hibbert, a first-time actor, who couldnt be better) sit up and take notice; it tells him that he counts. Kevin explains that he got detention for having sex with a girl in the hallway at school. So when a classmate, Kevin (Jharrel Jerome), shows Chiron something other than hostility, it feels like a kind of fantasy. When Chiron asks Juan if Blue was his name, Juan said: At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you gon be. Chiron apologizes, and Kevin asks what he has to be sorry for. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. In response, she rebukes him for selling her the substance in the first place. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. It wasnt anything I thought about. Not only that, but it earned eight nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. Kevin urges Chiron to "stay down" so that he doesn't have to punch him again, looking as if he'd rather be doing anything else. 1. When he was bullied by his classmates as they presume Chiron was gay by the way he walked, he was noticed by a Cuban drug dealer Juan. We provide the most recent, unbiased accounts of the news that matters to you. Kevin pushes him on this, putting his hand on Chiron's back. Chiron continues to carry Juan with him until the very end. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. When the boys kiss, Chiron apologizes for it, and we wince, because who among us hasnt wanted to apologize for his presence? Kevin invites Chiron to meet up at the diner he works at to catch up. Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney told NBC News that Moonlight is based on his own experiences about coming to grips with his Queen identity and growing up in Liberty City, a neighborhood of Miami, Florida. Instead, he takes the word apart, and doesnt take Chiron apart with it. But, violence begets violence, and as Little grows into an introverted sixteen-year-old teenager who struggles with his identity, only a tough facade can shield him against the world. A little bit outside and away from center, and not necessarily represented in the most truthful or most connected way, he said. In the context of Juan's advice to "decide for yourself who you're going to be," Chiron's decision to seek revenge on Terrel seems like a perversion of the notion that one can shape one's own future. He won an oscar for Best Supporting Actor. This old lady, she stopped me. In moonlight, black boys look blue. Chiron gets out of the car, and the two try to act natural as Kevin calls Chiron "Black." Kevin, though, is shocked to learn of Chiron's life. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. It's an intentional move away from the aloof style and perfection of most big budget. Three time periods - young adolescence, mid-teen and young adult - in the life of black-American Chiron is presented. He tells Chiron to refrain from telling anyone about this indiscretion, saying, "I know you can keep a secret, dawg." Directors such as Marlon Riggs and Isaac Julien explored gay black masculinity in the nineties, but they did so in essay-films, which allowed the audience a kind of built-in distance. TG:Most black gay male characters in television and film are often stereotypical. The film is broken up into three parts: Little, Chiron, and Black. It also shows how complex the development of sexuality is, and this idea of the way boys treat each other. For whatever reason, Juan stuck to his hard lifestyle to survive. Ali plays Juan, a warm-hearted drug dealer who mentors young Chiron, taking him under his wing to escape the perils he faces of his drug-addicted mother at home and bullies taunting him at school. But as I watched the film, it was clear to me that Juan never left. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. Thats how Juan (the beautiful Mahershala Ali) carries himselfdefensively, warily. Chirons car has the license plate: BLACK305, Chirons nickname with the Miami area code. Throughout the rest of the film, it is only explained through dialogue that Juan has died. What is the 200 m world record? But he did. Its hard for a man of color walking those sun-bleached streets not to watch his back or feel that his days are numbered. He was the first Muslim actor to ever receive an Academy Award. In his high school science class, a bully named Terrel makes fun of Chiron for being effeminate and is kicked out of class. Chiron asks Juan what a faggot is, and Juan defines it as "a word to make gay people feel bad." He told her of the bishop's answer, and she instructed him to gather roses and take them to the bishop as a sign. In astrology, Chiron represents your "mortal wound" a pain that you suffered, often in childhood, that doesn't seem to go away . They laugh, and Kevin says he didn't know Chiron smoked. Paula badgers Chiron for the money she knows Teresa gives him, eventually wresting it from his pocket. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Photograph by Gabriele Stabile for The New Yorker. Juan finds a young Chiron hiding from the other young boys in the neighborhood after they chase him down for being different, for appearing weak; for being gay. Barry Jenkins: He did a great job of capturing the spirit and essence of this place that were from which is Liberty City, Miami. TG:You mentioned that you identified with parts of Chiron. While he may not be living an openly gay lifestyle, he does not deny what he wants or who he wants to be, just like Juans testimony. Despite having appeared throughout the initial third of the film, however, his character is gone by the time it enters the second act, Chiron. What happened to him? They make sexual comments about Teresa and Paula, implying that they are both prostitutes, to which Chiron instinctively reacts, grabbing Terrel by the shirt collar. This is how he initially meets Juan. The coming-of-age film, written and directed by Barry Jenkins, wasconsidered Oscar-worthy by critics long before its limited theatrical release on Oct. 21. Juan takes Chiron to one of their local Miami beaches and holds him in the water. Moonlight (Film) essays are academic essays for citation. The bullies throw rocks at the window before leaving. Chiron learns Kevin is now a single father and content in life. When Chiron meets back up with Kevin (his childhood friend and lover) in the last act of the film, what color shirt does Kevin wear? Chirons mother was aware of her sons sexual orientation. In Liberty City, Miami at the height of the crack epidemic, Afro-Cuban drug dealer Juan finds Chiron, a withdrawn child who goes by the nickname "Little," hiding from a group of bullies in a crackhouse. This was the last time we see Juan alive. We also quickly learn that Juan has died in the space between the first and second chapter, a shockwave that we watch echo through Chiron's relationships with Kevin, Teresa, and Paula in this section. And he knows he counts even more when Juan calls him by his nicknameLittleas a way of claiming him. Juans biggest impact on Chiron was when he was, well, Little. There is a crown on Chirons dashboard, just like Juans car had. You blue, that's what I'm gon' call you. I saw so much space in that to give myself over to the character. No matter how awful Paula is, she is still Chirons mother. When Andi says she's "out of her element," Juan Pablo tells her, "We'll both be naked. Last Update: Jan 03, 2023. Chiron was able to go back to Miami, chose love and was able to fight back. He respects our intelligence enough to let us just sit still and watch the glorious faces of his characters as they move through time. Day after day, as they spend more and more time together, Juan becomes somewhat of a father figure to the boy. Other members of the main cast include Janelle Monae, Ashton Sanders, Naomie Harris, and Jharrel Jerome. His words of wisdom continued to reassure Chiron whenever he felt alone and his transition from boyhood to manhood was made easier. Different circumstances, but not very different. Moonlight is a deeply emotional and powerful movie. What happened to drug dealer in Moonlight? At one point, after teaching Little how to swim in the ocean, Juan recounts a story from his youth about an old lady who said to him, "In moonlight, black boys look blue. Little. Either way, Juan had gone much too soon in Chirons story. Because this section also includes Chiron's tryst on the beach with Kevin, which will become one of the most identity-forming moments in his life, it confronts the film's themes of love and its frustrations. Theres no time to grieve. He gives into these traditional ideas of masculinity not because they fit him, but as a survival tactic. I think one of those sections deal with masculinity and how the world is creating this environment where were presented masculinity. The fact that Chiron's one moment of emotional and sexual connection with another individual is immediately punished with violence seems to have a very damaging impact on his life. I would love it if people see this film, thenpeople like our characters would no longer be invisible that they realize these are human beings. Kevin says, What have you got to be sorry for? As he works his hand down Chirons shorts, the camera pulls back; this is the only moment of physical intimacy in the film, and Jenkins knows that in this study of black male closeness the point isnt to show fucking; its to show the stops and starts, the hesitation, and the rush that comes when one black male body finds pleasure and something like liberation in another. He may be a boss on the streetshis black do-rag is his crownbut hes intelligent enough to know that hes expendable, that real power doesnt belong to men like him. As the two of them argue about Chiron's upbringing, he berates her for taking the crack he gave her and for neglecting her son while she rebukes him for selling them to her in the first place and for criticizing her on how she's raising Chiron without him taking responsibility for raising Chiron himself. Hes growing up without much reinforcement outside Juan and Teresas home. Shes a rotten baby, flailing around, as full of bile as Terrel (Patrick DeCile, in an incredible characterization), who bullies Chiron at school. . Blue.. When he finds Chiron, a gay boy hiding from his friends, he takes him under his wing and helps him believe in who he was. The two reconcile in the climactic moment of the film, right before the final shot shows Chiron again as a child. Juans license plate exhibited the same message. The first feature film with an all-black cast, Moonlight premiered in the United States on October 21, 2016. He enters his science class, picks up a chair, and slams it into Terrel's head. In each section, he becomes a different person. Because of Juan, Chiron has hope. Feeling for the young boy, he invites him to spend the night with him and his girlfriend, before returning him to his mother the following day. Kevin then comforts Chiron, letting down his wall, and the film closes with a shot of a young Chiron on the beach. While Juan did not identify with being called Blue, the color blue is seen frequently throughout the movie. [Another pause] Juan : [to Little] At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you gonna be. How Did Juan Die in Moonlight? I think Tarell did a great job of creating a character who I can tell, through reading, was struggling with this idea that he was indeed worthy of love. (Jenkins and his ardent cinematographer, James Laxton, film the car as if it were a kind of enclosed throne.) He cant afford to; this situation, any situation, could be changed in an instant by a gun or a knife. Inside, in a dark, silent space, the kid stares at Juan, and Juan stares at the kid.. Its not him, but its definitely based on him.