Introduction
The topic of identity and self-awareness has been widely discussed recently. The movie Moonlight by Barry Jenkins explores the problem of identity construction and transformation. The main character of the movie, Chiron, is portrayed going through three life states, each of which reveals different parts of his identity. At the end of the movie, he learns to embrace all the contradictory elements of his personality and establish himself as a wholesome individual in society.
The movie discusses the problem of identity and its exploration by a person against the expectations of society. It says that a person’s identity consists of several parts, which can be conflicting. However, a better understanding of these elements leads to their ultimate merger and creation of a whole unique personal identity. Chiron explores his masculinity, sexuality, and race as integral features of his own identity. All his experiences lead to the ultimate integration of elements and finding his place in the world and society. Therefore, the movie shows that different aspects of identity coexist in a person to form his unique character.
Chiron’s Identity in Moonlight
Chiron is performed and portrayed by three different actors assigned to a specific part of Chiron’s life. The choice of the character represents the shift that a protagonist experiences in terms of his identity awareness and the way he communicates with the world around him. It can be seen that Chiron is changing physically and is perceived differently by other people, which defines the fluid part of his identity. Identity: A Very Short Introduction underlines that “what it means to be a white woman or a black man or a ‘bastard’ you only learn in a society that calls on that.” In three parts of the movie, Chiron goes through various stages of his identity transformation in terms of self-awareness and self-representation. He does not reject the core of his identity features, which define his personality.
However, Chiron learns how to fit these characteristics into society so as not to experience psychological and social discomfort. Chiron learns to understand himself and the people around him through interaction and communication, which finally forms not only his perception of himself but his social image. His perception of such concepts as race, masculinity, gender, and sexuality transformed over time. Nevertheless, by understanding them better, Chiron does not question his identity but explores and reveals it to himself.
Each of the three parts of the film corresponds to a specific stage of identity formation that Chiron undergoes as he gets older. The first identity is defined by the lack of intimacy and affection on the part of his mother. The part shows slow-motion scenes in purple shades of Chiron’s mother yelling at him. She then walks away into her bedroom and closes the door (Moonlight 18:30). As Chiron watches the behavior of his mother, he learns that he does not deserve love and affection from her.
This constitutes a basis of the yet unrevealed concepts that Chiron is going to understand later, closer to the end of the movie. The identity in the first part seeks intimacy but cannot receive it due to poor relationships with the mother. However, it is possible that Chiron’s mother cannot accept and love herself first to be able to appreciate her son. In the first part of the movie, Chiron meets Juan, who later becomes the only father figure for him. Juan represents manhood for Chiron and helps him to establish his male characteristics. The identity that is depicted in the first part defines Chiron’s need for emotional affection and his self-identification as a black man and establishes his masculinity.
The second part of the movie presents Chiron’s identity, which is defined by growing awareness of his sexuality. He discovers his affection for his friend Kevin, which replaces his lack of emotional intimacy with his mother in the first part of the movie. His interactions with his mother, which were by now completely severed, were defined only by emotional closeness (Moonlight 18:00-21:30). In Kevin, Chiron finds both emotional and sexual affection, which reveals this side of his identity. He explores new areas of his emotional, psychological, and social identity by better understanding his masculinity and race. Chiron is now more aware of himself being male, black, and gay, which becomes a solid part of his identity. The second part of the movie also reveals the long-lasting impact that Juan has on Chiron’s identity.
He helped the boy to solidify his masculine identity features to maintain them and remain unconflicted with his sexuality. In the second part, Chiron learns to combine different aspects of his identity, which seem contradictory. The identity presented in this part is defined by his full awareness of his sexuality, further developed masculinity, and the beginning of the discovery of his racial identity.
The third part of the movie presents a new actor and a new identity that Chiron now has. This mature part of his identity is defined by a strong awareness of his race and a developed sense of masculinity. Chiron used to be vulnerable in the first part suffering from the lack of emotional affection from his mother. However, he developed his masculinity throughout the second part and managed to build interactions with people around him. Chiron learns how to protect himself and compensate for the unpleasant experiences he had in his childhood. His traumatic relationships with his mother laid “the groundwork for a baby’s sense of self—and, with that, a lifelong sense of identity” (Van der Kolk 128).
His identity in the third part of the movie is built on his full adaptation to the world around him and his developed skills of self-representation and positioning in society. Chiron understands all the aspects of his identity; he does not reject them but tries to combine and protect them as a whole. The character embraces all the elements of himself, manifesting them to the world as a complete human being. Though Chiron does not openly reveal his sexuality, he still does not deny it is as unacceptable as he is aware of his true self.
Different parts of Chiron’s identity coexist in him as he slowly reveals and explores them throughout the movie. The first identity is vulnerable, seeking love and affection while, at the same time, understanding its masculinity. The second identity is awareness of its sexuality and even growing masculinity, which learns to protect itself. A third identity is a mature person with a definite position in society and fully developed coping mechanisms. Therefore, Chiron gradually transforms his personality, embracing parts of his fragmented identity. The most significant aspect of the process is that he does not reject any of his characteristics.
Chiron reveals them and integrates them into his personality, which transforms his sense of identity. Even his traumatic experience with his mother becomes a solid basis for his self-protection, which helps him to keep his identity wholesome. Juan played an important role in this process as he underlined for young Chiron that all the aspects of his identity are valuable and Chiron is only yet to reveal them (Moonlight 26:40). This awareness of the need for self-exploration and self-acceptance made Chiron a mature person with his strong and distinct identity.
Chiron never states his sexuality and being gay to people around him, except for Kevin as a close one. The movie suggests that it is not acceptable to be a gay Black man in American society. The story takes place in Miami in the 1980s, which underlines the problem even further. Chiron is a part of the drug-dealing community, which has its own rules in terms of building a reputation and gaining authority (Moonlight 1:25:00-1:34:00).
The character cannot openly state his sexuality and needs to be careful about it. Chiron understands that his identity can be perceived as flawed, and that he can be despised in society. The movie suggests that masculinity and homosexuality, especially for a Black man, are somewhat contradictory. Chiron learns how to combine these parts of his identity and protect it against prejudice. He tries to assert his masculinity while being a gay person. Therefore, the movie shows that American culture tries to shape certain identity expectations that a person can further find to be false.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Chiron shows how a person can reveal all the parts of their identity and combine them into one character. Three parts of the movie lead the viewer through his self-awareness journey. Chiron reveals his masculinity, sexuality, and race, understanding his needs and finding his place in the world. The movie states that American culture imposes different expectations that influence people’s self-perceptions. However, Chiron managed to fully explore all the parts of his identity through interaction with other people. In the end, he manages to combine all the elements of his personality and form a whole character, which he embraces and protects.
Works Cited
Identity: A Very Short Introduction. Cameron Carrick. Web.
Moonlight. Directed by Barry Jenkins, A24, 2017.
Van der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Publishing Group, 2015.