PART A
Discuss an aspect of the film “Moonlight’ and the connections you see to Katz’ documentary “Tough Guise” or any of the other readings / viewings I have assigned. needs to be 250 word response
Your initial prompt can be your own connections or you may respond to the ideas below.
PARTB
Your follow up responses should resemble class discussion with your classmates (i.e. You will respond to the ideas they have posted. Do not simply note what a great idea they’ve had.).
TO THINK ABOUT
Is Chiron’s identity ultimately shaped by him or by others? How do his nicknames play into this idea?
Just after teaching Little to swim, Juan explains that his former nickname, “Blue,” was given to him by a stranger who remarked that black boys look blue in the moonlight , a touching and poignant anecdote. Little asks if Juan continued to go by that nickname, but Juan answers, “At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you’re going to be. Can’t let nobody make that decision for you.”
Nicknames lend a call-and-answer structure to Chiron’s control of his own character. The world calls him “Little,” but he decides he likes his given name better. Kevin calls him “Black,” and he decides he likes the hardness of such a name. In this way, it seems that Chiron is actually in control of his own destiny and identity, and it’s clear entering the final chapter of the film that Black believes he’s grown into the man he was supposed to be. This confidence is disrupted, however, when Kevin begins to question him about his transformation into “Black,” clearly doubting the authenticity of his new persona. Throughout the film’s final chapter, similarities between Black and Juan also continue to crop up; the crown on Black’s dashboard was clearly inherited from Juan, for example. Thus, by the end of the film, it remains unclear whether Chiron was ever in control of his own identity, as naturalism would indeed suggest that at least a portion of his “Black” persona is inherited from his childhood father figure.
In a way, then, Chiron’s decision to shed the nickname Little—implied by the new chapter title, “Chiron”—seems like an indication that he has chosen to follow Juan’s advice. Soon after this, however, we hear Kevin call Chiron “Black” even as we hear others address him as Chiron. Of course, Chiron directly addresses this when on the beach with Kevin, asking him, “what kind of dude goes around giving other dudes nicknames?”
In the final chapter of the film, entitled “Black” after the nickname that Kevin gave him, we understand that Chiron has chosen to keep the nickname even in the wake of Kevin’s betrayal, growing into the tough guy image that Kevin has always encouraged Chiron to adopt; remember, Kevin wrestles Chiron so he doesn’t come off as “soft” in front of their male peers.
What do the colors blue and black represent for Chiron and for us, as viewers? Can we understand them literally in terms of race?
In some ways, blue and black embody the dichotomy of “soft” versus “hard” in which the characters struggle to place themselves throughout the film. Both Chiron and Juan ultimately seem to opt for a performance of toughness or “hardness,” embodied by gangster lifestyles. Visually, this takes shape not only in the color of their skin but also in their dress, particularly in Black’s case, where black and gold shade everything he owns. In contrast, blue seems to serve as the film’s visual expression of softness and vulnerability in men like Chiron. Of course, blue is discussed literally when Juan describes the night a woman told him that “in the moonlight , black boys look blue” and awarded him “Blue” as a nickname. At the same time, Juan rejects this nickname, implying that it felt untrue to his identity as a grown man, and reminds Little of the primacy of blackness, saying that black people were the first people on earth. From moonlight to the ocean, blue seems to embody the sensitivity and vulnerability of not only the black male body, but specifically of Chiron’s body and identity in the face of a world that is constantly seeking to toughen him up, whereas the blackness of night or Black’s car or Terrel’s shirt embodies that toughness. As Chiron ages, his character seems to migrate from this vulnerability, expressed in the blue and Miami teal that dominate the film’s beginnings, into a kind of hardness that is expressed by blackness, even as that feels somewhat untrue to the Little we watched at the start of the film. Black and blue serve both as visual and emotional expressions of performed, archetypal weakness and toughness, or even racial blackness.
PART B RESPONSES FROM CLASSMATES response needs to be 250 words minimum
CLASSMATE ONE:
A major theme of moonlight is the black male identity and its interactions with sexual identity.Throught the film Chiron faces pressure to behave in ways that are more traditiponally masculine,When little Chiron from a ball game at school, Kevin follows, forcing little to wrestle him to prove to the other boys that he isnt “soft” but layer on thought out the filmChiron has chosen to embrace this societal demand for a performed masculinity wearing fronts in his teeth and blaring music from his souped up classic car, Chiron has journeyed from outwardly went to strong,yet the vulnerability he’s carried with him through life persists as he admits he’s havent been touched by another man since Kevin did last time with him. The film Moonlight is mostly about growing up as a queer man in a society that is very homophobic and toxically masculine and how Chiron faces harassment and violence and how he gets picked on and hes compared as women by his peers. This film connects to Katz documentary “Tought Guise” because as Chiron was getting picked on for having other preference the teachers in “tought Guise” were aware on what was happening in the school with Katz they did nothing to stop it and because they did nothing this shows that the boys will never change and they will act however they want without nobody stopping them and “boys will be boys”proves that they wont stop them from doing anything that happens even tho its wrong.
CLASSMATE TWO:
One aspect of the film ‘Moonlight’ is masculinity and performance. It is connected to Katz’ documentary, “Tough Guise” in how Katz discusses the tough-guy pose and how violent masculinity has become the cultural norm in America. In Katz’ documentary he describes masculinity as, “a pose, a guise, an act, a mask that men often wear.” Chiron, or Black, puts on this same pose or guise in the film ‘Moonlight.’ In ‘Tough Guise,’ a group of men were asked what words that they would use to describe a real man and these men responded with words like “strong, physical, independent, in control, powerful, athletic and tough.” If men don’t conform to the social norm, they get called “pussy, whomp, emotion, bitch, queer and fag.” In ‘Moonlight’ we see Chiron struggle with his sexuality and who is really is. In one scene, Chiron asks Juan, “Am I a faggot?” in which Juan responds, “No… no…”. “You could be gay, but you ain’t going to let anyone call you no faggot.” The word faggot is an offensive slang term for gay and Juan wants to reassure him that he’s just gay and there’s nothing negative about being gay. Once Chiron gets to high school it is apparent that he is gay. One of his classmates, Terrel, targets him and bullies him. Terrel represents masculinity and your stereotypical African American male growing up in a rough neighborhood in Miami. I think this is ultimately when Chiron is faced with the question, “will his identity be shaped by him, or others?” Will he give into societies standards of what a man is? Or will he follow what Katz says and redefine courage by resisting taking on the tough-guy pose? Later on in the film we see Chiron, who is now ‘Black,’ has fallen prey to the tough guy image. He is now a buff drug dealer, driving around in a muscle car and going by the nickname, ‘Black,’ that was given to him by Kevin. When Kevin sees him, he says, “take those damn grills out, that’s not who you are.” Kevin can instantly see that Chiron has taken on the tough guy image and that it’s all for show. Chiron went from a slender, undersized, vulnerable man, to this big, muscular man with a hardened exterior. It’s obvious that he didn’t want to grow up continued to be judged and bullied like he was in high school and decided to take on the tough-guy pose so that no one would question his sexuality. This also relates to Katz’ documentary when he talks about gay bashing and how being gay was looked upon as a sign of weakness. Chiron felt if he stayed slender and openly gay, he would be considered weak, so he decided to buff up and hide his sexuality.
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