Moonlight Reflection

Moonlight was an incredibly powerful film that showed the life of a young African American boy who was gay. His life was a constant struggle as his mother was a drug addict and he faced bullies at school. Over the course of the film, we see a significant transformation in Chiron.

From an early age, Chiron knew he was gay and as a result, kids would pick on him. The film emphasized his exclusion from the group and how he ultimately relied on a drug dealer to take care of him and give him food and shelter when his mother kicked him out of the house. His one “friend” ironically, was the person selling drugs to his mother.

The importance of friends and groups on child development is significant. Chiron’s lack of friendship made him very inward and prevented him from showing his true personality. His only guardian became his role model and led him towards the same career as a drug dealer.

One question we can ask after seeing this film is whether Chiron’s life would be different in this current generation. Would people be more accepting of his sexual preferences? Would he find a group to fit into? Would he have a different occupation? I believe that it is very likely Chiron would be in a better situation if he was raised in this generation and managed to find the right people to associate with.

It was obvious that he had a meaningful relationship with Kevin. If he could find more people like that (who don’t end up betraying him), then surely, he could find happiness and live his life fully.

Overall, it was unfortunate that Chiron was put into a toxic position where he had no freedom of expression or meaningful friendships. His transformation into a drug-dealer was almost expected given his childhood experiences