In 2016, A24 released the critically acclaimed film Moonlight. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, this stunning film tells the tale of a young African-American male named Chiron struggling with his sexuality through three stages in his life: his childhood, his adolescence, and his adulthood. Through striking visuals and writing, Barry Jenkins captures a struggle that is all too often forgotten. Not only do Black men have to endure the struggle of being Black in the United States, but also the struggle of sexual oppression as well. In Moonlight, Chiron’s response to the oppressive forces around him is hypermasculinity. This case study will focus on Chiron’s hypermasculinity as a response to his environment using 3 specific scenes and the use of the word masculine in the screenplay.

The film is split between 3 parts. The first part being “Little,” the second being “Chiron,” and the third being “Black.” Each scene being analyzed comes from a different act, but all have very similar meanings. Each scene involves Chiron staring directly ahead; the first time he stares at his mother as she yells “Don’t look at me,” the second time he stares directly ahead at his own reflection after having just been beat up by the boy he trusts, and the third time he stares at the ocean just after meeting the aforementioned boy now as an adult trying to reconcile his past.

The first scene involves Chiron getting yelled at by his mother who is addicted to drugs. She yells, “Don’t look at me,” with a vicious tone as Chiron; referred to as “Little” in this act, is staring directly at her. His head is bowed while his eyes gaze up at the person he should be finding solace in. Chiron just had what could have been considered his first sexual experience with other boys in a previous scene and that can be a very confusing time, especially for a little boy. What Chiron realizes as he stares ahead is that he is alone. In the film Chiron does have somewhat of a father figure when he meets a man named Juan who Chiron grows very close to, but it’s revealed in his adolescence that he died.

Right before the second scene Chiron has had his first gay sexual experience with his friend Kevin and was ultimately betrayed by him. Kevin sides with Chiron’s bullies and in order to fit in and avoid being put in Chiron’s place Kevin fight Chiron leaving him beaten and bloodied. In the scene being analyzed Chiron is staring at his reflection, broken. He is now truly alone once again. Left to figure out what to do with emotions that never got to fully process for Chiron he turns to his masculinity for safety. After this scene, Chiron goes to school and finds a boy named Terrel. Terrel is the worst of Chiron’s bullies and is the primary antagonist of the second act. Chiron grabs a chair and breaks it over Terrel’s back, knocking him out. Chiron is arrested and as he sits in the police car he stares out at Kevin. He responded to his situation by showing physical aggression and realizes what it can help him escape. Chiron staring at his reflection is him staring at who he is externally and internally. Chiron is deciding what to do with the piece of his identity that keeps getting him hurt.

In the next act Chiron is an adulthood. He’s larger and more muscular now and cares about his physical appearance like never before wearing gold teeth and chains. He deals drugs and physically intimidates people. He is now embracing his masculinity and even enhancing it by lying about being with women. The final scene takes place towards the end of the act. Chiron has now reconnected with Kevin and Kevin invites Chiron over to his home. When Chiron parks outside of Kevin’s apartment, he hears waves crashing starts to stare at the ocean. To give some context to this act, Chiron has now reconnected with his mother and his friend who he felt sexually comfortable with. Two people who he had grown to see as negative forces are now positively affecting his life and making amends for what they had done to him. Chiron is now staring out at the waves and appears to feel comforted. His fondest memory of his father figure, Juan, is when he takes a trip the beach with Juan as a child and is held above the waves. Chiron is in a way reunited with Juan in this scene. Juan was the first person to tell Chiron that being gay was okay, but to not let anyone disrespect him. This was when Chiron was a child and it stuck with him throughout his life. He is remembering how safe he felt with Juan in this scene. Following the scene Chiron and Kevin talk and Chiron confesses that he hasn’t been with anyone since Kevin. Next we see Chiron’s resting his head on Kevin’s shoulder.

Chiron turned to hypermasculinity after losing the 3 people who he held dear to him, but is able to let go of it when those people return to him. Hypermasculinity is defined as the exaggeration of male stereotypical behaviour such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression and sexuality while exhibiting emotional self-control as a sign of toughness as well as composure and impassiveness in times of great stress (Siddhanta A, 2015).

Masculinity being such an important part of the plot is only mentioned twice in the screenplay. In both times that the term “masculine” is used it’s as a descriptor of actions inflicted upon Chiron. Using Voyant Tools I was able to easily locate the two times the term is mentioned and it’s context.

The first time it’s mentioned is in the second act while Chiron is a teen. Chiron’s bully Terrel spits at Chiron’s feet and the way he does it is described as masculine. Masculine in this sense is read as an attack on Chiron. The negative image of masculinity is created here. The second time it’s mentioned is when Chiron is an adult resting his head on Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin has his arm around Chiron and this is described as being in a warm yet masculine way. This brings about a new way of viewing masculinity in the film. This is the same way Chiron views himself in the film. He grows to suppress who he is in order to protect himself from what he has previously experienced, but is able to let go in his adulthood.

Moonlight grossed almost $27.9 million in the box office being released across 650 theaters and won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It currently has a 7.5/10 on IMDb and a 99 Metascore on Metacritic.