A Case Study of Queer Representation: Moonlight

Historically, representations of LGBT communities in the media have been negative, reflecting cultural intolerance of LGBT people. However, from the 1990s to the present, there has been an increase in the portrayals of LGBT people, issues, and concerns within the mainstream media in North America. LGBT communities have taken an increasingly proactive stance in defining their own culture with the primary goal of achieving affirmative visibility in the mainstream media. Positive representation or increased presence of LGBT communities in the media has served to increase acceptance and support for LGBT communities, establish LGBT communities as a norm, and provide information on the subject. Gwendolyn Audrey Foster admits: "We may still live in a world of heterocentrism and white dominance, but I think we can agree that we are in the midst of destabilizing postmodern forces when it comes to sexuality and race." Gender Insubordination (1991) argues that the idea of ​​heteronormativity is reinforced through sociocultural conditioning, but even more so through visual culture that promotes homo-invisibility.

“Moonlight” is based on the screenplay by Tarell Alvin McCraney, a gay man who based most of the story on his own upbringing. This instantly turns Chiron, the main character, into more than just lines spoken by an actor. The audience can feel and relate their inner struggles to their own sexuality. The queer lead character doesn't come across as an emotional clutch for the audience, he exists in his own being. Queer characters are often oversimplified to appeal to a straight audience, leaving the LGBTQ community behind. Queer characters cannot simply be given the same stories as straight characters because we cannot ignore the fact that they are still being killed, shut down, and oppressed. It is still illegal to be LGBTQ+ in more than 70 countries. Telling stories about LGBTQ+ characters without acknowledging the struggles of the minority group they belong to is more harmful than helpful. Movies like “Moonlight” are important because they subvert typical stereotypes and are deeply personal. I was able to understand their life experiences and have felt that same inner turmoil. “Moonlight” also breaks the mold by touching on issues like race, poverty, homophobia, and the path from school to prison, not just sexuality, in ways not typically portrayed in movies. It is very important that the queer community is represented in a positive way. Misrepresentations of queer people in the media perpetuate hate not only from outside groups but also from our community. "Moonlight," a film that features a gay person of color as the lead and that won the most prestigious award the industry can bestow, is an anomaly in modern Hollywood.

“Moonlight” urges us to radically rethink the relationship we usually associate or accept between masculinity and cuteness, a narrow-minded association that denies men the possibility of love, vulnerability, friendship, and growth as full human beings. The film shatters all preconceptions around this limiting view, and it does so by breaking down with astonishing intensity the ultimate stereotype of toxic masculinity: black male bodies. That this is realized in the film through queer forms of love is not surprising because it is in queer lives that we can see the limits of our common-sense assumptions about who is "lovable" as a person and as a citizen. In other words, who has the right to love whom. For me, the most memorable achievement of the film is the eyes: looks of longing and desire. They are incredibly beautiful and romantic and also human in a general sense, from the kindness given to children to the sweetness of the kindness of others. Queer representation in popular culture still has a long way to go, but films such as “Moonlight” demonstrate the changing atmosphere of inclusivity that we are slowly working towards.