For the topic of morality, I chose to talk about the film Moonlight (2016) directed by Berry Jenkins. In this film, we are introduced to Chiron, who is nicknamed ‘Little’ in his childhood. He is a soft and fragile gay boy who is constantly picked on and beaten up at school. His mother is a drug addict who neglected him all throughout his childhood, and we see how it affects him throughout the film. He is constantly lacking self-confidence and becomes very vulnerable, also considering he is gay which is not normalized especially in black men. Later in the film he meets a guy named Juan who tells him“ At some time you have to decide for yourself who you’re going to be”. This is where we are introduced to one of Chaffee’s moral positions, which is ‘I would do whatever would improve my own situation’. Chiron knows he can’t keep living in this despair, so once we see him enter adulthood, he is a changed person. He is now nicknamed ‘Black’ and is the complete opposite of what we saw at the beginning of the film. He is now buff and a drug dealer who has served some time in jail, he is no longer the one being picked on. Furthermore, he no longer portrays vulnerability or softness, he does not lean into the stereotypes of what a gay man should act like. He confronts his demons like a man named Kevin who he had a gay experience with in his childhood and gets closure of his feelings and confronting his mom who is now in rehab and apologized for what she did. He did what he had to do to improve his situation. Not only that, but he was dealt a bad set of cards, not because he’s gay but because of the social consequences that comes with being gay. Having a mother who didn’t care for him. Getting Bullied. If I was in his situation in this moral dilemma, I would do the same. I would change my exterior and mindset because you are not able to change social acceptances. It’s a tough dilemma to think about, but he did what was necessary and was able to grow.
