Societal Conditioning and its Consequences in Moonlight

Moonlight (2016) directed by Barry Jenkins is an award-winning film that has earned much of its praise and attention since its release. The movie is huge step in the film industry by the way in which it follows its protagonist, a gay black man named Chiron — who was raised in poverty conditions (and the challenges he has endured as a result of such labels and conditions) — throughout three different “chapters” that represent the different stages of his life: Chiron as a young boy, Chiron as an adolescent, and finally, Chiron as a fully grown man. The movie also subtly follows the development of Chiron’s best friend since childhood, Kevin, who is also a homo-or-bisexual black man.

In his film review, Moonlight’s Necessary Company, Rinaldo Walcott, argues that Moonlight plays on sociological conventions to earn much of its praise, regardless of how large of a part that the film itself relies on society’s shared stereotypes about black and gay men, in order for the audience who do not fall within these demographics to better interpret the film (Walcott, 337–339). As someone who studies psychology as well as sociology, I could not help but to notice that this film did, in fact, contain many socio-and-psychological aspects within the actual plot itself.

In my personal perspective, this film raises an important question regarding both Kevin and Chiron concerning their identities: Why is it that both Kevin and Chiron, despite having different (yet equally complicated) relationships with their own identities and masculinity as adolescents, have both found themselves facing the same identity crisis as they have both become adults? To a careful eye, this film presents itself as a dark warning about the consequences of societal conditioning on one’s own identity.

A rather peculiar aspect that I have observed regarding the plot of Moonlight, is that on the one hand, both Kevin and Chiron approach the concept of their identities in polarized opposing ways; Kevin behaves and presents himself as a black man is stereotypically expected to do so, both in film and in reality. These stereotypes include the hyper-performance of masculinity and heterosexuality, or being a macho-man of sorts. Chiron, however, is more or less lacking in his own sense of identity — he doesn’t bother with trying to “fit in” like Kevin does, at least not until he is much older and has been released from juvenile detention.

On the other hand, despite how each of these characters have been portrayed as they approach their own identities throughout life, they both end up in the same predicament towards the end of the film: they are grown men who are both unhappy and unsatisfied with their current lives, they are each in the midst of their own identity crisis, and both are thinking, behaving, and expressing themselves the way that black and male culture — and society overall — has expected them to behave and think based on these aforementioned stereotypes, and not how they actually wanted to live and express themselves based on what they wanted or what they believed. This tension is confusing in nature because one could expect a very different outcome for either one of these young men as they grew older. One could assume that Kevin would be living a much grander lifestyle than what he was by the film’s end — given he was so popular as a young boy and an adolescent, and that he did whatever it took to maintain his social image as being a hyper-masculine and hyper-sexual young man; or perhaps one could expect that it would be Chiron living a more peaceful and tranquil lifestyle as he became an adult, as he was mostly depicted as being unbothered to alter himself internally or externally to fit the roles that society and culture had already set in place for them as black men. Towards the film’s end, both Kevin and Chiron each figured that if they want to be accepted and liked by others, that they would have to put on a mask to fit in. Due to societal conditioning and social identity, however, they only created an unhappy life for themselves — devoid of any personality and uniqueness.

The way in which the film immediately begins with Chiron as a young boy being harassed by his peers demonstrates the early impact of societal conditioning and how it will ultimately affect Chiron when he is older. This torment and harassment that Chiron faces from fellow children, when scaled out and put into perspective, is rather unusual and even concerning behavior for children of such a young age — to not only be so hostile towards a fellow child, but to even know in the first place who it is they want to alienate and harass and for what reasons. We can assume, given the context of the conversation between Juan and Paula (Chiron’s mother), that these other children are bullying and rejecting Chiron on the basis that they all assume he is gay due to “the way he walks” (Moonlight, 29:09). Chiron himself is largely unsure of his own sexuality, let alone able to fully understand why the other children are constantly humiliating and teasing him to such a cruel extent, but these other children have already somehow been influenced and informed by an outside source as to who they should reject and for what reason(s). This behavior is largely influenced by stereotyping and societal conditioning, the latter of which contributes to social identity within arbitrary minority groups, and therefore leads to bias and discrimination (whether conscious or unconscious) against other arbitrary groups of people. These terms, in order to be applied to the analysis of this film and its characters, should be defined in greater detail. In an article pertaining to police bias, racial profiling, and societal conditioning, Smith and Alpert refer to Stangor & Schaller’s discussion of the “cultural perspective on stereotype formation,” defining stereotyping as, “represent[ing] a society’s collective knowledge and beliefs about the social groups of which it is constructed.” (1270). In other words, the stereotyping that we see amongst these children that bully Chiron are rooted in the beliefs that are shared amongst the environment with which they are raised. Explaining Police Bias: A Theory of Social Conditioning and Illusory Correlation goes on to elaborate in greater detail how these children have formed these biases on a more socio-and-psychological level, henceforth, we may now understand why it is that Chiron had been bullied and alienated beginning at such a young age. It is because the children who bullied and rejected him had already been indoctrinated by various outside sources to hold prejudices against others — which is based on the stereotypes that they had unconsciously picked up or had been taught by others to have. Because Chiron does not conform to the set of expectations that he (and even the children who bully him) are not even aware exists — Chiron is tormented, rejected, and introduced to the sexuality aspect of his own identity in such a cruel manner.

“By 5 years of age, children have begun to exhibit clearly identifiable racial attitudes, which tend to resemble those of their parents and friends (Goodman, 1952; Patchen, Davidson, Hofmann, & Brown, 1977). In fact, Hirschfeld (1995) believed that children learn verbal labels and stereotypes associated with groups before they learn to recognize the groups to whom the labels apply. This is consistent with the evidence that language provides the primary mechanism through which social groups are categorized and by which stereotypes are transmitted to others” (Allport, 1954; Fishman, 1956). (1270).

There is then Chiron’s best friend, Kevin, who isn’t bullied as a young child. In fact, he is quite popular amongst the other boys and “fits in” quite well. He initially is the one who teaches Chiron that he must stand up for himself against his bullies and fight back, before he later becomes one of Chiron’s tormentors (which will soon be analyzed as well). While Kevin’s sexuality isn’t hinted at or known until he is an adolescent and shares a very intimate moment with Chiron at the beach, we may assume that Kevin had already been well aware of his non-heterosexuality since he was a child as well. Kevin, however, was also very conscious of the treatment he would receive should the other boys find out that he was gay or bisexual, as he had been Chiron’s friend and thus was able to see for himself how the other boys would perceive him and consequently how they would also reject and harass him. Kevin performed the roles that society and black culture had expected of him as a black male out of a means of survival. Kevin had internalized what he saw Chiron go through, and thus camouflaged himself amongst the others to stay safe and maintain his image. Adherence to these roles and expectations is never an informed choice made by children — or anyone for that matter — and is almost never done by free will. Should it have otherwise been, it is likely that Kevin (and the other boys alike) would have grown to be much more confident in his own masculinity — and thus would not have felt pressure to conform from such a young age and hide who he truly is.

Chapter two of the film, “Chiron”, shows us that the consequences of the alienation Chiron had faced since he was a young boy had carried profound effects for not only himself, but his friend and potential lover, Kevin, as well. We now get to see Chiron and Kevin as adolescents: first, there is Chiron, who remains the victim of extreme social alienation and bullying amongst his peers (particularly at the hands of a fellow schoolmate named Terrel), and he has yet to abandon his style regarding his outward appearance (which was deemed to be feminine by his peers and bullies), nor has he confirmed or denied any allegations regarding his sexuality — other than the private and intimate moment he shared with Kevin on the beach. Chiron also remains largely friendless, other than Kevin of course. Chiron’s peers amongst his neighborhood and within his school have seemingly rejected him from their social circles altogether — or, alternatively, the bullying and rejection that Chiron has endured since early childhood (and even now as a teenager) has taken a great toll on both his mental, social, and even development. In her article exploring the portrayal of masculinity in Moonlight, Joanna Di Mattia observes how this movie was directed and filmed in such a way that we are able to follow Chiron around from behind a good majority of the time. This gives the impression that we can see — and perhaps even feel for ourselves — the tension and loneliness that Chiron carries after having suffered so much of this torment as a young boy. Perhaps, therefore, it is not that Chiron has been rejected entirely, but given his past experiences as a boy, he simply is not bothering to engage with any other young adults such as himself because he is of the impression that he will only continue to face alienation and rejection for his sexuality, as well as his non-conformity. Thus far, Chiron’s relationship (or lack thereof) with his own identity has cost him friendships and overall happiness, and has left him largely unsure of who he can and cannot trust.

“Chiron’s loneliness is palpable from the start. Jenkins frequently frames him alone and from behind so we focus on the tension he carries in his head and shoulders. Across all three of Moonlight’s chapters, he struggles to express how he feels with words, so Jenkins shows us how he feels, assembling a tangible sense of who he is — his identity and personhood embedded in how he moves through the world. As a result, we understand not only that Chiron is suffering, but also how his trauma has reshaped him physically so he can survive.” (Mattia, 13).

Kevin, on the other hand, remains the polar opposite of Chiron in regards to how he presents himself and his identity to the outside world. At this stage of the film, we are shown Kevin as a young man with multitudes of friends (Chiron still remaining one of them), and Kevin is presenting himself as very masculine and hyper-sexual — as compared to Chiron’s more feminine style and quiet nature. Kevin is generally a very social person, his language highly sexual and vulgar regarding the women he has slept with thus far (37:55). As aforementioned, this behavior and expression that we witness during. Kevin’s development is likely done more out of survival rather than by pure choice. He conforms to the hypermasculine style and appearance as well as the hypersexual personality that is often associated with black men. Again, Kevin has watched his best friend, Chiron, get bullied and tormented for not conforming to these very societal and cultural expectations and for being perceived as a homosexual male, even if he did or did not conform this to be true. Kevin witnessed this alienation, bullying, and rejection from Chiron, and thus, in order to not endure these traumas and their obvious effects that it had on Chiron, Kevin had likely learned how to blend in — or to camouflage — himself amongst his peers, thus they would be unsuspecting of his non-heterosexuality and he would be able to enjoy both his youth and his adolescence — something Chiron was unable to do.

This, however, meant that in order to keep up this false image, he would have to go through with betraying Chiron shortly after having shared such an intimate moment with him (1:00:18). When his masculinity was put to the test, Kevin had the option of failing to go through with playing a game of “stay down/knock down” with one of Chiron’s biggest bullies, Terrel — and thus potentially outing himself as (or accused of being) a homosexual as well for choosing not to go through with this so-called “game”, or he could have chosen to go with it to save face and avoid the consequences that he had been trying to run from for so long — and the same consequences with which he lived such a lie regarding his identity in the first place. As the fight is about to begin, we see Terrel circling around Kevin and Chiron with his clique of bullies as though he were a shark surrounding prey. Terrel’s daunting voice begins to demand that Kevin “hit that nigga.” The camera pans in on Kevin’s face, eyes filled with regret as he seems to contemplate the options he has to choose from in such a limited amount of time. We are then shown Chiron’s face, who is initially staring at the ground in preparation for the attack that is about to come, before his eyes then look up to meet Kevin’s gaze — as though he were to say, “I understand why you are about to do what you are about to do, but I want you to remember this for the rest of your life.” Kevin’s friends, irritable over Kevin’s hesitation, begin to push and shove Kevin. In the heat of the moment, with Terrel and Chiron’s other bullies egging him on to go through with physically attacking Chiron, Kevin chose the latter option. We can tell by the way in which Kevin had begged Chiron to “stay down” during this fight in order to get it over with as quickly as possible that Kevin was filled with regret for his actions. Chiron, on the other hand, wanted Kevin to look him in the face while he repeatedly punched him, thus Chiron would stand back up every time Kevin hit him. It is likely that Chiron had wanted this moment to be ingrained into Kevin’s mind forever, for Kevin to see what he was doing for the sake of this false identity that he was trying to protect. Chiron would go on to attack not Kevin for this moment, but the source of this cruel “game” that Kevin was dared to play: Terrel. This attack had landed Chiron in juvenile detention afterwards, to which the scene ends with Kevin watching as Chiron was escorted into a police vehicle outside of the school.

During the final chapter of this rather short film, “Black,” we may now observe and analyze the consequences that this internal war with their own identities has had on both Chiron and Kevin. Both of these boys have now become fully grown adult men. While Chiron has had the more visible change in outer appearance, they have both changed drastically in regards to the lifestyles they have chosen to live entirely — or rather, the lifestyles and appearances that others have chosen for them to live, and not the ones that either of them had wanted for themselves as they were growing up. Chiron, who has exchanged his normally effeminate attire for that of a stereotypical “thuggish” look commonly associated with the black male, has since taken over Juan’s place as a drug kingpin since Juan’s death. Kevin, on the other hand, is now working as a chef in a local diner, and we are informed by him that he had an unsuccessful relationship and family life with a girl named Samantha that he used to date in high school, and has since had a son with. Both of these men have been in and out of jail and juvenile detention since they have last seen each other. They had both approached the concept of their individual identities in very different ways: Kevin adopting the look and behavior that was expected of him as a black male since he was a young boy, while Chiron hadn’t bothered to alter himself to fit these roles and stereotypes that were expected of him to adhere to — yet they have both somehow managed to land themselves in the exact same predicament as one another. The explanation for this phenomenon is societal conditioning, stereotyping and prejudices, and social identities as well as cultural and societal expectations.

These concepts are precisely why both Kevin and Chiron had ended up exactly the same since having last seen each other. Neither Kevin nor Chiron had truly “fit in” to the small and constraining box that defines what is (and what is not) considered normal amongst society and their culture. The pressure to conform to societal standards is what has led to this identity crisis for both Kevin and Chiron. It is the collective and social identity which strips people of their uniqueness and individuality when it comes to their identity, and gives them a set of expectations and standards that have already been put in place for them based on arbitrary things such as race, sex, sexuality, and so forth.

Because Kevin had witnessed the way in which Chiron was treated for being gay, he had very much likely adopted the social identity of heterosexual black men in order to fit in and to not endure the same trauma that Chiron had for not conforming. For Kevin, his conformity was more of a means of survival than an informed choice made through free will. For Chiron, he ended up the way he did because he refused to adhere to these very expectations in the first place.

As a result, Chiron had eventually caved under the pressure and the trauma he had endured from the constant tormenting, bullying, and loneliness as he was growing up.