Understanding Toxic Masculinity and Queer Identity in ‘Moonlight (2016)’

Director: Barry Jenkins

Awards: Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay)

Even today, the majority of men consider femininity to be an insult to their manhood. In such cases, society is a major perpetrator. Young men get estranged from their identity and sexuality as a result of how society shapes their notions of masculinity and the norm of being a man. Women are often expected to be emotional, dependent, soft, and attractive, whereas men are expected to be silent, powerful, violent, and athletic.

This is why, if a male exhibits relatively feminine characteristics, he will be rejected by other men, resulting in his exclusion from societal circles. As a result of such societal conceptions, males have come to loathe themselves when it comes to their sexuality and coming out of closets. This is the primary reason men always strive to demonstrate their manhood in society.

The protagonist in the film ‘Moonlight’ is subjected to such cultural restriction, which prevents him from expressing his own sexuality for fear of isolation and ostracism. Moonlight beautifully addresses and depicts the problem of homophobic harassment. Homophobia, in most cases, is based on the belief that femininity is harmful to one’s masculinity.

Therefore, men expressing their femininity are often looked down upon as weak and effeminate. Moonlight shows us the harassment that young men have to face when they aren’t able to conform to the idea of masculinity implied by society. In the film, we see that many of Chiron’s (protagonist) friends picked up on him just because he looked weak and feminine.

‘Moonlight’ beautifully portrayed the journey of Chiron and his best friend’s early friendship and how it progressed over time as both characters sought to grasp their manhood, trying to understand what was expected of them as men. At the end of the film, we see that both characters have changed physically and mentally, as has their relationship with one another, but at their core, they remain fundamentally the same.

Toxic Masculinity in Moonlight

Chiron’s childhood scenes are heart wrenching as they clearly depict that the character always wanted to prove himself and his masculinity to his friends so they would regard him as a strong person and not a weakling. In order to prove his strength and masculinity to his friend, Kevin, Chiron starts a fight with him. The scene exemplifies how society has conditioned young men to believe that they must be powerful and violent to establish themselves and their manhood.

Men in society are constantly under pressure to prove their masculinity to other men in order to get acceptance. This whole idea of trying to fit in with the ‘brotherhood’ and gain praise from other males leads to the formation of toxic masculinity, which can later manifest itself when young men grow up and have relationships with women. Young men are misled that being feminine automatically entails fragility and vulnerability.

For example, if a boy appreciates pink colour or watches romantic films, he would be labelled as an effeminate guy and referred to as a ‘sissy’ and unmanly. This, according to society, is the antithesis of what a man should be. In fact, women are so looked down upon in society that being compared to them in itself is insulting to men.

Effects of Toxic Masculinity on Young Men

In one scene, we see Chiron being compared to a woman for being emotional and irrational. We see Terell (the boy in the red t-shirt) questioning young Chiron’s manhood in the scene. The scene perfectly encapsulates how society and men expect other men to remain stoic and level-headed all the time. If a man attempts to express his emotions, he is immediately mocked and compared to a woman going through menstruation.

In actuality, men frequently perceive emotional expressiveness as a female domain. Men are taught from a young age not to express their emotions. Due to their inability to be expressive, men are unable to deal with unpleasant situations, forcing them to repress themselves and suffer from within.

This explains Chiron’s silence and his discomfort with intimacy. We never see Chiron talk about his feelings, the bullying he encounters, or how his mother’s drug addiction impacts him. The stigma connected with guys talking about their feelings has forced many young men to bury their feelings to the point that they are oblivious to the problem.

Mental Health of Men

According to various worldwide studies, men are less likely than women to seek help for depression or other mental conditions, since they are unable to verbalise their emotions. This is why most men end up bearing the brunt of the anguish, endangering themselves and others.

In the previous scene, Chiron, unable to confront the teacher about his bullying, takes matters into his own hands by beating Terrel for all the pain he has caused him. He would’ve demonstrated to Terrel that he was too weak and frightened to stand up for himself if he hadn’t taken control of the issue.

Men have always been conditioned to believe that in order to demonstrate their manhood, they should constantly tackle their difficulties on their own rather than rely on others for assistance. This concept also exacerbates men’s suicide attempts since they are unable to deal with difficult circumstances on their own and are not allowed to seek aid from others.

Expression of Sexuality in Moonlight

In the film, we see Chiron opening up just for once with Kevin on the beach. At the moment, Chiron asks his friend whether he cries or not, to which Kevin responds by vehemently denying it, reinforcing the notion that men who cry are weak. For the first time, we witness Chiron open up. He tells his friend that he cries when he is alone, but he does not tell him how he feels or what he is going through with his mother. Despite the fact that Chiron hasn’t totally opened up, the sequence eloquently captures the two men’s emotional intimacy.

The two men’s sexual tension leads to them being intimate in the scene. Chiron spends the rest of the scene apologising to Kevin, as though he is ashamed of what he has done. This clearly shows how ashamed he is of his own sexuality, to the point of apologising for something completely natural. Chiron felt horrible in his head for pushing Keving to do something evil and blasphemous, but this was not the case in reality.

Sexual Identity and Homophobia in Moonlight

Kevin does nothing to help Chiron when he is beaten up by other boys in the scene. Although we know Kevin does not want Chiron to be hurt, in order to continue his performance of being a man and demonstrate how masculine he is, Kevin beats Chiron with the other bullies. Kevin, no matter how much he loved Chiron, couldn’t reveal his softer side to others for fear of being alienated from the rest of the group and being labelled as a sissy.

We see a mature Chiron in the film’s third act. But, despite the fact that he is now all muscular and strong, despite the fact that he has completely changed after all of the difficulties, he is still questioned about his masculinity simply because he is gay. This forces the character to always prove himself to be a man, to be powerful rather than meek.

“Toxic masculinity” does not always suggest that the concept of masculinity is fundamentally negative. Instead, it is intended to emphasise that some behaviours and ways of thinking associated with masculinity, such as mental and physical toughness, misogyny, and homophobia, have a detrimental and often hazardous impact on the world. Many guys, like Chiron, experience homophobic abuse as a result of this and are forced to constantly prove their masculinity to the world, resulting in their inability to develop healthy human relations with anyone.