Last night's Academy Awards were not a happy event for much of the GOP base. An Iranian won for best foreign film, black actors won awards and a gay drama won best picture. then too there were numerous shots taken at Der Trumpenführer and his regime of lies. Expect much whining that Hollywood is "out of touch" with real America. Except, increasingly, it is not out of touch. It's the GOP's "real Americans" and the minority who through a fluke put an unfit, mentally unstable narcissist in the White House who are out of touch with the majority of the country. Indeed, like their chosen leader, this minority is devoid of any empathy for those who are not just like them in terms of skin color, religious beliefs and seem unable to see the common humanity of others notwithstanding the religious posturing that so many engage in. The Atlantic review of Moonlight looks at some of these aspects that the film brings to life for those willing to open their hearts and minds:
There’s insight to Moonlight that should pierce viewers to their core, even if Chiron’s life is very different from their own. This is not an “issue” film that’s mainly “about” race or sexuality; this is a humane movie, one that’s looking to prompt empathy and introspection most of all. On those terms alone, Moonlight is one of the year’s most gripping viewing experiences.
Moonlight veers away from the gritty stereotypes its setting might suggest; in fact, this film deliberately rejects the visual markers viewers might anticipate in such a tale. Liberty City is bright and often colorful, even at its most dilapidated. When Chiron is rescued by Juan (Mahershala Ali), one of the drug dealers shown cruising around in a vintage Cadillac, the boy is taken to Juan’s suburban-ish home, and later to the beach, where Juan cradles him in the water to try and teach him how to swim. Juan quickly realizes that Chiron doesn’t need to be forced or coddled into opening up emotionally—he just needs space to be himself. At every juncture, Juan tries to dissuade the boy from accepting whatever lot he’s handed by his tormenters, or by his crack-addicted mother Paula (a frightening, and wonderful, Naomie Harris).
There is tragedy at the heart of Moonlight, and the film is not an easy watch at times, partly because it delves so deeply into its protagonist’s haunted psyche. . . . . To say more would be to spoil a singular journey suffused with melancholy and hope, emotions that Jenkins communicates through the screen with uncommon grace. The result is a film that is one of the most essential of the year, and one whose depth rewards repeated viewings.
Needless to say, the modern day Pharisees at Focus on the Family are not pleased with the film and in part of a review states:
Moonlight is a well-made movie with an obvious agenda. Chiron, the film suggests, suffered mightily due to his sexual inclinations. Thus, the movie says, Chiron's life would've been so much better had his world been more accepting.Christians who hold the Bible as the Word of God, of course, can't go where the movie would like to push us. We can't applaud where Chiron goes. . . . . As such, Moonlight, as mesmerizing as the movie is, isn't just filled with problematic content: It gives us a message counter to what we believe God tells us.
The truth is that Focus on the Family focuses only on some families: those that are white, conservative Christian and heterosexual. The rest of us don't matter and, worse yet, are to be marginalized and condemned. WWJD?
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