I wanted to share this interview I found of Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight, which recently won the Oscar for Best Film. After watching the film (which I highly recommend!), I came away thinking about our discussions of identity formation. This film is an incredible intersectional depiction of a young black man discovering his sexual identity while trying to survive in a community dependent on often violent displays of masculinity. Jenkins, who states this is not just a 'gay film,' makes the point in this interview to focus on the individual character of Chrion, which is based on the semi-autobiographically play by Tarell McCraney. In this way, Jenkins gives light to a specific experience, and demonstrates the importance of understanding individual stories.
Link: http://themuse.jezebel.com/a-conversation-with-director-barry-jenkins-about-his-as-1787971445
It's very true that the depiction of queer black men in film is so rare. Moonlight is a beautiful film, and its importance in giving representation to those who have been erased from mainstream gay media and narratives can't be overstated. I found it interesting that the director was not concerned with the sexuality of the actors cast for these roles, as his focus was really on their fit for the role. I think there is value in casting queer actors in queer roles, and I hope there is more of that in the future, but I can understand that this wasn't central in the creative process here.
ReplyDeleteI loved Moonlight and the cinematography blew me away. The idea of intersectionality as it relates to multiple marginalized identities and it's representation through film inspired my recent blog post. Thank you for this! It really made me think about queer Asian American representation in Andrew Ahn's film, Spa Night. Hope you might enjoy checking out the post that has more details on the film(s) Ahn has produced!
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