Movie: Moonlight

In hindsight after seeing the movie Moonlight, I thought it was a shame that movies about this kind of reality even exist because they depict a world that is the worst example of life in this country. The life of those who are born into squalor, into a horrible and dangerous neighborhood and through no fault of their own have no way to escape a lifetime of hopelessness and misery, is a hard thing to see, much less live through. This movie, which has a very high IMDB rating of 8.7 is about the timeline of the life of a young boy and follows him through his life at home, where his mother is a drug addict and his father is a criminal himself and is mostly absent. What follows is the boy's life through Grammer school and then high school, where the schools he goes to are in most cases nothing more than havens for criminals and drug pushers. Being born into a life like this, probably has an average lifespan of at least 30 years less than any other neighborhood in this country, as the odds of even living to age 20 are greatly reduced because of random shootings, drug abuse, and murder. As this movie shows so well, your choices are very few, and many people who are born into a depressing world like this try to escape their reality by using drugs or alcohol and in many cases choose a life of crime because they believe their only ways out of this terrible world are sports or being a rapper.

This movie also deals with homosexuality, both with the bullying that goes hand in hand with being suspected as a homosexual and a young man learning to accept the fact that he is gay and going through his first gay experiences and his confusion over trying to figure out who he really is. I thought it was unusual that a movie about living in a ghetto would also include the subject of homosexuality, but this story is very different in every aspect. This movie seems more like a documentary about a very harsh reality and nowhere is there any evidence of acting. It all seemed like I was watching a real life story for the entire two hours. There are also no big name stars in this movie which is another aspect of this film that is highly unusual.

This movie has a high probability of being nominated for an academy award this year and has already been nominated for six Golden Globe awards (see Golden Globes post below). I give this movie a high recommendation.