More films to analyze

 Moonlight (2016), directed by Barry Jenkins

Moonlight was another film I quickly thought about after we got to settle on this idea. Once I started to think about it, there could be a few key similarities in some of the concepts explored in the film: especially in the context of portraying the added complexity of an LGBT relationship, specially one that is hidden because of social stigma.

There is actually an insane amount of parallels between some of the themes we could cover and what happens here in Moonlight. First of all, it shows how different people act when they are outside of social norms versus with. In Moonlight this result in a bloody betrayal that leads to a spiral in the main character's life. 

In a key sequence from Moonlight, it is revealed that the main character is a gay man as he falls in love with another man and they have an intimate moment in the night. In this scene the characters break off from their socially conservative environment and in their display of intimacy on the beach showcase their true feelings and emotions for each other outside of the constraints of their environment.

Kiss scene between Kevin and Chiron (Moonlight 2016)

However, when it comes back to being in school, the effects of their environment put a stop to their relationship once more and damage the pride they may be able to feel in their love. An important turning point in the film is when Terrell coerces Kevin into beating up Chiron, the boy who a day before he had just shared such an intimate moment with. This then, leads to Chiron being beat up, taking violent revenge on Terrell, which gets him in trouble with the law, which sets him down a life of criminality and hypermasculine behavior to shield himself from confronting his queer identity. 

In the context of our film, I think this scene does an incredible job at showing how at the end of the day, internalized homophobia arises from societal pressures that lead to queer people to not being able to feel proud about their own existence.