Both “Moonlight” and “Call Me by Your Name” have been praised for their representation of same-sex relationships and growing up. They differ in various ways but have one common denominator: they both follow the coming-of-age of young gay men, though in very different manners to the point that one may wonder, why bother comparing them at all? I view them similarly as they stand out from other popular movies that follow gay leads, most notably “Brokeback Mountain.” Rather than ending tragically, these movies focus heavily on the characters and their love. Although, the ending of “Call Me by Your Name” is not a happy note to end the film on.
“Moonlight” has a very different setting than “Call Me by Your Name.” “Moonlight” is set in Miami, while “Call Me by Your Name” is set in Northern Italy. Our main characters also come from vastly different backgrounds. Elio and Oliver come from well-off families, their struggles are few and far-between allowing them to focus on their studies and upon meeting one another, their sexuality. Their journey, while beautiful, is less complex than those of Kevin and Chiron in “Moonlight.”
“Call Me by Your Name” allows the beauty of Italy to bring out the beauty in the relationship between the two men. Contrast this to what was done in “Moonlight,” where the setting is harsh and scary, but still portrayed as beautiful, allowing the nuance of Chiron’s life to be made apparent.
The affluent background of Elios’ family allows his journey with Oliver to solely focus on the two of them and what they’re bringing to the relationship. This includes whatever prejudice they may feel, specifically brought by Oliver, whose family holds him back from pursuing a serious relationship with Elio. This also shows us the huge difference in the lives of the characters. There is a lack of representation for gay men who come from more diverse backgrounds, and while “Call Me by Your Name” does a good job of representing rich, cis, white, gay men, it falls flat in ways that “Moonlight” doesn’t. The ending further separates the two movies apart.
With “Moonlight” we have someone facing just about every struggle one can face, and coming out the other end, still allowing himself to love and be loved. It’s showing viewers that no matter who they are or where they come from, they deserve love and can find it if they allow themselves to do so. In “Call Me by Your Name” however, the opposite is said. We have two people who love one another, and could end up together if they so desired, and yet we end up with yet another tragic love story between two gay men who can’t end up together and thus can’t end up happy. While this of course does happen in life and is by no means a bad story to tell, it’s worth considering in comparing the two films. One feels like a more hopeful and positive representation for a group that knows life is hard from their own experience and doesn’t need to be made to feel like even if they find “the one” they won’t be able to end up happy together.
“Moonlight” as mentioned, feels more realistic, which is most likely due to its source material and the creators. It’s based off a play, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, which was a semi-autobiographical story. The director of “Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins brought in some of his own life story, also living in Miami not far from McCraney.
It’s also worth mentioning that the representation in “Moonlight” expanded beyond what most popular movies following gay characters had previously done. There is a strong lack of representation for lgbt people of color, and “Moonlight” balanced the various issues that are present for those who are in multiple marginalized groups.
Both movies are beautiful in their own ways, and I love both of them, but “Moonlight” is much more positive representation and feels more grounded in reality, whereas vs “Call Me by Your Name” is clearly more romanticized and doesn’t feel relatable for most viewers, I’d imagine. Along with that, there are some aspects of “Call Me by Your Name” that are hard to ignore, such as the age gap between the two main characters, which does seemingly enforce stereotypes about love between two men which emphasizes beauty and youth. It felt less like the film was created from direct experience than did “Moonlight,” which features a plot created by the amalgamation of the lives of two men who worked on the project together.