If there was no such thing as racism, if there was no such thing as homophobia, if there was no such thing as hate... Imagine that.

If there was no such thing as racism, if there was no such thing as homophobia, if there was no such thing as hate... Then Barry Jenkins might have made a movie in the 70s about a gay, black private eye who finds himself way over his head as he drowns in conspiracy and family intrigue that can only be summed up by a shrug and muttering, "Chinatown"... And it would have been proclaimed a masterpiece and he would have been hailed as a genius.

If there was no such thing as racism, if there was no such thing as homophobia, if there was no such thing as hate... Then Barry Jenkins might have made a movie in the 70s about a gang of gay, black youths dressed up in silly costumes who go around raping and murdering people, sometimes with phallic statues, when they are not hanging about in milk bars. And it would been proclaimed a masterpiece and he would have been hailed as a genius.

If there was no such thing as racism, if there was no such thing as homophobia, if there was no such thing as hate... Then Barry Jenkins might have made a movie in the 70s about a young gay, black man who likes to fake his own suicide until he meets a gay, black octogenarian and they befriend one another and fall in love. And it would have been proclaimed a masterpiece and he would have been hailed as a genius.

If there was no such thing as racism, if there was no such thing as homophobia, if there was no such thing as hate... Then Barry Jenkins might have made a movie in the 70s about a young gay, black pre-teen who is possessed by a demon and his mother calls on the services of two gay, black Catholic priests to perform an exorcism. And it would have been proclaimed a masterpiece and he would have been hailed as a genius.

If there was no such thing as racism, if there was no such thing as homophobia, if there was no such thing as hate... Then Barry Jenkins might have made a movie in the 70s about a gay, black man and his younger gay, black brother/lover(?) who flee Chicago for one reason or another and end up on a farm in the Texas panhandle, a deadly love triangle between them and the farm owner ensues. And it would have been proclaimed a masterpiece and he would have been hailed as a genius.

I know I am being incredibly facetious, but while I was watching Moonlight I kept thinking about how exciting it was. It reminded me of discovering an incredible film from the New Hollywood period by one of my favourite directors like Kubrick, Malick, Ashby, Altman, Polanski and the list goes on. And yet, you would never have seen anything with this kind of subject matter made by an African-American director during the 70s. Nobody would have funded it to be made or spent money on marketing it and distributing it. I don't think a single one of my favourite New Hollywood directors is an African-American, not off the top of my head anyway.

And so I was thinking that if this kind of prejudice didn't exist, movies made by exceptionally creative people from what would no longer be disadvantaged minorities may have flourished and we would have had a whole rich body of films we could tap into and watch that were made by people that never got the chance to make them, starring people that never got to star in worthwhile roles that matched their formidable talents, or that had narratives and characters that were diverse and inclusive. Moonlight highlights exactly what we have missed and it makes me sad.

It was impossible not to go into this film being aware of how important it has been for so many people who have needlessly suffered hate because of the colour of their skin or their sexual orientation. This is not something I have ever experienced and I hope my flippancy has not caused any offence. This film was just such a beautiful and amazing experience that I don't know how to capture my feelings about it and so I have turned to a rhetorical device to highlight just how much I wish we had more movies like this from the past and how much I hope we continue to have more movies like this in the future.