Aahana Swrup
Sean Baker’s 2017 film, ‘The Florida Project,’ presents a visually compelling and emotionally ripe story that perfectly captures the imaginative nature of childhood and the harsh reality of poverty. Following Moonee, a six-year-old kid who lives in a rundown motel in Florida, The Magic Castle, with her young mother, Halley, the narrative delves into a summer in Moonee’s life. The girl spends her days undertaking wondrous adventures and mischiefs with her friends, conducted in the shadows of Disney World, the “happiest place on Earth,” that remains impossibly out of the kids’ reach. Meanwhile, Halley attempts to maintain a livelihood and provide a good life for her kid.
The film sports a realistic narrative, showcasing the harsh reality that several people have to live through. As the audience explores Moonee’s life under Halley’s care and Motel Manager Bobby’s occasional supervision, they can’t help but form bonds with the characters and their circumstances. For the same reason, curiosity may arise, leading fans to wonder if these characters have a basis in reality.
Bobby: A Fictional Depiction of Real-Life Motel Managers
Even though ‘The Florida Project’ is a fabricated story by director Sean Baker, who wrote the screenplay alongside Chris Bergoch, it’s deeply rooted in reality with a relevant social plight defining its narrative. As such, although the characters depicted in the film aren’t direct counterparts of actual people, numerous real-life stories have shaped and inspired their creation. Thus, while Bobby is not based on a real-life motel manager, his character heavily takes inspiration from reality.
During the early stages of the film’s development, when the story was still fresh enough to invite significant changes, Baker met some motel managers who re-shaped his approach to Moonee and Halley’s story. “We met one man in particular who opened up his world to us, and all the motel managers are almost like reluctant father figures,” said the filmmaker in a conversation with Slant Magazine. “That very much inspired the Bobby character.”
Bobby’s relationship with the other two primary characters, Moonee and Halley, remains difficult to define. While the man essentially occupies the role of a landlord in the pair’s life, he also carries a soft side for them both, as he does for numerous other residents. This aspect of his character takes direct inspiration from the reality that the filmmakers witnessed while on the ground doing research for the story. Therefore, a raw authenticity remains attached to his character despite his surface-level fictionality.
Halley and Moonee: Fictional Characters In a Realistic Situation
Much like Bobby, Moonee & Halley’s characters are also fictional since they weren’t based on any specific individual from reality. Nevertheless, both characters’ origins are steeped in reality, with numerous real-life stories inspiring their narratives. Likewise, both characters share similar inceptions as Bobby, with filmmaker Baker’s research into the lives of people in similar circumstances lending inspiration to Halley and Moonee.
When discussing Halley’s character, Baker said, “I’m not going to say she represents all single moms in that situation; she definitely doesn’t. There’s an extreme there that we’re showing. But at the same time, I did meet the real Halleys, and they do exist. And they were very isolated.”
For the most part, Halley’s character, while remaining a supportive pillar in Moonee’s life, also undergoes immense complications on her own. The same remains reminiscent of the reality of being a young single mom trying to support a family while facing poverty-stricken circumstances. Furthermore, the character’s identity as a young mother also influences her relationship with Moonee and defines the latter’s character.
Baker divulged his perception of Halley and Moonee’s relationship in a conversation with GQ. During the same, he discussed how he wanted Bria Vinaite to play Halley’s character in a way that highlights her relationship with Moonee more as a relationship between sisters rather than a mother-daughter one. “She’s [Halley is] a kid herself. She never had the chance to grow up, and I think that there’s going to be more of a sister-like relationship there,” he explained.
As such, by paying attention to Halley and Moonee’s socioeconomic reality as well as the emotional authenticity of their characters, Baker infused a sense of realism into both characters and their storylines. While the ultimate product— Halley and Moonee’s characters as presented on the screen— is a fictionalized result, their authenticity can be credited to the real-life, if unnamed, people who served as invaluable inspiration.
Read More: The Florida Project: Is Magic Castle a Real Motel?
