At the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, the appearance of Tangerine (2015) attracted the attention of all parties. In addition to the experimentation and innovation of shooting equipment using three iPhone 5s to control costs, this film focuses on showing the living conditions of Hollywood transgender sex workers, which is full of independent spirit in both form and content. The director Sean Baker's setting and scheduling of scenes, characters, and plots portrayed the freedom, liberty, and enthusiasm of this sexual minority group to the core. During the viewing process, people felt that this was a movie. A movie that "listens" with the eyes, a unique Bohemian Rhapsody. And these marginalized groups are the "Bohemians" who live in the gap between mainstream gender culture and sing and dance.
1. The equal representation of minorities
Class, gender and race have always been the three main focuses of cultural studies. In the mainstream gender concept dominated by the "male-female" binary opposition, transgender people belong to a marginalized group that is even more minority than homosexuals and bisexuals. The former is about gender identity, and the latter is about sexual orientation (sexual orientation). . Sin-Dee and Alexandra, two black transgender people, are engaged in sex work. Gender narrative, class narrative superimposed on racial narrative, will undoubtedly push the marginality of the characters to the extreme. Similarly, as the protagonist of another narrative thread, taxi driver Razmik is of Armenian ethnicity, and he still has a sexual need for transgender people despite having a family, even to the point of being obsessed with Sin-Dee, respectively. Responds to issues of class, gender and race. To some extent, all the characters in this film can be regarded as a minority sample of marginalized groups in the sense of sociology.
Unlike quite a few queer films that weaken the characters to gain sympathy, "Orange" portrays the protagonists as highly aggressive individuals from the very beginning. On the one hand, this aggressiveness is reflected in Sin-Dee's specific behavior. Arrested and jailed for a crime, actual violence against her boyfriend's lover; aggression is also reflected in verbal violence, Sin-Dee and Alexandra and other transgender sex workers seem to have a high talent for language, swear words Like a barrage of one-liners from beginning to end with little repetition. Under the influence of all kinds of aggression, these originally disadvantaged groups have been dislocated and raised by the creators. They are no longer canaries who are locked in a cage and given sympathy only for viewing, but have truly become active and active, with other mainstream people. Equalizing individuals who keep pace with crowds.
Razmik relies on taxis to support the whole family, but the numbness at work and frequent sexual demands make this man life-like, and more ordinary people who are under family pressure emerge behind him. With the search, quarrel, and reconciliation of the two friends, Sin-Dee and Alexandra, we seem to see two ordinary girls daring to love and hate at certain moments, rather than demonizing and spectacle. The care of a group of life is more objective and touching. The creator's observation of minority groups is from a relatively objective perspective, neither elevating these people to gain gender politics, nor deliberately belittling these people to win sympathy and compassion, this equal presentation is also commendable in this film place.
2. Reality show-style real drama
No matter domestic or foreign, in this age where entertainment consumption is paramount, reality shows have set off wave after wave of crazes. After people are bored with their own life and lose enthusiasm, they begin to have some voyeuristic curiosity about the living conditions of others, or make psychological projections about the success of others, or gain confidence and satisfaction from the failures of others. The reality show just caters to the instinctive desire of people in the rapidly developing social tide.
Taking into account the cost, I chose the iPhone 5s to shoot "Orange", but unexpectedly obtained the flexibility and lightness that a professional film camera can't get. Regardless of the refined lighting, all follow-up shots are performed, and extremely convincing real images are obtained. We followed in the footsteps of several protagonists, walking through the city of Los Angeles under the orange sun, and together with Razmik's taxi and other buses, we had a glimpse of the streets of Hollywood. The flexible capture of the strong conflict between the characters and the presentation of images with panorama, medium shot, and close-up as the main scenes reminds people that this is a reality show that combines authenticity and unexpectedness. Of course, the protagonist of the reality show It is these sexual minorities who have never been short-sighted in the mainstream vision. This group itself has a strong drama, dress, speech and behavior, work details, life status, etc. While the movie depicts the overall situation of this group in a point-and-click manner, it also constructs an extremely star-studded shadow for us. Ordinary and even slightly sparse Hollywood city.
In the simple but dramatic plot settings such as "original wife" revenge "lover" and "mother-in-law" investigating "son-in-law", we will always see comedy in it. In addition to the euphoria and hilarity brought about by the aforementioned one-liners of the protagonists attacking each other, this comedy is also aided by the simplicity and recklessness of the characters. We always burst out laughing or knowingly laughing unintentionally, and this based on the real drama and comedy experience adds to the viewing and fun of the whole film.
3. Orange as a symbol - a different kind of warmth
From the perspective of color theory, orange symbolizes warmth, light, brilliance, fun, excitement, impulsiveness, energy and so on. In the post-production, the saturation of the film was deepened, and the tone was adjusted, and finally it showed a finished film effect with an orange tone. In addition to creating a bright and iconic visual feature, orange as a symbol effectively complements the entire urban space and the psychological space of characters, and also reflects the creators' humanistic care for this group.
After being released from prison, the protagonist Sin-Dee accidentally learns that her boyfriend is hanging out with other girls, so she tries to find the girl and take revenge. This group of people rampaged on the streets lit by the orange sun, wanton and free and easy, not only brought excitement to the audience, but also better shaped the characters' impulsive and irritable characters. Using such a warm color as the main color not only reflects the positive attitude of this group of people, but also reflects the unbiased emotional temperature of the creators. Although there is no sunlight at night, under the contrast of various neon lights and illumination lights, it still presents a red-orange visual experience. Sin-Dee touches up Alexandra's makeup under the red lights in the bar toilet, Alexandra wears a tight red dress and sings affectionately in front of the red curtain, the overall layout of Razmik's house yellow, Alexandra's orange pendant for Razmik, "Donuts The orange and yellow seats and dining table in Moment”—the orange hue is everywhere, from visual to psychological. In the overall sad state of existence of this marginalized group, they are still as bright as orange, and we also experience comforting warmth from orange rather than moral judgment.
In the film's final scene, Sin-Dee is poured into the laundry to wash clothes and wigs, Alexandra takes off her wig and puts it on for Sin-Dee, who is embarrassed by the lack of a wig, and they share the group's Image symbols and identity masking. The two clasped their hands tightly to release their previous suspicions, but such restraint was moving. This gender's bohemian rhapsody is coming to an end, and "gypsy girls" like Sin-Dee and Alexandra are about to embark on a wandering but hostile and discriminatory life journey. There is no evaluation, no gender bias at this moment, we are only moved by the sincerity of their mutual warmth and support. Perhaps, we should indeed show orange tenderness to more minorities.
The original text was first published on the WeChat public account: Pleasure Reading
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