Tangerine Reflection

Tangerine is one of the realest films I have seen, and I can’t describe it any other way. The film is complex. It addresses issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, and sexism in different ways. All of these identifiers and the issues involving them are very much relevant to our current world. Sex trafficking is a very real reality for some people, and it’s something I rarely think about. I can’t imagine the difficulty in being a prostitute, especially a black, transgender, prostitute. Racial tensions are important in this film. There was intention behind having the white prostitutes being “real” woman, while the transgender prostitutes were predominantly black or Hispanic. For me, it emphasized the idea that black transgender prostitutes have it that much harder. Racial tensions are very high in this country right now. Our president doesn’t believe that transgender individuals should be able to protect our country. He believes that all lives matter, and confederate statues and monuments should remain where they are. That man has no consideration for immigrants, moreover children that came here not as a choice, but because their parents brought them. There’s a lot wrong with that, but the point is equality is important. This film highlights the inequality that is present in our country. At the same time the characters in the film have these complex personalities, and seem genuinely happy when they are with each other. For them, it’s not about race or being trans, they are best friends first.