Tangerine — Blue Fairy Film Blog

Transgender stories have been gaining traction in the past several years. The newest and most important civil rights issue of the past five years has been getting rights for transgendered people. This is especially because nearly half of all transgendered teens attempt suicide, one-fifth has been homeless and one-fourth have lost their jobs due to discrimination. With the emergence of trans stories in "Orange is the New Black," and "Transparent," and the public supporting Caitlyn Jenner, the landscape and visibility of trans peoples has increased greatly. Director Sean S. Baker (a cisgender man) gives a voice to the very real subset of transgendered people on Hollywood's streets.

Prostitutes Sin-Dee and Alexandra (Rodriguez and Taylor) are friends who are catching up on Christmas Eve, the day that Sin-Dee is released from a 28 day stint in prison for possession. She learns that her pimp beau has been cheating on her with a cisgender woman and goes on a tear through LA trying to find him. Her story is offset by Alexandra trying to make some money throughout the day, an Armenian cab driver picking up pre-op transgendered prostitutes, and Sin-Dee's altercations with prostitute Dinah. While the film is a very real depiction of the lives of transgendered sex workers in LA, and is a good representation of their issues, hopes, and dreams, it's also bitingly funny. The give and take between Sin-Dee and the various people she antagonizes makes for some seriously bawdy, fierce humor.

This is a Duplass Brothers production, another in a long string of great films they have been financing lately. This film has gotten a lot of traction in the awards season roundup thanks to the great performances of Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriquez and its standout premiere at Sundance this January. While it's probably not a contender for the Oscars, it is the first campaign to feature openly transgender actresses. Mya Taylor has already been cast in a short about Marsha Johnson, and another short called “Diane”. She will most likely explode in the next several years, as she also has a beautiful singing voice, shown in a great solo near the end of the film.

The goal in having so many films about transgender issues and characters is to normalize them, so a film featuring these characters in itself is a triumph. For now, the films that do get made about trans characters are held to a higher standard, as they are the only ones we have. Luckily for us Sean S. Baker created a funny, heartbreaking, realistic story with characters we love, making this one of my favorite films of the year.