Tangerine – An Independent Blockbuster Written by Colin Morley1,2 1 Department of History, University of Toronto 2 Fourth-year undergraduate of Victoria College, University of Toronto.
Much More Than A Chase The screenplay of Tangerine closely builds on both the whodunnit and cat-and-mouse plot devices of blockbusters past and present. In a typical blockbuster, this device involves one character, the cat, pursuing or chasing another, the mouse, often repeatedly nearly catching them before they escape again. In the introductory scene, Sin-Dee, newly released from prison, meets Alexandra at a coffee shop where she learns of her pimp Chester’s infidelity. She spends the remainder of her day scouring the streets of Los Angeles to find the mystery woman. As she travels through the city, Sin-Dee reacquaints herself with many of her fellow sex workers, pimps, drug dealers, and addicts. Each new character reveals a piece of information that brings Sin-Dee closer to her goal and keeps the viewer guessing about the outcome of her search. For example, one woman tells Sin-Dee that Chester is with a woman called Desiree; however, another says her name is Destiny. Similarly, a pimp tells her the woman is at the food line, but a different man says she is on Vermont Street. Moreover, by making these interactions short and varied, Baker and Bergoch give the viewer a sense of Sin-Dee’s relentless determination, evoking the same suspenseful quality of Hollywood chase films. As the audience follows Sin-Dee and Alexandra through the city for clues, they are exposed to the circumstances and personalities of the poor and LBGTQ communities in Los Angeles. For instance, when Sin-Dee goes to the food line during her search, she talks to a recovering drug addict trying to stay clean by avoiding Chester and prostitution. Nevertheless, despite these challenging conditions, the viewer also gets to see the humorous and joyful nature of Sin-Dee. Alexandra and their friends. In this way, the chase and whodunit devices are used not just for entertainment but as a way to circumvent the stereotypes audiences have come to expect in depictions of sex workers and the LGBTQ community on film.
Specifically, they showcase how trans women are fully-fledged human beings with personalities and feelings of happiness, rather than simply sorrowful victims defined by their work. The best example of this representation of trans women in the film are scenes involving Alexandra as she follows Sin-Dee on her quest. After Sin-Dee interrogates each of her friends, clients and coworkers, Alexandra hands them a flyer to her upcoming singing gig at a local club. As the audience later learns, Alexandra paid the club with the little money she has in order to be allowed to sing. These scenes show aspects of AlexanScreenwriters’ Perspectives Vol. 2 No. 1 2021
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