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  • Essay / The Construction of Sexuality and Gender in the Film Tangerine

    In this essay, I will compare and contrast the construction of sexuality and gender in Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015), a film which, according to its IMDb page , is about a “whore” who “walks through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve looking for the pimp who broke her heart.” Laura Mulvey, according to BFI Screenonline, "...was born in Oxford on 15 August 1941" and "...came to prominence in the early 1970s as a film theorist...". I will use his essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, which details that, in Introduction to Cinematographic Studies “…the pleasure that the gaze provides is a masculine pleasure, that “the gaze” in cinema is controlled by the male and directed towards the male. 'man. female; this is called the "male gaze" as a reference, as well as various other sources on the representation of transgender characters in film. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay[Mis]The representation of transgender women in films states that “trans women are sexualized on screen in the same way way that cis women…”. According to Introduction to Cinematographic Studies (Jill Nelmes, 2012), “…the feminine is reduced to the icon, the erotic…”. In Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015), trans characters are often portrayed as overly sexual beings, many of whom are employed as prostitutes; gather on street corners, wear provocative outfits, shout sexual abuse, and return to sex work when all hope seems to have been lost for this character, as if it was their only option. An example of this would be when Alexandra loses Sin-Dee on the street or when it is revealed that Sin-Dee's boyfriend Chester cheated on her with Alexandra while Sin-Dee was in prison and she reacts with “Now let me earn my money.” and go fucking home.” [Mis]Representation of transgender women in films (n/a, n/a) also states that "...all trans women want to be desired by cisgender men...", which is evident in the film among the cis male characters that use trans female characters. as a secret fetish, with a cis male character kicking a cis female character out of her car after mistaking her for a trans woman, while living a separate life at home with his cis wife and child. According to The Representation of Trans Women in Film and Television (Nikki Reitz, 2017), “Films…say that trans women are dangerous people who act violently toward others.” This ideology is present in the first 5 minutes of the film when Sin-Dee first discovers that Chester cheated on her while she was in prison and immediately begins searching for him. The fact that Sin-Dee has just been released from prison already suggests that she is a dangerous character as well as the fact that her search begins with determination and anger as she storms through the city. This violent behavior continues throughout the film with trans characters, such as when Dinah, the girl Chester cheated on Sin-Dee with, is found in a motel bathroom and dragged by her hair into the street and assaulted by Sin-Dee, or when a man refuses to pay for the services of Alexandra, another trans woman, and is assaulted by her. In [Mis]Representation of Transgender Women in Film, “trans women are often portrayed… as mentally unstable…”. Trans characters in Tangerine can be portrayed in such a way that their emotions can abruptly change at any moment, take Sin-Dee and Alexandra during the opening scene of Donut Time for example, when the two sit down to enjoy a donut,.