MovieChat Forums > Tangerine (2015) Discussion > Why is this marketed as a black comedy?

Why is this marketed as a black comedy?

posted 9 years ago by ravenzcorner
15 replies | jump to latest

It's not even remotely funny. In the trailer it looks like it perhaps facetiously tackles the issues presented but the actual film does not do this.

It's a depressing story with an unhappy ending that realistically portrays prostitution and it realistically portrays trans women - and part of this realistic portrayal is that they possess misogynistic attitudes towards women and that they are capable of and do commit violence against them.

This goes against the current mainstream narrative of trans women being innocent of all wrong-doing and are also somehow oppressed by actual women for talking about their vaginas.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/02/colleges-project-vulva-attacked-for-transphobia/

In other words: the misogyny of the trans movement is blatantly ignored in mainstream discourse. I'm thinking that that may be part of why the movie is marketed as a black comedy. It's a way of not focusing on it as being as big of a deal as it is.

I appreciate the film for its brutal honesty but a comedy it is not.

[–] activista 9 years ago

Nobody ever said jack about transwomen being "innocent" of anything----the fact is, transwomen are not safe in some places simply because they are transwomen, and they still get beat up and even killed for having the temerity to exist in some places. Don't know how you conveniently forgot to mention that.

[–] Chocolegz 9 years ago



It's ok to like more than one actor. :))

[–] ravenzcorner 9 years ago

A whole 3 comments down is someone snidely indicating that trans women don't kill women, even though they do.

These comments just made my point for me.

Women are killed for being women every single day by both men and trans women in numbers that far exceed trans women getting killed by homophobic men.

Don't know how you conveniently forgot to mention that.

[–] e827 9 years ago

If you think that it's safer to walk the streets as a trans woman than a cis woman, you're insane.

[–] ravenzcorner 9 years ago

I think it's insane that you think the statistics of male violence against women are less than male violence against gender non-conforming males. Your misogyny is showing, sir.

[–] Ellewilson88 9 years ago

K-- when trans women start regularly murdering cis women for being cis women, then we'll talk.

[–] ravenzcorner 9 years ago

Trans women are just as violent as men and commit violence at the same rate. This is verifiable fact.

You just made my point for me. Thanks.

[–] Ellewilson88 9 years ago

Please provide specific stats, or it's not "verifiable."

[–] ravenzcorner 9 years ago

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885%20

Second, regarding any crime, male-to-females had a significantly increased risk for crime compared to female controls (aHR 6.6; 95% CI 4.1–10.8) but not compared to males (aHR 0.8; 95% CI 0.5–1.2). This indicates that they retained a male pattern regarding criminality.

BTW, me doing the work for you is not what makes a thing "verifiable".

[–] sir_humpslot 9 years ago

actually, why doesn't this movie show any transgender genitalia but "exploits" the heterosexuals - the Johns and working girls?

is any of it even necessary or just titillation for "prohibited" to sell tickets and hustle for awards?

[–] Ellewilson88 9 years ago

Whose genitalia do we see?

Also, I thought it was a commentary on how often we see "chicks with dicks," etc etc. In this movie, for once, they're the protagonists, not the crazy trannies in the back. Their struggles are on display. It's not all about the mainstream perspective for once.

[–] michaelburbach 9 years ago

Why it gotta be black?

[–] cgraves04 9 years ago

Wow, you don't come across as a TERF trying to disguise their issues behind "innocent" observations at all. I say this as a cis-woman: you are very transparent and disgusting.

This is A MOVIE. You make it seem like this is evidence that all trans women are violent against cis women when the scenario depicted in this movie is highly unlikely and fictionalized. What happened in this movie simply does not happen in real life. Cis men and women are far, FAR more likely to enact violence against trans women than the other way around. Trans women are more likely to be the victims of abuse, murder, and sexual harassment, and they are more likely to commit suicide than almost any other demographic. Trans women have an average life expectancy of 35 years. But you want to make yourself seem like a victim? You are ridiculous.

[–] ravenzcorner 9 years ago

I have no idea why you put the word innocent in quotes. Weird.

Also no idea why acknowledging that this film is misogynistic and that many trans women are violent against actual women translates in your brain to "all trans women are like this". Maybe re-take 4th grade English?

What part of their scenario is "highly fictionalized"? The part where marginalized groups of people are forced into prostitution or the part where violence against women is NBD?

Your post is borderline "not all men are like that", but anyway.

Any onlookers are should feel free to peruse some actual reality.

https://thepoliticsofgender.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/trans-male-violence/

Just a couple hundred or so examples of rapists, murderers, and other forms of violence against women at the hands of doe-eye trans women.

But "cis" women being "far more likely" to harm trans women is you literally making *beep* up out of your *beep*

You should stop.

Sir.

[–] jayhawk-18 9 years ago

Back to the OP...I found a lot of humour in this, right from the start when Cindy is about to reveal something about her relationship with Chester when Alexandria butts in and comes to the wrong conclusion about what Cindy was about to say.

Lots of snappy dialogue and deadpan delivery. 'Take some Tic Tacs.' 'Where are your fans, Ms Crawford?'

Black comedy is finding humour in a tense, tasteless or ambiguous situation. Like how the owner of the donut shop kept threatening to call the cops and makes no effort to hide her disdain when the gang finally decides to buy something, snapping her tongs to hurry them along.

Overall, I wouldn't call it depressing, just eye-opening.

Oh and the ending was touching and perfectly done without descending into schmaltz.