In Defence of Anora and in dialogue with Romance Labor

What should we actually hope for from media that represents marginalized voices?

I’m writing this in dialogue with this piece by writer Marla Cruz. And I want to offer something of a response and other thoughts on the subject.

I loved the movie Anora. Part of what I loved where the visuals. The films color-palette really resonated with me. Anora’s dark hair with all the moody icy blues of New York City’s sky. I love how it was shot, and overall I love Baker’s directing. He does a good job with space, silence and reality which is something I also love of Sofia Coppola’s work. Beyond that though I liked how the movie made me feel. I went to see it with my new boyfriend not long after we started dating. I told him I was so excited to see it since I loved Baker’s other movies and the way he handled the topic of sex work in them. He didn’t know about my past at the time and I was hoping to use the movie as a bit of a litmus test for him. He said he heard there was good hype and was excited to see it. Watching the movie I remember the scene where Anora is being held captive. I have a pretty parallel experience to Cruz- I felt acutely aware of the danger Ani was in in contrast to how many people around me were laughing. I felt a similar isolation in that moment and unfortunately could relate to the character Ani in so many ways.

After the movie my boyfriend and I had a lot to talk about. We both loved it. He clearly understood the basis of the movie and was on Ani’s side like the narrative was. He discussed how funny the hijinks of the middle were and I agreed- citing this as a hallmark of Baker’s films. But I also decided to take it as an opportunity to have a conversation with my boyfriend and mentioned the fear Ani might have been experiencing in the scene where she is being held captive. I talked about how worried I was that she was going to be killed, beaten, r*ped as most sex workers are in most movies. I knew this was not a calling card of Baker’s but I do operate knowing he is a straight white man at the end of the day and that this was a movie about sex workers. I was happy to see my boyfriend agreed and noticed the tension of that scene as well. He listened to me and understood what I was telling him. It made me feel closer to him, honestly.

Anora is not perfect- I’m not trying to claim it is. I give it 5-stars as a movie, not 5-stars as a piece on sex-worker education and advocacy. What it is, though: is a movie that centers a sex worker, humanizes her and makes her fun and relatable. In any other story’s hands, she is nothing more than a punchline: a ‘Dude-marry’s-stripper-in-Vegas’ trope.

I see criticisms that we don’t get any of Ani’s interiority and I flatly disagree- she is almost constantly externally expressing her interior throughout the film. Just because she does not show us in a traditionally subtle way does not mean we do not learn about her through her actions. If anything, those with media literacy skills understand Ani not letting us see her vulnerability is a huge personality trait. I legitimately think this criticism comes from people who maybe don’t actually understand how good storytelling works. Like, it’s a good thing she didn’t turn to the screen and tell us she’s secretly really insecure and has a rough relationship with her mom or something like that.

She tells us so much as it is! In fact Ani actually actively tells the audience how scared and disempowered she felt earlier in the movie, when later she calls Igor a rapist. He laughs it off like the audience tries to, but she doubles down. Even after a day of having her autonomy and voice discarded she is still speaking up for herself. Its admirable. When Vanya’s mother threatens to destroy whatever life Ani has- this is the only time she truly yields. Ani’s life has meaning and beauty to her. It’s not hard to think she probably loves her sister and friends at the club even if that’s not directly shown on-screen.

The most valid criticism, in my opinion, that Cruz brings up in her piece (that I also keep seeing from people in my own circles) is that Anora is unrealistically naive. That a stripper working in a club like that in Manhattan would know better than to fall in love with a client. That most strippers aren’t bubbly and funny all the time, but rather experts at knowing how and when to turn it on and off. One thing I wanna address is that I have a history with sex work, full-service and then cam work after that. But I have never been a stripper so I will certainly take their lead on this criticism. I saw criticisms that Ani’s friends would not have been cheering and supporting her decision to marry Vanya in the dressing room but making sure she knew what she was getting into- I do wish Baker had given us a scene like that. Cruz also asks for more conscious political messaging in the movie and more direct moves from Baker to ingratiate himself to the community. I absolutely agree with these criticisms as well.

Part of my perspective comes from my interactions with trans representation. And frankly, the point feels stark to me with the Emilia Perez controversy. First to acknowledge the elephant: Emilia fails on many levels of representation especially when it comes to Mexico and Mexican culture. I am not of Mexican heritage so I am not going to focus on this aspect of the movie. Last year a beautiful movie called Monica was made by a beautiful trans woman named Trace Lysette. She wrote, directed and starred in it. This film did not get any nominations from the academy or any other major award ceremony, but this year- Emilie Perez did. I didn’t watch Emilia Perez, but I know enough to say this is an offensive portrayal of a trans woman. The role was originally written to be of a drug cartel leader who wanted to have surgery that would obscure his identity so he could flee the country. This was changed with the idea of bringing the controversial trans actress Karla Gascon onto the project. Apparently, besides the textual surgeries and names changing: very little of the script’s core changed to accommodate this. In other words- this was a movie about masculinity, machismo and ego that was appropriated to be about a trans woman.

If you have a heart or a brain or care about marginalized people at all you’re probably somewhat aware of how bad things are for the trans community recently. This is a time when some decent, thoughtful rep could really do us well. On the contrary, Emilia Perez is about as offensive of rep as you could possibly get. A damaging portrayal antithetical to what trans activists ask for. There is a stark difference between this narrative and those about trans people, made by trans people- I Saw The TV Glow is another great example. Meanwhile, Zoey Saldana didn’t mention trans people at all in her acceptance speech. Lithgow’s presence was played for jokes during the ceremony, all in the wake of the announcement that he is joining onto to the certifiably Nazi-backed JK Scowling remake of Harry Potter. Ralph Fines who openly supports Rowling’s transphobia was nominated for best actor. When trans people try to make stories about trans people they are ignored. But that French asshat who directed Emilia Perez got listened to. It’s unfortunate Hollywood works that way and serves as another reminder that looking for anything with real political gravitas to happen there is a fool’s errand.

That being said, I think Baker is at least more considerate of a chaperone to Hollywood than most directors who have handled marginalized stories. While Ani is probably not a perfect representation of a stripper she is leagues better than the nameless victims of SVU. Anora is also clearly in direct conversation with the "hooker with a heart of gold" trope and the Pretty Woman fairytale trope which I also don’t see brought up when people criticize Ani’s naivete. Ani is naive and makes mistakes, but she is not a pushover, and she is not an idiot. She respects herself even when other people don't. She says what she believes directly in the face of powers that could crush her- which is perhaps also unrealistic to see but a welcome break from reality. And she is fun in a way that is relatable to young people. Ani’s funny as fuck!

I’m not really here to defend Baker. If you found the way he views Madison in the beginning uncomfortable I understand- I noticed it too. The whole intimacy coordinator fiasco feels like a miscommunication of the times/generations more than anything else. I do agree that not making more definitive statements on politics is pretty spineless of Baker. Benefit of the doubt- he doesn’t want to piss off potential future investors in his projects, but even still deeply lame.

Baker has worked with many sex workers before, and their accounts of him as respectful are also note-worthy. And many criticisms make me think the people saying them haven’t seen any of this other films. I give the guy some credit for attempting to do the tightrope walk of portraying marginalized identities. He has shown the honest struggles of sex work while always maintaining the joy of the characters. It’s a beautiful choice for characters who do sex work in my opinion.

Tangerine is certainly not ideal or perfect as trans-rep either, but the girls are humanized, don’t die and have fun throughout the run-time of the movie. Better than I can say for Emilia Perez. Hell, it was actually portrayed by a trans woman so it’s better than shit like The Danish Girl too while we’re at it. More food for thought: had Mya Taylor been nominated by the academy for Tangerine in 2015 the historical nomination of a trans actress that is Gascon’s would be hers. Beyond that I feel some are asking for too much from a movie- the primary goal of which is to entertain people. You’re asking too much from a director who has called himself an ally to us, but not an activist for us. His primary goal is to make art not advocate for sex workers. You’re asking too much of an audience who still needs level 1 acceptance that sex workers are human beings deserving of dignity.

And that’s really the best you should be expecting from a piece of art. To make you think, or to stir an emotion in you that will lead you to a positive path. Of course, we should ask more of the people who make it and their actions, but I think overall this piece of art was meant to show civilian audiences a fun, humanized sex worker. I think of all of Baker’s films this is the one he made for the academy and this is the one he made for the public- not for us. I think that’s why you can tell a lot of sex workers didn’t love the movie. Yes, I hope Baker will use his influence to fund works written and directed by sex workers in the future. And I wish he had stayed consistent on hiring actresses with experience of sex work too, but even that expectation can cause issues when it comes to personal privacy and safety.

Here are some more of Cruz’s criticism from her essay:

“The phrase “sex work is work” has become something of a liberal tick, a knee-jerk response from establishment figures in politics, media and the arts to acknowledge the shifting social attitudes around prostitution without asserting material gains like decriminalizing sex work or codifying legal and civil protections for sex workers. Or, in Baker’s case, to avoid giving us a complex depiction of a sex worker. Instead, Anora embodies the dehumanizing consumer fantasy of a devoted worker who loves the consumer so much she does not conceive of her servitude as labor.”

I think a lot of Baker’s earlier sex-work oriented movies do a better job at addressing this criticism of Cruz’s than Anora does. If you want movies by Baker that feel more like they’re more “for” sex workers I’d recommend Starlet, Tangerine and The Florida Project. But none of them are really “for” us. Despite that, Baker has given many complex portraits of sex workers and Anora is undeniably one of them. These other movies didn’t get the same splash or attention that Anora did though. Maybe Baker felt he needed to make a slightly more mainstream story; he did bill it as a romance, and this is officially his “breakout” movie. That’s a fair point for criticism but perhaps understandable.

Representation is the most that can be asked for from art and there are huge limits to what it can do anyways. I don’t think art that strives for more than that is always necessary even when discussing marginalized identities. Are the realities for trans people or immigrants less real? If you want to argue all art is exploitative- then sure, I probably agree with you. I’m still going to enjoy movies and won’t judge others for doing the same.

Representation is great and it can introduce a character or concept to an audience who might not have known them otherwise. And at the end of the day Baker recognized the sex worker community and so did Madison. Sex Workers got the highest accolades of the year and a positive shout-out in front of 8 Billion people watching. I wish trans people had that kinda win last night, but I know not to get my hopes up from an awards ceremony or movie. I just try to enjoy my life and celebrate the wins I can. I enjoyed Anora and it doesn’t have to be much deeper than that. Anora was a win if you’re not too bitter to see it.