You might not think this is about the movie TANGERINE (2015), oh but it is! A case study in fact...a personal one.
Oh the memories of that corner 'aquarium in the night.I served the all male prostitutes...well 90%, donuts and coffee and soda all night. And a lot of OJ!I was an 18 year old guitar student at GIT straight from the Columbus, Ohio suburbs/farms out my backyard, and honestly an uptight kid confused about my sexuality. Who knows, I had a strange mix of guys at the counter of that newly opened 'Donut Stop' back in 1985. This was the second Donut Stop- at Santa Monica blvd. and Highland ave., Hollywood, CA. It was the ' prostitute shop', and the North Donut Stop was the 'bum shop'. Look, I'm live and let live. As a matter of fact, with an artists brain I enjoyed learning about real life from the hardest livers. Maybe I would need street smarts some day. And boy did I. A 3 year heroin addict a dozen years after. Eh'so goes life. Better now for 15 years, not even caffeine. I do wonder the average lifespan of a bum or a prostitute...in Hollywood. I hope most got out...it sucks being 'a type'.
I came back to Columbus after 5 years in L.A.. My dad died and mom needed me. 10 years after, most Midwestern city life became as hardened as L.A. was then in the 80's. Anyway, at the North store I really got to know the bums... in L.A.
known politely as 'Transients'. I think if you had a car, van, or RV (or lived in tent city) you weren't 'homeless (sad). At the Santa Monica & Highland store (donut shop location in the movie) it was tougher adjusting, but no less interesting. I recall a guy, a later neighbor in fact ( pointing out double entendres at my crotch through the glass when pointing at the 'long john' donuts in the case. " gimme' that biggest long john". This guy had to be the inspiration for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force fat guy named Carl.
No sooner would I return a hateful, but naively confused stare into the glazed eyes of a guy my age who just scored the money for that donut from having some kind of sex 5 minutes before, often with 'Carl', did my only ally, the bitter old prejudiced 'the baker Ray' with his faded green tattooed 13 on his ear[ this is 85' and 86' before tattoos were common],he would walk out with his back turned to the customer(I know, long sentence/:) and refill his Sprite at the dispenser, with revolver showing clearly sticking out of the back of his baker whites uniform in view of this customer of his dislike. I too wore the loose white uniform. I was pretty decent looking...plenty flirted with me because I was shy...oh' god. You know, I'm totally heterosexual, but I think I maybe, as human to human, was gay in a past life or will be in a future one. Ah' that corner! Confused the hell out of me, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!
