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The Florida Project Essay

Decent Essays

Disney World is often called ‘the happiest place on earth’, but for those living on the borders of Disney; that happiness is merely a dream. “The Florida Project” directed by Sean Baker is a powerful and incredibly realistic film which addresses the struggles of families living on the borders of the social divide. The film’s protagonists are a financially struggling mother Halley, and her seven-year-old daughter Moonee who live in “The Magic Castle Hotel” beside Disney World. In Orlando, Florida, there is a huge socioeconomic divide that often goes unnoticed, but Baker’s film exposes the truth of living in Disney’s shadow. The Florida Project uses the stylistic system function of realism through diegetic music, non-professional casting, camera …show more content…

Music plays a very important role in creating the mood and tone of a film. Baker chose to use a completely diegetic soundtrack, apart from the first and last scene. Throughout the film, audiences are left to face the real and sometimes uncomfortable quietness, which becomes loud in its own way. While watching The Florida Project, audiences can better grasp the true experience of the character’s struggles and empathize with their exclusion from the high-income world, through the exclusion of music. The most important performance of diegetic music within the film is to protect Moonee from hearing her mother Halley’s prostitution. Halley is a struggling mom who turned to prostitution for income to support her daughter. To protect Moonee, Halley puts her in a bath and plays loud music while the men come over. In the article “Sex Worker and Mother: Managing Dual and Threatened Identities’, Jane Dodsworth stated “For some mothers, selling sex was seen as a means to an end, a job of work to provide for children and create a better lifestyle for their families.” (p.99-108, 2014). This is how Baker wanted us to feel about Halley’s sex work. Although she was breaking a law, she is simply trying to support Moonee and protect her through

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