Carmen Sandiego and Color
So letās appreciate the absolutely Legendaryā¢ use of Color Symbolism in Netflixās Carmen Sandiego:
V.I.L.Eās Iconic Color is greenā all the villains wear green, the lair is green, the uniforms are green, etc.Ā
When Carmen rebels against them, she obviously starts wearing her iconic redā which is greenās complement, itsĀ āoppositeā on the color wheel. This shows that Carmen has become theĀ āoppositeā of V.I.L.E.Ā
Scenes where V.I.L.E has a lot of power/influence are often tinted green, scenes where Carmen has power/influence will often be tinted red.
Julia Argent, the ACME agent who believes Carmen is a good person, wears a bright red shirt that the other agents do not wear.
This ties into the seriesā theme ofĀ ādonāt be fooled by initial appearances.ā Green is the color we usually associate with goodness, while red is the color we usually associate with danger/villains. But in this show, the colorsā meanings are flipped.
Ā Green means danger, and red means safety.
And again, this isnāt just in the costumes!!Ā Ā
Contrast these scenes where Carmen is nervous on V.I.L.E island:
And canāt relax Because V.I.L.E:
With this scene where Carmen feels confident and free:
The dialogue in theĀ āCarmen finally relaxesā scene is cute too:
Player: Red?
Carmen: Yes, it is. I may finally be unwinding.
Because scenes where Carmen is at peace, or confident and in power, tend to be tinted red (or pink/reddish-violet.)
Scenes where Carmen and co. are frightened, losing, trapped, or in terrible danger will be tinted green.
HOW TO SPOIL THE SHOW FOR YOURSELF:
If a fight scene in this show is red, things will probably go well for Carmen. But if the fight scene is green, things will probably go badly.
The battle Carmen loses against Paperstar:
The Indonesia episode is very green, because the Stakes Are High and Carmen seems to be losing:
Ā but after Carmen wins RED FIREWORKS GO OFF, lighting everything red:
Also: Tigress was an idiot for choosing to battle Carmen on the Golden Gate Bridge, bc itās the reddest place in San Francisco, meaning that itās where Carmenās POWER IS GREATEST
Tigress shoulda gone to New York and battled her on the Statue of Liberty instead, thatās a guaranteed victory right there
And in Carmenās worst failure in the season, her red coat is even torn off, so that the shot is completely green:
But then she escapes and look whoās back?? RED
ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS:
Before Carmen steals the VILE data thing, everything is green:
But the moment she successfully steals it, RED ALARMS START GOING OFF:
LikeĀ āheck yeah La Femme Rouge is finally here!!!!ā
And (major spoilers ahead!) what I find most interesting is this Redā¢ scene:
The scene where Carmen fails her pickpocketing test, ruining her chances of becoming a V.I.L.E operative.Ā
When you watch it for the first time you see it as a failure. The blood-red sky is there to show us that Carmen is in serious danger, and her life is about to be ruined.
But when you rEWATCH THE SHOW WHILE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE COLOR SYMBOLISM (as ya do) you realize itās the opposite. This is the moment that saves Carmenā that sets her on the path to becomingĀ āThe Red Rogue.āĀ
And I might do another post on this but likeā itās so cool how red is used in Shadowsanās scenes in general!!! Most V.I.L.E peopleās scenes are all green, but Shadowsanās scenes are often red, to hint that heās secretly sympathetic to Carmen.
See you initially think heās grabbing the sword to kill Carmen, but when you rewatch it, you realize heās going to sabotage the VILEās helicopter and rescue her! He was on her side all along, and the Color Symbolism knew it!
As Carmen says inĀ āThe Sticky Rice Caper:ā
āGreen badā¦ā¦red good.ā
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