Movie Analysis: Boys Don T Cry
Stephanie Rennie
Class Project 2
March 27, 2012
Boys Don’t Cry
The movie I chose to watch is the 1999 movie Boys Don’t Cry. This is an intense, sad, and emotional movie that displays the true life story of Brandon Teena’s gender identity disorder. The main character played by Hilary Swank, is a girl named Teena Brandon that lives life as a male named Brandon Teena. Throughout the movie you see the struggles and danger he faces in an unforgiving community. Gender identity disorder is when a person feels and identifies themselves as the opposite sex. This can be seen in their choice of sexual partners, behavior, dress, and mannerisms. In the movie Brandon dressed like a man, talked like a man, and pursued women like a man.
Even though he lived in a time when it was completely ridiculed and even dangerous to pursue a same sex relationship he could not help but to indulge in his feelings. He landed in jail countless times and was constantly on the run from those who knew his lifestyle. Brandon ended up having to run to a nearby town where he tried to keep his gender a secret, but not for long. Despite his own families’ disapproval and the constant danger he faced, Brandon seemed fearless and optimistic about his future. Every day he would do his routine to become a man in the hopes to one day get a gender transformation. He pursued women and male friends just as any other man would, and did it with the charisma of a charming young man that no one could dislike. In the small town where he ran to he made close friends with a few guys and girls, but especially one girl named Lana. The two ended up falling in love despite the huge secret he kept. We all know now that gender identity disorder patients do not just wake up one day and decide they will be a different sex. It is something they are born with and genetically encoded with. Obviously there is no such treatment or cure for this disorder. John Lotter and Tom Nissen were two of Brandon’s new and good friends in the town he came to call home. These were the two men that ended up beating and raping him when it came out that “he” was actually a “she.” When he went to the police they acted like it was his fault for trying to be a man. The only one that stood by him was his girlfriend Lana, and they planned to just pack up and leave the following day. The night before they left John and Tom came to the place where Brandon was staying and shot and stabbed him until he died in Lana’s arms. This was the first time I had ever seen this movie and I was mixed with emotions of anger, sadness, and confusion. Angry that there are such disgusting people out there like these two men, sad that an innocent young man had to die, and confused as to how our country could have ever let prejudice get to that level. It makes me even more aware to the issue of discrimination and prejudice because it still exists today. Even though we all have a gay friend, or a bi-sexual classmate, or even a transgender family member, there is always going to be those people that will never accept that it’s ok. Personally I have always felt that I don’t care what others do with their lives as long as they’re happy.
Class Project 2
March 27, 2012
Boys Don’t Cry
The movie I chose to watch is the 1999 movie Boys Don’t Cry. This is an intense, sad, and emotional movie that displays the true life story of Brandon Teena’s gender identity disorder. The main character played by Hilary Swank, is a girl named Teena Brandon that lives life as a male named Brandon Teena. Throughout the movie you see the struggles and danger he faces in an unforgiving community. Gender identity disorder is when a person feels and identifies themselves as the opposite sex. This can be seen in their choice of sexual partners, behavior, dress, and mannerisms. In the movie Brandon dressed like a man, talked like a man, and pursued women like a man.
Even though he lived in a time when it was completely ridiculed and even dangerous to pursue a same sex relationship he could not help but to indulge in his feelings. He landed in jail countless times and was constantly on the run from those who knew his lifestyle. Brandon ended up having to run to a nearby town where he tried to keep his gender a secret, but not for long. Despite his own families’ disapproval and the constant danger he faced, Brandon seemed fearless and optimistic about his future. Every day he would do his routine to become a man in the hopes to one day get a gender transformation. He pursued women and male friends just as any other man would, and did it with the charisma of a charming young man that no one could dislike. In the small town where he ran to he made close friends with a few guys and girls, but especially one girl named Lana. The two ended up falling in love despite the huge secret he kept. We all know now that gender identity disorder patients do not just wake up one day and decide they will be a different sex. It is something they are born with and genetically encoded with. Obviously there is no such treatment or cure for this disorder. John Lotter and Tom Nissen were two of Brandon’s new and good friends in the town he came to call home. These were the two men that ended up beating and raping him when it came out that “he” was actually a “she.” When he went to the police they acted like it was his fault for trying to be a man. The only one that stood by him was his girlfriend Lana, and they planned to just pack up and leave the following day. The night before they left John and Tom came to the place where Brandon was staying and shot and stabbed him until he died in Lana’s arms. This was the first time I had ever seen this movie and I was mixed with emotions of anger, sadness, and confusion. Angry that there are such disgusting people out there like these two men, sad that an innocent young man had to die, and confused as to how our country could have ever let prejudice get to that level. It makes me even more aware to the issue of discrimination and prejudice because it still exists today. Even though we all have a gay friend, or a bi-sexual classmate, or even a transgender family member, there is always going to be those people that will never accept that it’s ok. Personally I have always felt that I don’t care what others do with their lives as long as they’re happy.