The Cry Game Film Techniques

The Crying Game
The Crying Game brings up many disorienting points. One of the main oppositions is male versus female. Imagine a child opening up his presents on Christmas day. There is a box underneath the tree shaped exactly like the toy he’s been begging for for months now. When he opens the box he is disappointed to learn that it is just a set of pajamas and some tube socks. This situation is a little disorienting for the boy and he learns that he won’t always get what he wants and that things aren’t always what they seem. This is the same situation that Fergus found himself in when he and Dil were together but it is a lot more disorienting for Fergus.
The Crying Game starts with the kidnapping of Jody, a British soldier. He and one of his captors, Fergus, form a friendship. After Jody is killed while trying to escape Fergus goes to give his girlfriend a final message. Fergus renames himself Jimmy and starts a relationship with Jody’s girlfriend, Jude. The turning point in the movie is when Jimmy finds out that Dil is actually a man. Later on his old friends, that helped him kill Jody, come back. They try to get him to commit a murder suicide and when he doesn’t show up they come
to look for him. Dil ends up shooting his old partner but Jimmy takes the wrap for it and does time for Dil.
The main opposition in the movie The Crying Game is male versus female. In modern day society a male is expected to be dominant and protective. A female is supposed to be submissive and sensitive. Fergus fits the male opposition very well. He cares for Dil and keeps her away from trouble. Even after he finds out about Dil’s secret he continues to look after her because he feels that he is obligated to care for her. Dil on the other hand does not completely fit into the female expectations. As far as being submissive and sensitive she is very womanly. The only reason Dil doesn’t fit into the expectations is because she was born a man. Fergus’ worldview of men and women is the traditional view. He has lived his whole life with this view and is not ready for change. This is made apparent when he discovers that Dil is a man. He sits on the bed in disbelief and later throws up. He doesn’t talk to Dil for days. This is the most disorienting part of the movie for Fergus. He has to come to terms with the fact that things aren’t always as they seem. His worldview of women and relationships leads him to hurt Dil and possibly lose out on true love. Dil believes that everyone deserves to be happy and should be who they want to be. She is comfortable with the fact that she is a man until the night that Fergus makes her feel wrong. She thinks that everyone deserves love no matter where they find it and who they find it in.
The most disorienting scene of the movie for both characters is the second time they were about to have intercourse.
When Fergus found out that Dil was a man he was shocked. He learned that he had been going against what he found normal. He was in a relationship with another man and he didn’t believe that that was possible or right. He felt betrayed that Dil had not already told him. Fergus was condition to know that all women were dainty and that all of them had vaginas. He was sick to find out that he was doing something that he did not approve of. This part of the movie was also disorienting for Dil because at this point she learned that love couldn’t get her through everything. Fergus was not going to love her or continue to be with her because she was a
man.
Before watching this movie I believed that we were all born the way that God wanted us to be. If God wanted Dil to be a woman then he would have created him as a woman. Fergus was partly right for leaving her. Relationships and sex are made to be shared between two people of the opposite sex. Dil was trying to create her own life and go against what was meant to be. The movie made me think that some people really do believe that they were born in the wrong body. I also began to believe that love could be shared between anyone. Love is a feeling that can be felt towards and from anyone. I learned that everyone is just looking for love and that some people are more open to where they find it. If I were put in the same situation as Fergus before watching this movie I would have done the same thing that he did. I would not have felt sorry for Dil and would have thought that she was wrong for what she was doing with her body and for what she was doing with Fergus’ emotions. After watching I feel that my worldview has not completely changed but it is more open and understanding. I feel sorry for Dil because he can not be comfortable with whom he really is but I do not think that he is wrong for trying to live his life a different way. The movie lets one see the inside of the situation.
A person needs disorienting experiences in order to become their own person. One gets their ideas about life and people by experience. To not have these types of experiences one would be living the life of whoever was in charge of raising them. Disorienting is necessary for development. Without the disorienting experiences of Dil and Fergus neither one of them would have grown as a person. Fergus learned that everyone was worthy of love and Dil learned that someone could still love her even after her Jody was killed.