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Title: Boys Don't Cry
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents will want to keep children far away from this. The message that hate is bad is undermined by the extreme violence, dark material, nudity, language, drug use, and sexual themes. Recommended for ages 17 and up. |
There are those who feel that in life you must always live the life that feels right to you and follow your heart, even if it hurts. Others feel that while the pursuit of happiness is a necessity that we all must pursue, there does need to be a small amount of self control and discernment to keep from getting into too much trouble. The situation that arises in “Boys Don’t Cry” shows the latter being more true then the former. Based on the true life events of transvestite Teena Brandon, “Boys Don’t Cry” is a low budget independent film that garnered much controversy upon it’s initial release. From the graphic rape scene, to the subject matter itself, to the initial NC-17 rating the movie was initially slapped with, “Boys Don’t Cry” never-the-less went on to become a cult classic for gays and lesbians everywhere and even won Hilary Swank her first Oscar for Best Actress.
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The film is not a cheerful film. Like mentioned before, it revolves around the sad live of Teena Brandon, who felt she was born with a sexual identity disorder (though what that disorder is isn’t classified, most likely because in real life there really is no such thing). Born a female but with feelings for women, Teena refuses to believe she’s a lesbian and decides that she’s a boy in a female body. To compensate for this, Teena cuts her hair short, tapes her breasts shut, puts a sock in her pants, and lives her life as Brandon Teena. Troubles with the law forces Brandon to move into the small town of Falls Town, Nebraska, where she quickly makes friends with some locals at a bar. They are John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard), Tom Nissen (Brenden Sexton III), Candace (Alicia Goranson), and Lana (Chloe Sevigny in an Oscar nominated role), who she begins to date.
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If you are familiar with the real life story of Brandon Teena (and I don’t expect that to be too many people), she was eventually caught in her lie which resulted in her being raped and then killed in a triple homicide murder. It was one of the most public hate crimes in the 90's, one that stood as a staple of what was wrong with America. Watching this movie though, and studying the events of the real people, gives me the impression that while the situation was indeed tragic, it was also something that could have easily been avoided. Back to the movie: When Brandon is discovered to be a female it sends a shockwave through the group of friends. They feel not only betrayed by the fact that their friendships had been built on a lie, but they feel repulsed that Brandon brought her sexual lifestyle into their homes without them knowing it.
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This anger I can understand, as nothing good comes from something that is built from a lie. Their initial reaction of anger is completely understandable. The following response that resulted in the tragedy was completely uncalled for. On the other hand, John and Tom were convicted felons, so maybe Brandon should have choose her friends better. The fact that Brandon inserts herself into these peoples lives without once being honest is almost as disgusting as the rape scene that followed. I know the movie wants me to sympathize with Brandon as she feels violated by the rape (and just so you know I do feel for her), I can’t help but also feel for the family who felt violated by her lies. And poor Lana, who is NOT a lesbian, and eventually comes to the realization that Brandon is not a guy, and a relationship will ultimately never work!
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The movie claims Lana loved Brandon even after her secret was discovered, but reading books on the subject revels that Lana did leave Brandon after the secret was discovered. In this film though the characters live their lives with delusions that seem escape all bounds of reason. John feels Lana loves him. Lana loves Brandon even after discovering their entire relationship was based on a lie. Brandon thinks she can have a relationship with a heterosexual girl without reveling her secret. At one point Brandon is telling an old friend that she plans to ask Lana to marry her. The friend asks “before or after the sex change?” Brandon replies “what’s that mean? Everything is going so well.”
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The friend shakes his head at the bigger picture Brandon fails to see through the delusion she’s created in her head, telling her “I hope they lock you up [at your court hearing].” “Boys Don’t Cry” is well acting and tense all the way through, but there’s this strong knowledge that these characters are all living in their own delusions and lies, which makes the outcome not so much tragic (which it is), but at some point inevitable.
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