Boys Don't Cry
by Kimberly Peirce
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Actor: Alicia Goranson, Brendan Sexton III, Chloë Sevigny, Hilary Swank, Peter SarsgaardDirector: Kimberly Peirce
Brand: SWANK,HILARY
Cinematographer: Jim Denault
Editor: Tracy Granger
Editor: Lee Percy
Producer: Caroline Kaplan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
Published: 2009-10-01
DVD Release Date: 2009-10-13
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
DVD Reviews of Boys Don't Cry
DVD Review: Don't they?
Summary: 5 Stars
Our society is terribly skeptical and judgmental about differences that dwell within it. Mostly, it is in our nature to reject and fear what is foreign and indistinguishable to us. We flee from the unknown, like cowards. Even children are more courageous and willing to discover the unlearned, new experiences they've been warned to avoid. Presumably, we must be a civilized society, gifted with reason, equity, and compassion. Yet we react like savages upon gaining knowledge of something that we were completely unfamiliar with before, something that happens to be somewhat different from us. We fear what is strange, and it is only our own feelings and perceptions that are not alien to us, and that we are accustomed to regarding as "normal." We refuse to believe in mind's disagreement with nature. What is created by nature, by the highest powers, is not to be doubted or resented. This widely accepted belief deprives us of exploring our inner selves and restricts our freedom to express our state of mind in the open. For example, people are immediately assigned to the gender category based on the sex organs they are born with, and are expected to take on the socially constructed gender roles that are considered appropriate for the members of that particular sexual category. This is usually the logical way to categorize the newcomers to this world, since they are unable to make decisions on their own. However, if later in life people become uncomfortable with the gender that they had been "assigned" to at birth, they should be granted the freedom to make their own choice, and be given the same amount of respect and support that they had before making this choice. Although biologically a female, Brandon feels more comfortable being a male, and therefore dresses and acts like one, and succeeds in deceiving young girls about "his" true - biological - gender. (We must use a male pronoun in referring to Brandon Teena, for his personal choice of identity must be respected.) Brandon saw himself as no other than a heterosexual male. He could make his body sufficiently indistinguishable to allow him to pass as a man. Brandon, the main character, was naturally gentle and sensitive; he was comfortable and at ease with women, who were, in return, charmed by his charisma. He had quite a reputation in being a womanizer. However, after some time upon arriving to Kansas, Brandon falls in love with a girl named Lana. For her, Brandon is a mysterious cowboy-knight, who comes to her rescue. She is fascinated by Brandon's romanticism, and sees him as a sensitive, caring young man - a man that is completely different from those violent and disrespectful drunkards that mostly inhabit in Falls City. At first, Lana knows nothing about Brandon's true gender. It is only later in the movie, when they make love and Brandon leans over her, exposing the indefinite outline of his elastic band-bound breasts through the neckline of his T-shirt, when Lana develops some suspicions. Nonetheless, there is a definite stretch of when she actually acknowledges Brandon's gender, for she does not really want to know; she wants to love Brandon without going into details of his personal life. Romance here is built on veiled illusion, and the unconditional love of two people - Brandon and Lana - embraces this illusion that had been created by them in all its bare beauty. Lana accepts him despite the harsh disapproval and disgust of her mother. Lana even defends Brandon and covers him by declaring that she had personally seen Brandon's male sex organ, when he is first accused of lying about his gender. She trusts him enough, or just wants to hold on to her comforting illusion, not to check his genitals, when she is forced to privately make sure he is not lying about being a male. We also meet a couple of Lana's friends, John and Tom. Tom and John are presented beyond the murderers' scale - as devices of utmost ignorance and ruthless monsters of hell. They seem not to have any goals in life; their only joy is alcohol and hanging out with friends. They are hostile and totally lack manners. But even so, Brandon tries to look up to them, for Tom and John are the only male role models that are in his sight at the moment. Brandon, though with faint bravery, participates in all the activities that his new male friends do, tries to fit in within their male circle. John and Tom accept him at first, although consider him very fragile, weak, and rather feminine, for Brandon is smooth-skinned, lean, and practically has no visible muscles. However, after learning about Brandon's true gender from the police, they, in front of Lana's mother, cruelly bare Brandon of his clothes from the waist down. Lana, in terror and pain, swiftly covers her eyes and walks out of the bathroom where Brandon is about to be humiliated and his undefended flesh is to be exposed to everyone; she chose not to see what was really there. She wants to love the Brandon that she met, and therefore does not allow anyone to destroy her sweet illusion. The two ruthless, spiteful bastards, overjoyed with their inconceivable discovery, drive Brandon to an old mill, brutally rape him, taking turns, and beat him unconscious. As it turns out, when Brandon is at the police station, he was a virgin before the rape, and this violent penetration caused a great deal of pain and bleeding for him. The questions that Brandon is asked by the police officers are obviously rather painful to him and make him uncomfortable. For he sits in the police "torment room" with his arms crossed, tears pouring from his eyes, down the bruised and swollen face; he looks violated and scared like a guinea pig. When Brandon is bluntly asked why he dresses and acts like a member of the opposite sex and what is it that he is going through, he squeezes through clenched teeth and tears, "Gender identity crisis." This is probably the first time that Brandon is forced to face and name his behavior. It was something that he did not want to discuss or look into, even in his mind. He is stripped of his privacy, his integrity, and his human rights. At the end, John and Tom do not let Brandon get away with this mischief and they shoot him. Indeed, we can bravely declare that Boys Don't Cry is not the common "happy end" American movie that we are all so greatly accustomed to - not that we are hungry for tragedy, but sometimes, we need reality, we long to face the inescapable bitter truth. Boys Don't Cry is based on a true story and deals with real human issues of real people that don't always live happily ever after... Also, one of the many appealing virtues of this movie is that not once does it mention the tiresome phrase, that has become a cliché, "I am a man trapped in a woman's body." Personal identity is what's particular about a person. It includes those qualities that distinguish one person from another and the consciousness of one's own being or identity. Everyone aims to be somewhat different from others, to find some qualities within themselves that would make them unique. And yet, most people are horrified by others' shocking differences, and find those people deviant. Gender identity, in particular, is a crucially important issue that concerns people of all ages today, and is especially acute among adolescents and young adults. Since identity is the feeling of who you are, your individual perception of self, and gender refers to being male or female, biologically belonging to a particular sexual category, then gender identity would most correctly be defined as an individual's perception of his/her gender, despite biological factors and social concepts. One's self-perception may not necessarily correlate with his/her biological sexual organs. It is a state of mind. It cannot be judged or ranked, for all of us are created equal, even if we are different from one another.
Description of Boys Don't Cry
The new guy in town, Brandon Teena, fits in just fine until it is discovered that he is actually a girl.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-JUN-2004
Media Type: DVD
When Brandon Teena, a young man with an infectious, aw-shucks grin and an angelic face that's all angles, wanders into Falls City, Nebraska, he takes to the town like it's a second skin. In little time he's fallen in with a gang of goofy if temperamental redneck boys, found himself a girlfriend, and befriended enough people to form something of a small family. In fact, it's the best time Brandon's ever had. However, there are shadows looming over Brandon's life: a court date for grand theft auto, a checkered criminal record, and a seemingly innocuous speeding ticket that could prove to be his undoing. Why? Because as it turns out, Brandon Teena is actually Teena Brandon, a woman masquerading as a man.
This fascinating story was based on real-life events (as documented in The Brandon Teena Story) that occurred in 1993 and ended in tragedy: Brandon's rape and murder by two of his supposed friends. Despite this horrible outcome, however, in the hands of director Kimberly Peirce (who cowrote the unfettered screenplay with Andy Bienen), Brandon's story becomes not oppressive or preachy, but rather oddly and touchingly transcendent, anchored by Hilary Swank's phenomenal, unsentimental performance. Swank inhabits Brandon's contradictions and passions with a natural vitality most actresses would refuse to give themselves over to. Brandon's deception is doomed from the start, but Swank's enthusiasm is infectious, and when Brandon starts romancing the sloe-eyed Lana (a pitch-perfect Chloë Sevigny), he finds a soul mate who wants to transcend boundaries and fated identities as much as he does. The last part of the film, when Brandon's true identity is discovered, is truly painful to watch, but in between the agony there are touching moments of sweetness between Brandon and Lana, who wrestles with the truth of who Brandon actually is. You'll come away from Boys Don't Cry with affection and respect for Brandon, not pity. --Mark Englehart
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