2022 Entry #016 01-30-22 “Boys Don’t Cry” is a devastating 1999 American biographical film directed by Kimberly Peirce, and co-written by Peirce and Andy Bienen. The film is a dramatization of the real-life story of Brandon Teena, an American trans man who attempts to find himself and love in Nebraska but falls victim to a brutal hate crime perpetrated by John Lotter & Marvin “Tom” Nissen, two male acquaintances.
The film stars Hilary Swank (“Quiet Days in Hollywood”, “The Black Dahlia”) as Brandon; she won an Oscar for her performance. Chloë Sevigny (“If These Walls Could Talk 2”, “American Psycho”, “Party Monster”, “3 Needles”, “Will & Grace”, “We Are Who We Are”) plays Lana Tisdel, the young woman that Brandon fell in love with. Peter Sarsgaard (“Kinsey”, “The Dying Gaul”) plays John Lotter & Brendan Sexton III (“Welcome to the Dollhouse”) plays Nissen.
I read about the murder of Brandon Teena in the newspaper. I was out to my grandmother at the time and I read the story to her in tears. When I heard that there would be a film version, part of me was happy that others would learn of his story, part of me was concerned the film wouldn’t do him justice…and the rest of me just dreaded having to relive the emotions of my original reaction. I saw the film once when it was new and I’m pretty sure I fast-forwarded several bits because I just couldn’t handle it.
This time there was no fast-forwarding and while I was able to enjoy much of the film, there were more tears, but a lot of respect for those telling this story. It’s a well made film, which frustratingly struggled with the ratings board, not because of the violence against Brandon, but because of its perceived lesbianism – a story which is explored in the excellent documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated” – which I highly recommend viewing.
So, why have I re-watched it? Since March of 2020 I’ve been making an effort to see more LGBTQ+ movies while revisiting ones that I’d already seen. It’s become something I really enjoy and something very healing. But I recently noticed that in the last 2 years, out of the 603 movies I watched in that period of time, only a small fracture were lesbian or trans inclusive titles and I’ve decided to correct that if I can in 2022. Part of the reason I was hesitant to view trans inclusive titles is that even well told stories controversially rely on cis gender actors and I didn’t want to be attacked for supporting such films. And frankly, a big chunk of trans stories involve their deaths. I find that quite emotional, but violence against trans women, and especially trans women of color, is a sad fact of life…which film can telegraph to the public – just as long as these are not the only stories that are told. I mean, I remember when for years most gay themed stories were about us dying of AIDS or hate crimes and while those aspects of our subculture are valid, when that’s all that anybody sees it sends all kinds of messages to people, like why are we only allowed to be in film if we’re victims? That kind of a thing. Thankfully gay representation has really flourished in the last 20 years and now those old images of us seem less offensive now because they are balanced. I’m hoping to find some balance for trans stories as well.