Who Cares?
Boys Dont Cry film reflection
Boys don’t cry, I sure didn’t listen. This movie had me on a roller coaster of emotion. From the beginning where Brandon is kind of the outsider getting into trouble with girls and the police. Having a brief idea of what the movie was about I was aware of the fact that Brandon was transgender. I had some curiosity as to who else was aware of this. It appeared that it was a secret to most. Initially, I was bummed by this, not thinking about the time the movie takes place. It must have been terrifying to be trans in this town and time. Everyone appeared to be very close-minded which again was a bummer. The first moment of joy for me in viewing this movie was when he met John and the crew. It appeared Brandon had found some friends that also embraced the rebel attitude. Not allowing his secret to get in his way he enjoyed himself. Leaving home and moving in with strangers he didn’t seem to have much concern about what could happen. Viewing all of this caused me to experience some joy, Brandon is just having fun not worrying about his secret. This joy grew when Brandon met Lana. He appeared to fall for her almost immediately. Who would’ve thought that this is where a lot of the issues later in the movie would begin. Falling fast, Brandon made his move and tried to take things to another level with Lana. Experiencing some issues with not wanting to fully expose himself to Lana, I think it created some wondering on the part of Lana. Still, things seemed to be going great for
Brandon, until the newspaper article came out. Showing his birth name caused his new group to question everything and become uncomfortable. John seemed to be the most bothered by this discovery, I think because he was attracted to Lana and he was upset that he lost her to a transgender. John lost it and wanted to punish Brandon, so he gathered his friend Tom and raped Brandon. Brandon took this to the police which pushed John further off the edge and he ultimately decided to kill Brandon. In my opinion all because he was uncomfortable because Brandon was different.
“Difference can be threatening, a site of danger, of negative feelings, of splitting, hostility, and aggression toward the other” (Stuart Hall, 2013, 288). I want to compare this quote piece by piece to the film. “Difference can be threating” to me this was the overall message of the film. Brandon needed to keep his secret hidden because of what others might think or do. Brandon wasn’t that different from anyone else in the film, besides what body parts he was born with. He would get dirty and get into fights, he was a “normal” boy he just had a different route to that point. John appeared to be the most threatened in the movie. Not only was he threatened by Brandon but he appeared to be threatened by most. I think this is due to him wanting to be the toughest and most feared, everything is his way. So, when Brandon’s secret is revealed he senses danger because of what appeared to be a threat to his image of the tough guy. He had his negative thoughts about this and what he would do about it. I think he doubted himself at this point because the girl he liked chose someone who was “different” over him, which caused him to doubt himself and he needed to get rid of this doubt. John then became hostile, yelling and breaking things. Overcome with his emotions he convinced himself he had to do something. He decided to rape Brandon and try to show him what he was. Show him that he wasn’t a real boy. Trying to cause Brandon that same doubt he was experiencing. He wanted to make Brandon take part in sex that is “normal” show him that this is you show Brandon that he wasn’t a real man. Ultimately John was so threatened because Brandon had gone to the police and told them what had happened, he needed to eliminate this threat to his life and make things go back to normal.
Those who are transgender may experience Rosemarie Garland-Thomsons Politics of Staring. Although they aren’t disabled they are “different” to some which can cause those people to stare if they notice. A girl who may have broader shoulders, bigger arms or even an adam’s apple is going to catch the attention of some. These people may raise questions to themselves about why this may be the case. And in some cases, you may have those who feel threatened by this and may do some awful things because someone is “different.” When talking about someone coming out as transgender I thought of a BuzzFeed article that had compiled what older transgender and non-binary people think about coming out and how the world may react to this. The biggest takeaway and what seemed to be a part of most if not all these people’s messages was to just let them be them. They just want to be and do what makes them happy. They don’t want to be considered weird or different they just want to be comfortable and happy in their skin. This seems to be the overall message throughout any reading I’ve done these people just want to be happy and left alone.
With writing this paper and watching “Boys Don’t Cry” I couldn’t help but think back to when I was younger and didn’t understand someone being transgender. Are they doing it for fun? I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. As I’ve gotten older I understand much more and don’t question it anymore. I still have my moments where I may stare because of it being “different” and I’m working to be better about this. Because what do I care? Why does something that makes someone happy that isn’t hurting anyone have to do with me or anyone else?
Work Cited:
Karlan, Sarah. “Here’s What Older Trans And Nonbinary People Want You To Know.” BuzzFeed News, BuzzFeed News, 4 Mar. 2019, www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skarlan/heres-what-older-trans-and-nonbinary-people-want-you-to-know
Swank, Hilary, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton, Jeffrey Sharp, Kimberly Peirce, and Andy Bienen. Boys Don’t Cry. Beverly Hills, Calif: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2000.
Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. “The Politics of Staring : Visual Rhetorics of Disability in Popular Photography.” (2013).
