As it gets represented in the case study of the film, boys dont cry invites some interpretation and analysis. Directed by kimberly peirce and released in 1999, boys dont cry is the story of the life and death of a young trans man named brandon teena hilary swank. But as long as were saying things like, man up, and, boys dont cry, and all of that, we sort of miss or delay the opportunities that are being provided to shake up those definitions of what it means. When film student kimberly peirce heard the tragic tale of teena brandon, a young, apparently male nebraskan murdered because. Boys dont cry is a 1999 american biographical film directed by kimberly peirce and cowritten by peirce and andy bienen. Overall, boys dont cry was a work of character, not simply the perfection created by swank and sevingy, but the work of all the films gifted actors and perceptive director. The aforementioned quotation appears in the introduction of jinnelle aguilars analysis of the film boys dont cry a powerful film written and directed by kimberly pierce, based on the true story of brandon teena hilary swank, a transgendered femaletomale teen who lives in lincoln, nebraska. Boys dont cry film analysis the first problem of the media is posed by what does not get translated, or even published in the dominant political languages. Foucaults arguments with discourse, power, and knowledge are seen evidently in boys dont cry. The fictionalized depiction of the film boys doesnt cry events that are concluding the life of brandon teena. The film delves into gender issues, questions of identity, and the ethics of. Based on the killing of transsexual brandon teenateena renae.
Oleander recorded this for their album february son and. So kimberly peirces boys dont cry, based quite closely on a reallife murder case of 1993, seems both brave and unusual. Social psychology of boys dont cry the movie boys dont cry is a premium example of how movies demonstrate social psychological phenomena. However, as with most independent films, boys dont cry exhibits influences from several different genres, which has to be taken into account in an analysis. The film is a dramatization of the reallife story of brandon teena, an american trans man played in the film by hilary swank, who attempts to find himself and love in nebraska but falls victim to a brutal hate crime perpetrated by two male acquaintances. Boys dont cry was the cures second single, following killing an arab. I chose to highlight the issue by making remarks on the film boys dont cry by kimberly peirce as there are several issues that are directly correlated with the arguments stated by foucault. In 1999,boys dont cry became the first film to represent transgender masculinity in a believable way. In 1993, brandon teena, a teenage drifter who was famous locally for romancing the females in falls city, nebraska, was found shot dead in a farmhouse just out of the town.
Boys dont cry is not a film that only caters to the viewers pleaser, but a film that shows ones struggle with gender identity in a midwestern society. Boys dont cry starring hilary swank as teena brandon. The film is a dramatization of the reallife story of brandon teena, an american trans man played in the film by hilary swank, who is beaten, raped and murdered by his male acquaintances after they discover he is transgender. Brandon was able to apply most of the male social norms to her every day life, for example. An analysis of how gender and sexuality affect societys activities in the movie boys dont cry. The film is about a female to male transgendered person brandon teena looking to escape the restrictions of gender and sexuality present within his hometown prest, 2012.
However, at a recent reed college screening that point was lost on a group of. The film boys dont cry occurs in a workingclass american setting, in the small town of lincoln nebraska. There is a man who sabotaged his relationship by over valuing his worth and completely taking the woman forgranted and ignoring her needs until she ultimately leaves him. Brandon teena was a young transgender individual from nebraska that was murdered after the discovery of his being transgender.
It is defined by julia wood 2014 as, individuals who feel like his or her biological sex. Boys dont cry is an award winning biopic that tells the story of brandon teena who was tragically raped and murdered outside of falls city, nebraska on. The academy award winning movie boys dont cry is based on the real life story of teena ranae brandon, an american trans man who was raped and murdered in humboldt, nabraska on december 31, 1993. Boys dont cry the movie is about a girl pretending as a guy. Brandon teena found a group of friends after a bar fight that. One of the many virtues of boys dont cry, one of the best films of the year, is that never once does it supply the tiresome phrase, i am a man. Based on the killing of transsexual brandon teenateena renae brandon in 1992, the film is a double portrait of sympathy and misanthropy.
Boys dont cry has been widely discussed and analyzed by scholars and others. Boys dont cry and hollywoods ongoing obsession with. Boys dont cry analysis brandon was deffinately a very confused person, but yet seemed to have everything under control most of the time. Boys dont cry is a 1999 american independent romantic drama film directed by kimberly peirce and cowritten by peirce and andy bienen. Brandon ignores him and enters the rink, which seems magical to him. Hegemonic masculinity in boys dont cry 1999 inquiries journal. Agnes riedmann the film, boys dont cry, is based on a true story and raises numerous realworld issues in its story of a murder case in middle america in which the victim was a girl who successfully passed herself off as a boy. Boys dont cry cuts deep, to where the bullet breaks the bone. Without sensationalism boys dont cry does a remarkably good job of explaining the specifics of brandons role playing. Based on a true story, boys dont cry was adapted from the life of brandon teena, born teena brandon, a woman who chose to live her life as a man and. The fictionalised depiction of the concluding events in the life of brandon teena as represented in the film boys dont cry invites a variety of angles of analysis and interpretation.
The girl pretending to be a guy went into a bar and met this girl called candace whom took him to falls city. Essay about boys dont cry by malorie blackman 703 words. An analysis of themes within the film is conducted to identify scenes which display acts of 1 conforming to expectations of masculinity. In the movie, teena brandon is a cross dressing youth who prefers living her life in her male. I would say im sorry if i thought that it would change your mind but i know that this time ive said too much, been too unkind i tried to laugh about it cover it. Analysis of the movie boys don t cry by kimberly peirce boys dont cry, directed by kimberly peirce, is an adaption of the reallife story of brandon teena. Brandon is a trans man who attempts to lead a new life with his girlfriend lana but loses his life in a hate crime perpetrated by two male friends john and tom enraged by. Politically speaking, a liberal feminist might view brandonteenas death as motivated by the state, while a radical feminist might view the whole movie as a bourgeois concept, and the postmodern feminist may consider the metaimplications of the characters death within a film. When evaluating the gender based behaviors displayed in this film, initially i. Boys dont cry 1999 written by kimberly pierce, was based on true life events about the life and death of brandon teena, a transgendered individual who lived in nebraska as a male until it was discovered that he was biologically a female, and was killed in december of 1993. Brandon and her lover find a fragile peace with the truth of who they both are and two young men who are. Foucaults idea of the construction of homosexuality explains that homosexuality was born out of sodomy, the 16th century illegal act of sexual intercourse involving anal or oral copulation. It never gets beyond a superficial understanding of what it was like to be in the midwest as a stealth trans man in the 90s, and demonstrates little interest in exploring brandons psychological. Brandon hilary swank to live by herself runs many dangers and in his wanderings from place to place, comes to know and fall in love with a girl named lana tisdel chloe sevigny lana, brandon becomes, little by little a very special person.
This should come as no surprise because the movie takes its material from the real life story of brandon teena, a young preoperative transgendered individual, seeking to have his female sexual organs transformed through a sexchange operation, so that. An analysis of boys dont cry by kimberly peirce kibin. Therefore, some theoretical background on the question of genre is necessary but also on queerness and gender. The film boys dont cry, directed by kimberly pierce, brought mainstream media attention to the life and tragic death of brandon teena in addition to an unveiling educational debate. Essay analysis of the movie boys don t cry by kimberly peirce boys dont cry, directed by kimberly peirce, is an adaption of the reallife story of brandon teena. The film, boys dont cry, is based on a true story and raises numerous realworld issues in its story of a murder case in middle america in which the victim was a girl who successfully passed herself off as a boy. This is the only reason that she was ever eve able to trick everyone into thinking she was a he. The theme of the search for identity in boys dont cry, a. In terms of boys dont cry the core genre is new queer cinema.
Anna garcia 2122015 reading response paper boys dont cry socl 3600 gender and power dr. The movie follows the melancholy vector of teena brandon, 19711993. Directed by kimberly peirce, the movie released in the year 1999, focuses predominantly on brandons love affair with lana tisdel, a girl he met in falls city and his pseudo life as a man there. The critical representation of gender and queerness in. His legal name was teena brandon, but that was unknown to the gang of misogynist homophobic rednecks he joined. There is a documentary, the brandon teena story, that came out earlier in 1999 and shows us photographs of brandon, looking eerily like hilary swank, who plays the role in boys dont cry. Brandon is a trans man who attempts to lead a new life with his girlfriend lana but loses his life in a hate crime perpetrated by two male friends john and tom enraged by his. He is going with his cousin, lonny matt mcgrath, an older boy who is gay, to a skating rink. It is a real life story that happened in lincoln in 1993.
Swanks film, boys dont cry, was only up for two acting prizes, and even. In that film, we meet some of the women he dated brandon knew how to treat a woman, and we see the two men later charged with brandons rape and, after the local law authorities. The violence in the movie boys dont cry is sort of sugar coated when compared to reality, unfortunately. Released in june 1979, it wasnt a hit at the time, but in 1986 a new version was issued as a single in which the original track was remixed and the vocals rerecorded. Jacques derrida boys dont cry is an award winning biopic that tells the story of brandon teena who. Trans students protest boys dont cry and the pain of. Analysis of the movie boys don t cry 1708 words 7 pages.
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