I have so many conflicting feelings on this.
Even for its time, Boys Don’t Cry commits some MASSIVE missteps. The shower scene—where the camera lingers on Hillary Swank’s body so shortly after the brutal gang-rape—is deeply disturbing and entirely unnecessary. Not to mention the lack of proper trans representation for the role of Brandon, excessive violence in the second half, and the deadnaming in the credits is just the cherry on top of a long list of grievances.
That being said, we must discuss the difficulty of releasing a film regarding anti-trans violence in the late 90’s. With all the social boundaries of getting this film into mainstream theaters, I can only imagine the costs to the integrity of the story. But Brandon’s message was worth hearing.
If it took this violence-ridden portrayal of a rural Nebraskan trans man to force a cis audience to grasp the harsh realities for queer youth, then so be it. For its time, this was nowhere near an abomination and Hillary Swank’s powerhouse performance earned her that Oscar.
Nonetheless, this is a heavy, yet flawed, artifact of queer history. But imperfect representation is better than no representation at all.
I have so many conflicting feelings on this.
Even for its time, Boys Don’t Cry commits some MASSIVE missteps. The shower scene—where the camera lingers on Hillary Swank’s body so shortly after the brutal gang-rape—is deeply disturbing and entirely unnecessary. Not to mention the lack of proper trans representation for the role of Brandon, excessive violence in the second half, and the deadnaming in the credits is just the cherry on top of a long list of grievances.
That being said, we must discuss the difficulty of releasing a film regarding anti-trans violence in the late 90’s. With all the social boundaries of getting this film into mainstream theaters, I can only imagine the costs to the integrity of the story. But Brandon’s message was worth hearing.
If it took this violence-ridden portrayal of a rural Nebraskan trans man to force a cis audience to grasp the harsh realities for queer youth, then so be it. For its time, this was nowhere near an abomination and Hillary Swank’s powerhouse performance earned her that Oscar.
Nonetheless, this is a heavy, yet flawed, artifact of queer history. But imperfect representation is better than no representation at all.
