Boys Don’t Cry in Nebraska

Nebraskans are perceived as uneducated dirty hicks with vexatious accents in Kimberly Pierce’s film Boys Don’t Cry.  Then again, maybe that’s the only excuse Pierce can possibly give for raping and killing another human for being who they wanted to be. Boys Don’t Cry is a film that is not for the faint- hearted. The film about Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank) , a man who transitioned and was trying to find somewhere to fit in. At the beginning of the film, Brandon is living in Lincoln, trying to get by. He goes out and dates a woman and by the end of the night, escapes being beat up by men. His cousin Lonny (Matt McGrath) let Brandon stay in his trailer, but his character doesn’t seem very happy about their living arrangement. Lonny criticizes Brandon for the way he dresses and constantly questions Brandon’s gender identity, which seems to not faze Brandon at all. According to Brenda Cooper, author of Boys Don’t Cry and Female Masculinity: Reclaiming a Life & Dismantling the Politics of Normative Heterosexuality, “…the story of Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry offers media critics the opportunity to explore such struggles by considering how film depictions of female masculinity may work to subvert heteromasculinity’s privileged position,” (Cooper, 48). This film does a good job of exploring female masculinity and inviting the audience to broaden their set ideas for gender roles along with sexual identity.

One night, Brandon goes out to a bar and meets Candace (Lecy Goranson) along with her friends John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard) and Tommy Nissen (Brendan Sexton III).  A bar fight is started once Brandon saves Candace from being hit on by an old guy. The whole bar gets into a fight and Candace, John, Tommy, and Brandon run out and hide from the cops. They manage to get away from the cops and decide to go home to finish the party. Brandon agrees to go with them, all the way to Falls City, Nebraska (which is roughly a two hour drive).

The next scene is when Brandon wakes up in Candace’s house, and has no idea where he is. Brandon calls Lonny and let’s him know that he found some cool people that have accepted Brandon as a friend. While Brandon was on the phone, he asks Candace where they are and he finds out that he is in Falls City. Brandon plans on going back to Lincoln, but his new friends introduce him to Lana Tisdel (Chloë Sevigny), and she makes him want to stay. When Brandon meets Lana at a bar in Falls City, he watches in awe as she sings karaoke. According to Judith Halberstam, author of In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives, the audience’s emotions are triggered in order to achieve an understanding of the reality transgender people face, “Boys Don’t Cry relies on the successful solicitation of affect- whether it be revulsion, sympathy, or empathy- in order to give mainstream viewers access to a transgender gaze,” (Halberstam, 77).

This film definitely pulls at a few heart strings, for many reasons. As Brandon gets to know Lana, he begins to like her. Despite John being protective of Lana, Brandon and Lana  begin to see each other. Brandon provides Lana with respect and cared for Lana as a person. When they finally have sex, there is no questioning of gender; Lana knows Brandon is a man, despite Lana seeing Brandon’s cleavage while Brandon was on top of her.

There is no questioning until John and Tommy start going through Brandon’s things and the items found in his bag reveal that Brandon was once a woman named Teena Brandon. Being the white trash that they were, John and Tommy can’t comprehend  the overload of information and fill with rage due to Brandon’s “lies”. Knowing about Brandon’s past, John and Tommy decided to wait at Lana’s house for Brandon to arrive. Shortly after Brandon got there, John and Tommy took him to the bathroom and took his clothes off to reveal Brandon’s breasts and vagina. They force Lana to look at Brandon’s vagina and continue to harass Brandon. According to Judith Halbertsam, author of Female Masculinity,  dominance plays an important role in masculinity,”…female masculinities are framed as the rejected scraps of dominant masculinity in order that male masculinity may appear to be the real thing,” (Halberstam 1). John and Tommy felt threatened by Brandon’s masculinity (feminine to them, because Brandon was a woman in their minds). Once Brandon left the comfort of Lana’s home, John and Tommy kidnapped him and took him to a deserted area of town. John and Tommy took turns beating Brandon and raping him, to the point that Brandon lost all hope of fighting back. Once they were done, they took Brandon back and dropped him off, warning him not to tell anyone what happened. Brandon told Lana and Lana took him to the hospital, where Brandon decided to press charges against John and Tommy. After being released from the hospital, he goes to Candace’s place to ask for shelter and a place to hide. She feels so bad about Brandon getting raped that she agrees to let him hide in the shed. Later on, Brandon asks Lana to run away with him, and she agrees.  On December 21, 1993, Brandon Teena was shot and killed in Candace’s house by John and Tommy. In the film, Lana stays with him all night, weeping and holding him. After the scene ends, the film presents the audience with facts about what happened to John and Tommy. Boys Don’t Cry is a very intense and sad film, but an even sadder part of Brandon’s real life. This film is important because it helps inform the audience of things that exist outside of what society’s normativity standards, but it is a very hard film to watch.

Works Cited

All GIFs were found on giphy.com

Cooper, Brenda. “Boys Don’t Cry and female masculinity: reclaiming a life & dismantling the politics of normative heterosexuality.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 19.1 (2002): 44-63. BlackBoard. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Halberstam, Judith. In a queer time and place: transgender bodies, subcultural lives. New York: New York U Press, 2005. BlackBoard. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Halberstam, Judith. Female masculinity. Durham: Duke U Press, 2006. BlackBoard. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.