"Boys Don't Cry" delivers a rare cinematic experience that lingers long after viewing. I was  captivated by the main character from the moment (Brandon Teena) (played by Hillary Swank) appeared on the screen, I was taken by her irresistible and. modest charisma that was mysterious and ominous to me. I got very involved with he and started to care a lot about him before I knew anything about him or what was going to happen to him, as if he was a close friend or family or my child and had to watch her horrifying fate unfold to her end. 

I just sat there unable to move, slowly finding myself in the aftermath of a devastating emotional explosion inside of me, reeling from revelations I was unable to shake off, lasting ripples of passion and outrage, but also indomitable resolve and remembrance of what she represented and what she was, a kindred spirit. She was a doomed character living in a brutally A cold-blooded world where people don’t fit the mold of desirability or normalcy must live in constant threat of their life.

Much of the time, while watching this film you’re trying to keep up, trying to figure out “Who’s who? and what’s what? Brandon Teena or Teena Brandon? She or he? Gay or straight? Lesbian or bi?” But at some point, before (or after) you leave the theater, you begin to realize that none of it matters. The moment you allow yourself to step into the world of Brandon Teena, all of those terms, definitions, explanations, whys and wherefores get sucked right out into the stratosphere.

From a purely cinematic perspective, Brandon Teena (played by Hillary Swank) may arguably be one of the greatest heroes in the history of film. For one, he’s different from any preceding him. 

Brandon was, in his terms, in the throes of a “sexual identity crisis.” He believed himself to be a boy mistakenly born in a girl’s body and dreamed of one day having his body genetically corrected. For the average moviegoer (for that matter, the average person), this is new and unfamiliar territory.

The newness and unfamiliarity makes for a “clean slate” experience, which powerfully affects the viewer in a multitude of ways. It reverses the usual sequence of the viewer’s experience of the film and its characters. Given that Brandon doesn’t fit any of the usual categories (i.e. neither heterosexual nor lesbian, gay or bisexual), you’re left in a quandary; that is, you want to categorize him, but can’t, so you’re forced to see him as a person independent of sexual orientation.

At some point, you might make your way past the dicey crossing and even identify with Brandon –go through, inside yourself, what he went through. Then a sinking feeling and a clear- as-a-bell realization swirls into your consciousness: the knowledge that you would not have survived.


Seeing Beyond Labels: The "Clean Slate" Effect "Boys Don't Cry" creates a revolutionary viewing experience by removing the typical "blinders" that distort our perception. When confronted with Brandon Teena, a person who defies easy categorization, viewers enter a "pre-stigma" or "non-stigma" state of mind. Unable to immediately file Brandon into familiar categories (gay, lesbian, bisexual), we're forced to see him simply as a human being.

This absence of ready-made labels frees us from the taint of preconceived notions about "those kinds" of people. Without these filters, our objectivity isn't compromised by deeply ingrained prejudices. We can't reflexively blame Brandon for what happens to him or see his tragedy as something he brought upon himself.

Instead, this clean slate allows us to see the true villains: hatred, ignorance, and dysfunction  surrounding Brandon—forces so visceral and immediate they make your skin crawl.

With these protective blinders down, we truly see someone struggling with identity. We recognize something profound is happening without rushing to diagnose or categorize it. We don't know whether Brandon's struggle is emotional, psychological, biological—or all three. 

This uncertainty creates space for genuine empathy rather than clinical judgment. 

Brandon's complexities become increasingly apparent—his unresolved family issues, his self- destructive tendencies, his difficulty grasping consequences. We witness his resilience as he repeatedly rises after being knocked down, and the poignancy of his dreams for medical intervention—dreams we know will remain unfulfilled. His poor choices and acts of deception become understandable human responses to an impossible situation. 

What begins as an encounter with someone whose experience seems unfathomable gradually transforms. As we learn about Brandon's world—his troubles and pain—he becomes relatable.

We travel across "the spectrum of denial" from distant observation ("It's not my problem") to personal connection ("What if Brandon were someone I loved?"). 

The film's basis in recent, real events strips away our final defense and layers of layers of distance and denial by giving us a window to see another human being with unprecedented clarity and compassion.

Boys Don’t Cry deserves to be recognized as a love story for the ages. Brandon’s need for love was his driving force; he was bound and determined–and, despite all odds, eventually successful – falling in love with Lana (Chloe Sevigny); who was loaded with problems herself, but also alienated by the ignorance and dysfunction pervading their world. Lana was numbed by the “white trash” mentality, resigned to factory work, to boredom and intoxication.

Brandon made Lana’s hopes and dreams for a better life come alive. They were bonded by a vow to someday leave Nebraska for a better place. If you were to make way past the dicey crossing and step into the shoes of either of these lovers, you’d be navigating the perils of love firsthand.


At first, Lana appeared to be operating on the assumption that Brandon was a boy, thus experiencing a heterosexual attraction. However, during what has to be one of the most memorable love-making scenes to date, Lana notices Brandon’s breasts. Shocked and confused as Lana might have been (as we all might have been), she continues their passionate lovemaking, consummated and orgasmic.

We see that although she’s momentarily conflicted, she decides not to allow Brandon’s sex to stand in the way of her feelings. Committed to what she believes in, following her heart, she’s going to love him regardless of his gender. However, little did Lana know at the time that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

On the Ip was Lana and Brandon, just the two of them, apart from the rest of the world.

Beneath the surface, was Lana and Brandon in the world they live in, which  included two recently paroled “fag haIng” redneck, psychos—one of whom was Lana’s mother’s lover and father of her child, and someone who had molested Lana for as long as he had been in the picture. He molested children, beat, and raped women and didn’t care an iota about anything he did. They were sociopaths.

For a while, it appeared that Lana was going away with self-deception, but her ability to rely on her denial proves Ime limited. Once Brandon’s gender became public knowledge, Lana went through many motions in an effort to maintain her denial or save face (by upholding the norms of her peer group).

After hearing about Brandon really being a girl from her friends, she made an obligatory visit to him in jail, to confront him point-blank about what she heard (as if she didn’t know after making love with him!). When he tells her point-blank that he was going through a sexual identity crisis, that it was true, he didn’t have a penis but not to worry, because he will one day, Lana again professes her love to him, insisting that whether he has one, doesn’t matter.

What penetrates the viewer’s heart and mind most? Was it that Brandon was a fighter, his flawed humanness or his own personal struggle with his sexual identity crisis? Was it the ill- fated efforts of Brandon and Lana, hero and heroine, to preserve their love for each other? Or was it Brandon’s undeniable resiliency, the fact that he never wavers or surrenders, is true to himself to the end and dies with his integrity, dreams, loyalty, and love intact?

Clearly, Brandon’s is a hero’s journey. He could not change who and what he believed himself to be- “a boy in a girl’s body”, and he could not escape the world in which he lived, for it was the only world he knew.

But a few steps further on this hero’s journey comes the ultimate discovery, the ultimate satisfaction. Suddenly, you realize that this is your life, the world in which you live, and that you’ve stumbled upon a truth, that there are some things worth fighting and dying for. When it comes to certain principles (how people ought to treat one another, a bottom-line sense of right and wrong), there can be no compromising, no turning back. When you realize that, then you can be at peace, even in the face of death.


As reserves of courage and strength, of passion and conviction lying dormant at the core of your being come alive, you become the hero who goes on living, as heroes do; inspiring others to ​fight and die for what they believe in, for what is right and true.