20 Years Later “Boys Don’t Cry” is Still One of the Most Relevant Queer Films

“Boys Don’t Cry” made history in 1999, but two decades its age reveals its ignorance. We examine the film’s shortcomings and why Hollywood has yet to produce a good queer film featuring a trans man.

Chloe Sevigny and Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (tMDB) — Chloe Sevigny and Hilary Swank in *Boys Don’t Cry* (tMDB)

In December 1993 a young trans man named Brandon Teena was brutally murdered in a triple homicide by two of his acquaintances. The crime received major news coverage and sparked a national conversation around trans rights.

Six years later, a biopic about the end of Teena’s life entitled Boys Don’t Cry debuted to critical acclaim. The film starred Hilary Swank as Brandon and Chloë Sevigny as his girlfriend Lana; Swank would go on to accept the award for Best Actress, propelling Teena’s story into every living room in America.

After thanking the cast and crew, Swank paused before mentioning Teena. The name of the film’s subject elicited just a few claps from audience members, far less than the other names she thanked that night. It seemed Hollywood was not quite sure what to make of Teena’s story or how to correctly identify him.

Even as Swank walked to the podium to accept her award, before her speech, the voiceover commenter clumsily called Boys Don’t Cry “the true story of a boy…girl living as a boy in Nebraska.” To be clear, Brandon Teena was not (as so many early reviews and his own headstone labeled him) a girl living as a boy, a lesbian, or a cross-dresser.

Swank finished her speech by honoring Teena’s legacy, saying “I pray for the day when we not only accept our differences but we actually celebrate our diversity.” Although the verdict is still out on how much progress we’ve actually made towards that goal to “celebrate our diversity.”

Twenty years after its initial release, Boys Don’t Cry has been cemented as a critical entry in queer cinema. It was the first mainstream feature with a trans man as the main character, and the film greatly helped further the conversation about trans people, their lives, and their inherent human rights.

Still, Boys Don’t Cry is by no means a perfect film, and like most earlier movies that center around queer life, it continues to show its age as time passes. It may be a landmark film, but that does not mean it’s progressive. The film stars a cis actor in the role of a trans man, a move that would spark outrage today.

Just last year Scarlett Johansson was met with immense backlash from critics after being cast in the biopic Rub & Tug about a trans man who operated a massage parlor in the 1970s. Critics claimed that a cis actor being cast in the role of a trans man was taking opportunities away from marginalized trans actors.

Trace Lysette (Hustlers) criticized Johansson on Twitter, saying “I wouldn’t be as upset if I was getting in the same rooms as Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett for cis roles, but we know that’s not the case.” Two weeks later Johansson pulled out of the role.

Many see Johansson dropping out of Rub & Tug as a sign that Hollywood has made progress in the last couple of years, but just five years ago Jared Leto won an Oscar for his portrayal of a trans woman in Dallas Buyers Club. More recently Eddie Redmayne was nominated for playing a trans woman in The Danish Girl three years ago.

Boys Don’t Cry has also been criticized over the years for its graphic depiction of Teena’s murder. The film is a visceral portrayal of unbridled hate that results in sexual assault and lethal violence that can be hard to watch for those who relate to Teena.

The film’s director Kimberly Pierce has even been chastised for being a cis woman profiting off Teena’s story. These arguments are all extremely valid. It is important to listen to trans voices and the different ways they perceive the film.

Even though Boys Don’t Cry is worthy of criticism, it remains an incredibly important film that is still relevant 20 years later. So far, 2019 has seen the murders of 21 trans and gender non-conforming people.

Violence against the trans community is still happening regularly, and Boys Don’t Cry is essential because it acknowledges the long journey we have as a country when it comes to stopping this epidemic. The message of the film is urgent. Not only does it encourage protections for trans people but compassion, love, and understanding of different human experiences.

In the interest of highlighting some of those stories, viewers who enjoy Boys Don’t Cry but are looking for lighter watches should check out these five films, all starring trans people and trans actors. These are gorgeous tales of love, empowering friendships, loss, and acceptance; they’re great next steps and reminders that queer stories do not always end in tragedy.