Boys Don't Cry (film) - Controversy

Controversy

The accuracy of the film was disputed by real-life people involved in the murder. Lana Tisdel sued the film's producers for "invasion of privacy" and the unauthorized use of her name and likeness prior to the film's theatrical release. She claimed that the film depicted her as "lazy, white trash and a skanky snake". Tisdel claimed that the film falsely portrayed that she continued the relationship with Teena after she discovered Teena was anatomically and chromosomally female. She settled her lawsuit against Fox Searchlight for an undisclosed sum. Swank received criticism from the family of Brandon Teena for her repeated use of the male gender pronoun "he" in her Oscar acceptance speech. Teena's mother, JoAnn Brandon, argued that her child's transgenderism was a defense mechanism that was developed in response to childhood sexual abuse, rather than being an expression of Teena's gendered sense of self: "She pretended she was a man so no other man could touch her." Swank later apologized, but many transgender activists asserted that she was correct in referring to Teena as a man, as this was the gender in which Teena preferred to live and act.

Along with the portrayal of the actual ordeal and the people involved, the film garnered significant controversy for its graphic rape scene. Initially assigned an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, the content was strongly toned down for the US release, where the film was rated R. Peirce was interviewed for the 2005 documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated about the trouble the film had with the MPAA, particularly the censoring of the sex scenes. The double rape caused significant problems with the MPAA and had to be trimmed to avoid the NC-17 rating. The European version is more explicit, particularly with the first rape. Peirce displayed anger over the fact the MPAA wanted the sex scene between Brandon and Lana removed but were satisfied with the overall brutality and violence in the murder scene.