Boys Don't Cry (film) - Themes

Themes

Boys Don't Cry has been regarded academically as a thematically rich love story between two ill-fated lovers, not unlike Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet or the story of Bonnie and Clyde. Some critics regarded the film as being a "romantic tragedy" occurring in a working class American setting. Roger Ebert supported this view, calling the film a "Romeo and Juliet set in a Nebraska trailer park". In trailers, the film was marketed as a non-fictional tale about "hope, fear and the courage that it takes to be yourself". This summarization strengthens the academic view that the film is about the search for freedom and identity in a society where diversity is rarely accepted. The question of identity (particularly Brandon's) is alluded to frequently in Boys Don't Cry and the line "who are you?" is even uttered at one point in the film by Lana to Brandon. Peirce proposes this as the main question of the film. Janet Maslin stated the film was about accepting identity, which in turn means accepting the fate predisposed for that identity. Critics like Paula Nechak have called the film a "bold cautionary tale", with references to the pressure of conformity and acceptance, and some critics even cite parallels to Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (2005). Nachak regarded the film as a negative, dismal depiction of Midwestern America: " captured the mystique and eerie loneliness" and "isolation of the Midwest, with its dusty desolation and nowhere-to-go frustration that propels people to violence and despair." Some critics noted that the film was about the illusions produced by love or a strong relationship: "Romance is built on illusion, and when we love someone, we love the illusion they have created for us", Roger Ebert noted.

Critics and academics have attributed Boys Don't Cry's success to the fact that it ostensibly argued for tolerance of sexual diversity by depicting a relationship between two unlikely people. The film's significance has been linked to its portrayal of a same-sex relationship without any reference to the history of the gay civil rights movement. This emphasizes the tragic aspect of the love story, which led many commentators to compare Brandon and Lana's relationship and subsequent drama to classic and modern romances like Romeo and Juliet, often using the term star-crossed lovers. Freedom is an obvious and dominant theme in Boys Don't Cry. Brandon was in search of a place to be himself, having been ostracized and judged by nearly everyone who discovered his biological sex. Critics have called the film a "sad song about a free spirit who tried to fly a little too close to the flame", describing Brandon—heroic and fatally flawed—as this spirit who was murdered when angry townspeople discovered who he really was.

Maslin saw Boys Don't Cry as a tale of a trapped small town character's search for life beyond their rural existence and the high price they pay for their view of the "American dream". Brandon yearns for the freedom of a new life, and Lana, who sees Brandon as an escape from her small town life, gains the ability to make the leap of faith. It is Brandon who provides Lana with the opportunity to escape. At one point in the film, Lana even discusses running away to Memphis with the intentions of starting a new life as a karaoke singer with Brandon as her manager. Most of the characters lead a dull and meaningless existence in a desolate small town. Many of them drink at the local bar and abuse recreational drugs to pass the time and block out their disappointing realities. Christine Vachon stated that "It's about these guys whose world is so tenuous and so fragile that they can't stand to have any of their beliefs shattered", in regards to John and Tom's views about their life, Brandon's aspirations and his biological gender. Along with other turn-of-the-millennium films such as Fight Club (1999), In the Company of Men (1997), American Psycho (2000) and American Beauty (1999), critics suggest Boys Don't Cry "raises the broader, widely explored issue of masculinity in crisis". In addition, some scholars and authors have regarded the film as an exploration on "social problems", along with Patty Jenkins's Monster (2004).