The film Boys Dont Cry - Movie Review Example

? Film Assignment Introduction Since its inception, films are determined to encompass a plethora of complete human activities and are saturated with them. Human mind and its excellence at aesthetic paradigm evolve out with multiple hues at length while coming into the interface of any art medium. Films like any other art medium involve human mind in its creation, it displays human action and most importantly they are made to be comprehended and enjoyed by human minds as its audiences. Films are always considered as a wide form of art medium through which the manifestation of the striking moving images decorated with vibrant colors and sounds enables a connection between the film-makers and audience upon the matrix of celluloid and the senses enhanced through the pictorial description of emotions and actions. The intensity of the influence which a film leaves on the minds of its audiences cannot be undermined at any level. Therefore, the sociological aspect of the film, or myriad social psychologies depicted through the medium of the films holds a very important space in the minds of the modern audiences. With the growing complexities of life, the films began to develop with foreboding complexities. Skip Dine Young in his book, “Psychology at the Movies” mentioned rightly, “The psychology of film can be unified by thinking of movies as symbols. Movies are symbols that have meaning; these symbols are created by ways do they infuse aspects of themselves into their creations? While it is probable that everyone who works on a movie brings something of him or herself to the activity, I focus on those artists whose individuality is in the foreground- the directors (who make the final choices about how a movie looks and sounds) and the actors (whose visual likeness is so vividly captured on the screen)” (Young, 2012). A latent symbolic framework does operate within the films upon which the complex social psychology depicted through various modern films gets manifested. “Boys Don’t Cry” as an independent American drama amazed the audiences in the year 1999 by depicting the story of Brandon Teena, a transsexual man and his predicament evoked the themes of desperation, insensitive attitude and the issues of empowerment and gender equality prevalent in the society of contemporary times. At the same time, the subtle display of psychology operating in terms of dealing with these issues in society forms the crux of the film. Social Psychology and Boys Don’t Cry In October 1999, the American drama, “Boys Don’t Cry” was first premiered which was based on a real life story. Being the reflection of a true incident, the film mirrored many intricacies and complexities of modern society at length. Directed by Kimberly Peirce and co-written by Andy Bienen, the film stars Hilary Swank in the role of Brandon Teena whose powerful acting paved the way for her receiving Best Actress in the Academy Awards. Brandon Teena was a transsexual man who was allegedly beaten up brutally, raped and tortured by his male partners after they discovered that Teena had a female by body. Depiction of this incident through the medium of film was not a piece of cake. The film did not hint at only displaying the content as a crime thriller. On the contrary, a very strong social message was inherent within the film which evidently develops its social psychology. A strong notion and social perception towards body of a woman specially develops the pivot of the film’s aspect towards prevailing psychology of the society. When America was vouching on the propositions of same-sex marriages and gender equality, the film, “Boys Don’t Cry” reinstated the hollow pursuits involved with the concepts of gender equality and rights of transsexuals in the American society. If America with its teeming American dreams could not secure the rights of its citizen within a social structure which is so liberal and cosmopolitan in nature, it is quite evident that the future of the minor sexual entities such as transsexual men or women is in complete darkness. The freedom of body along with bodily expression finds superb exposition through the script of “Boys Don’t Cry”. The social inhibition or the forced macho attitudes and appearances on male members of the society provoke a psychology which needs to be cured at the ground level right from the days of elementary education. Taking the queue from this particular point, Kimberly Pierce even adapted the title of the film which again suggests a social inhibition of patriarchal traditions thirsted upon men in the society where the emotional outburst of a man is seen as something of effeminate attribute or he is considered as an emotional fool as well. Since the early days of our childhood, we are taught that big boys do not cry. Nevertheless, human emotions evolve irrespective of any gender such as hunger, pain or laughter. The postmodern discourse represented within visual paradigm looks towards gender ambiguity with a proper priority and envisions it as escapism of the modern society. The failure of accepting a sexually unconventional man or woman with homosexual orientation is looked upon with a bizarre glance. And, very deliberately to portray the truth prevalent within modern society, Pierce amuses and surprises the audiences through a projection of transsexual character with immense ability to remain attractive, alluring and at the same plane the character poses an ability to present all the oddities with gender and sex without deriving the identity or the sense of self from the body. A very interesting part of the film “Boys Don’t Cry” is the fact that gender metamorphosis within the film does not only operate as a blow towards the psychology that operates and develops within the heterosexual matrix but at the same time it questions and challenges many other forms of mobility and immobility interplaying within the post-modern context. It further serves as a metaphor of transgressing those set conventions and inhibitions of psychology within the social framework. In the book, “ In a Queer Time and Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives” Judith Halberstam quoted, “Brandon in “Boys Don’t Cry” represents an alternative future for Lana by trying to be a man with no past. The dilemma for the transgender character, as we have seen in the earlier chapters, is to create an alternate future while rewriting history. In “Boys Don’t Cry”, director Pierce seems aware of the imperative of queer time and constructs (but fails to sustain) a transgender gaze capable of seeing through the present to a future elsewhere” (Halberstam, 2005). The subaltern discourse presented through the film, “Boys Don’t Cry” operates through the screenplay of the film in a very subtle and intrigued way exposing the psychological inhibitions regarding the gender and body prevalent in the society and its co-relation. Conclusion The film, “Boys Don’t Cry” takes a social stand on the themes such as freedom of expression and right to present the body of a person according to his or her wish irrespective of the gender. The right to sexual orientation is a long debated and controversial issue where an open ending or a sense of ambiguity is much preferred. Deviating from all these norms within the framework of a post-modern art, the film “Boys Don’t Cry” actually displays the crudity and the sick attitude of the society towards a transgressed character or a person with unconventional sexual orientation. It is quite true that the film, “Boys Don’t Cry” has been able to be a true mirror to the present scenario of the society but was unable to suggest adequate solution to the issue raised within the film. Despite failing to provide a proper solution to the psychological shortcomings of the society regarding the issues such as transsexual entities, the film, “Boys Don’t Cry provides enough discourse within the realm of social psychology. References Halberstam, J. (2005). In a queer time and place: transgender bodies, subcultural lives. United States of America: NYU Press. Young, S. D. (2012). Psychology at the Movies. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. Read More