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BOYS DON'T CRY: "Brandon" - with Logan Ashley Kisner

BOYS DON'T CRY: "Brandon" - with Logan Ashley Kisner

From1999: The Podcast


BOYS DON'T CRY: "Brandon" - with Logan Ashley Kisner

From1999: The Podcast

ratings:
Length:
70 minutes
Released:
Jul 25, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

Boys Don’t Cry holds a 90% Rotten Tomatoes critics score and a pretty astonishing 86% Metacritic. And with scores like that, one might get the impression that was and is a universally admired classic.
Billed as a dramatization of the events leading up to the 1993 rape and murder of 21-year-old trans man Brandon Teena, it was nominated for 57 major awards and won 37 of them.
14 of went to star Hilary Swank, 6 to costar Chloe Sevigny, and 8 to writer director Kimberley Peirce.
And Swank of course won the Oscar for Best Actress, while Sevigny was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
But critics at the time almost always misgendered Brandon in their reviews. And the film effectively erases the trans identity of its protagonist, which some argue is the result of a conscious and unforgiveable narrative and creative decision made my Peirce, who cast a cisgendered woman to play Brandon and who shut out essentially all input and participation from anyone in the trans community. 
In the 23 years since its release, Boys Don't Cry has not aged well. But this week's guest, writer and trans horror historian Logan Ashley Kisner, argues that it's not all about aging - Boys Don't Cry is a fundamentally, irredeemably transphobic film.
Find Logan Ashley on Twitter @transhorrors and find links to his writing at linktr.ee/transhorror
His essay on Boys Don't Cry is available here: “Boys Don’t Cry” Has Always Been Violently Transphobic
Trans Rights Organization Links:

Transgender Map Advocacy Page

National Center for Transgender Equality

Transgender Law Center

Trans Justice Funding Project

The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund

The Trevor Project

Trans Lifeline

Transgender Media Portal

TransAction Florida

Trans Pride Initative

TransOhio


 
Released:
Jul 25, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (68)

Was 1999 the best year in movie history? We think it might be! John Brooks and Joey Lewandowski will work their way through all the year has to offer, one movie at a time, and we’ll ask special guests to share their memories of this amazing year and the movies that made it unforgettable. Unfortunately, nobody can be told what 1999: The Podcast is… you have to hear it for yourself!