History Film / BoysDontCry

Directed by Kimberly Peirce and released in 1999, ''Boys Don't Cry'' is the story of the life and death of a young trans man named Brandon Teena (Creator/HilarySwank). His legal name was Teena Brandon, but that was unknown to the gang of bigoted rednecks he joined.

Not to be confused with MenDontCry, Boys Who Cry (the boy band from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''), or [[Film/BoysDontCry2000 the Polish movie with the same name]] (also produced in 1999).

Not to be confused with MenDontCry or Boys Who Cry, the boy band from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' ''or'' a Polish movie [[Film/BoysDontCry2000 with the same name]] also produced in 1999.

Not to be confused with MenDontCry or Boys Who Cry, the boy band from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' ''or'' a Polish movie [[Film/ChlopakiNiePlacza with the same name]] also produced in 1999.

Not to be confused with MenDontCry or Boys Who Cry, the boy band from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''.

* CoveredInScars: Tom like to burn and cut himself for fun, and is covered in scars as a result. This foreshadows his later violent behavior.

* TransEqualsGay: When people discover Brandon Tina's secret, they first assume he is a butch lesbian instead of a straight transgender man. He bursts into tears when called a "dyke" by his friend.

* TransEqualsGay: When people discover Brandon Tina's secret, they first assume he is a butch lesbian instead of a straight transgender man.

* TransTribulations: Trans man Brandon Teena is outed after living in Falls City, Nebraska for a while. His former friends [[spoiler: rape and murder him when they discover it]]. There's also a hard scene where Brandon has to get a medical examination from a doctor that misgenders him. After he's outed, he also gets called various slurs plus "it", with many (including of course his future murderers) expressing their disgust or histolity to him.

* TitledAfterTheSong: In this case, the classic song by Music/TheCure; a CoverVersion by Nathan Larson appears on the soundtrack.

Not to be confused with MenDontCry or the boy band from a ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode.

Directed by Kimberly Peirce and released in 1999, ''Boys Don't Cry'' is the story of the life and death of a young [[{{transgender}} trans man]] named Brandon Teena (Creator/HilarySwank). His legal name was Teena Brandon, but that was unknown to the gang of bigoted rednecks he joined.

Directed by Kimberly Peirce and released in 1999, ''Boys Don't Cry'' is the story of the life and death of a young [[{{transgender}} trans man]] named Brandon Teena (Creator/HilarySwank). His legal name was Teena Brandon, but that was unknown to the gang of misogynist homophobic rednecks he joined.

They accepted him as one of the guys, and he even started dating the sister of one of these new friends. Of course, when they "discovered" that he was "female", they considered him to be a lesbian. Homophobic hate crimes ensued.

** Brandon makes up a ton of lies besides the obvious, like having a kid of his own, a model for a sister and has traveled the world. Also, prior to landing the role, Creator/HilarySwank lied both about her age and about her origins. When called out for it, she said she lied because that's what Brandon would do.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "Graceland Memphis Tennessee", something Brandon is playfully mocked for by Lana.

* HeteronormativeCrusader: Brandon's friends take this path when they find out his biological sex. Also the mob that chases Brandon in the first scene.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: It's implied that John is interested in/obsessed with Lana, and this is part of his motivation (aside from homophobia and poor impulse control).

* OutfitRipSexCheck: When trans man Brandon's friends become suspicious about his sex, they corner him and yank down his pants and underwear to reveal that he has female anatomy.

* KarmaHoudini: Charles Laux, the sheriff who [[spoiler:asked Brandon invasive, demeaning questions about his rape and essentially signed his death warrant by refusing to arrest his killers]], never faces any real consequences. In real life, he went on to lead a long, comfortable career before retiring as a school bus driver.

[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hillary_swank_boys_dont_cry.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:280: Brandon Teena, just a regular guy. Played by Creator/HilarySwank.]]

!!Tropes:

** Also, Lana lies about quitting her job.

** Lana Tisdel claims that she didn't continue a relationship with Brandon once she discovered his true identity. The movie depicts them having sex at least once afterwards.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Both Brandon and Candace are shot dead, Tom and John do time in prison and the only glimmer of hope is Lana leaving town to see the world]].

* ShowerOfAngst: Brandon takes a shower after [[spoiler:he has been raped by men who discovered his true sex]], with the camera lingering on shots of his female body. Subverted in the previous scene when John and Tom try to force him to have a shower [[spoiler:after they beat and rape him, in order to DestroyTheEvidence. Brandon [[BathroomBreakout escapes]] through the bathroom window]].

* TransEqualsGay: When people discover Brandon Tina's secret, they first assume he is a butch lesbian instead of a normal FTM transgender person.

* TheCasanova: Brandon is this. If anything, the movie is rather restrained in depicting just how much of a Casanova he was.

* HomophobicHateCrime: Narrowly averted in the beginning of the movie, when a group of young men chase Brandon down for sleeping with someone's sister, calling him a dyke and threatening to get his "faggot cousin" as well. Brandon finds it hilarious, his cousin Lonny not so much. [[spoiler:Played tragically straight in the end.]]