Boy Meets Girl is a 2014 American Romantic Comedy-drama film directed by Eric Schaeffer and starring Michelle Hendley.
Hendley plays Ricky, a 21-year-old Transgender woman living in a small town in Kentucky, with big dreams to move to New York and attend a school of fashion design. Ricky is working as a barista and spends most of her time hanging out with her only friend Robby, who has been by her side for the past 15 years. Ricky befriends Francesca, a beautiful woman who's new in town, and their friendship unexpectedly blossoms into something more... to Robby's chagrin, as he harbors his own secret feelings for Ricky.
Trans Relationship Troubles ensue, but not necessarily how you'd expect.
The film is notable for its lighthearted, sensitive handling of its subject material; many Transgender Tropes are deconstructed, subverted, or averted, and it never becomes an Author Tract. Ricky (whose actor is a trans woman in Real Life) is not used as a punchline, and is portrayed as desirable and independent; the relationship issues surrounding her are not based on gay panic (mostly), and characters tend to talk their way through them. It also received praise from critics from being unabashedly sex positive without becoming pure Fanservice.
Not to be confused with the romance novel or the songwriting duo.
Tropes for the film include:
- Big Damn Kiss: Robby finally shows Ricky how he feels by planting a long kiss on her at the pond.
- Gender-Blender Name: Ricky is usually a masculine name. It's unrevealed if she chose it or simply never changed her given name.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Robby watches "girly" reality shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians and doesn't particularly care who knows it.
- Skinny Dipping: Ricky goes for a naked swim in the pond at night; when Robby finds her she stands up and shows him her body, which finally starts their romance.
- Trans Relationship Troubles: Interestingly subverted. Not only does Ricky have no hangups about her gender identity, neither do any of the multiple people interested in her. Meaning that the relationship issues are instead closer to a traditional cisgender love triangle.
- Trans Tribulations: Downplayed. In current time, Ricky is shown to be fully accepting of herself and faces no real prejudice in her hometown (only some from people at Francesca's engagement party who don't know her). Although a video seen throughout the movie reveals that she struggled with self-harm when she was younger and blamed her transition for her parents' divorce, the video is eventually revealed to be a confessional meant to help her move past her early trauma.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Ricky has zero qualms with being born male, and as such seems to get a kick out of using this trope. She gleefully teases two older women at a fancy engagement party by revealing she used to be a boy, shocking them quiet; a flashback shows her responding to a guy flashing people at Halloween by flashing her own penis at him.
- Wham Line: David physically attacks Ricky after learning about her affair with Francesca, tackling her to the ground. Ricky is completely unfazed, and brings him down by revealing the depth of their shared past:Ricky: Do you like being on top of me, David? From what I remember you much preferred being on the bottom.
