Brandon Teena Brought His Fate Upon Himself in the Film, Boys Don't Cry

Brandon Teena is the main character in Boys Don’t Cry. He is a boy that, as he himself proclaimed “had a birth defect or something”, meaning that he was born a girl. Throughout the movie, he is searching for acceptance, for somewhere that the way he is doesn’t matter. This is first shown to the viewer when he moves out of Lincoln, Nebraska, to Falls City, Nebraska. At the end of the film, Brandon Teena is brutally raped and later murdered. Though Brandon’s fate was in no way his fault, nor does it excuse or forgive what happened, Brandon brought his fate upon himself because he knew that the culture where he was living explicitly rejected and hated people like him. Brandon also kept trying to prove to himself that he really was a man, but he never truly satisfies himself. He also has many dreams that he lusts after but never does anything to accomplish. These things, in the end, are how Brandon Teena brought his fate upon himself.

Brandon knew that people in the area hated people like him because when he first shows up in Falls City, it is late at night and there is a party. All the guys are participating in an invented sport called bumper skiing. The guys that Brandon has connected with are loudly proclaiming that “faggots” couldn’t do such a sport, and they encourage Brandon to do it. The next morning, Brandon doesn't know where he is, so he calls the friend who helped him dress like a boy at the beginning of the film. The friend is upset with Brandon and tells him, "Now come straight to my house. No bars, no stealing, and no girls." Brandon knows he is in trouble and in an area where no one likes him, but he is unafraid. At the end of the film, when John and tom are beating Brandon, they tell him that it's all his fault becau...

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...ants to start a trailer park. When Lana asks to have sex with Brandon, he tells her to be patient. Brandon has no sense that these dreams might never come true, as he blindly chases after them without thinking. When Brandon is hiding from John and Tom, he burns the pictures he took of everyone while he was there, symbolizing his realization that if he had been more careful in his dreaming, he might not have landed in the situation he was in.

In conclusion, because Brandon knew he would be hated for what he was, keeps trying to prove himself too much, and flaunts his dreams, what happens to Brandon has been brought upon himself. This doesn’t justify what happens, and it does not in any way put the blame on Brandon, but it is true that Brandon had many warnings and many opportunities to escape the terrible situation he was in, and he didn’t take any of those options.