Boys Don't Cry

Part 1: Boys Don't Cry is a movie about a young man, who is burdened by the physical body he was born with, which is that of a females. Brandon lives in Nebraska where those who surround him are very close minded, and home trained. Their belief differ from any acceptance of gender identity problems. Brandon stumbles upon a young girl named Candace who introduce him to her friends. As the movie continues, Brandon builds a relationship with John and Tom, as well as a young girl that Brandon takes a liking to. Throughout the whole buildup of the relationship, Brandon kept his secret of being a woman to himself. Inevitably, the crew found out and reacted in a fatal manner which caused Brandon his life. The violence is a product of the way these people were raised as well as their individual tolerance and open mindedness to irregular cases that happen. Living in a town where all you do to have fun; is smoke, fight and do drugs, it is not a surprise that once the truth came out the reactions are bizarre. Also, the fact that John is mentally troubled, he's been to jail, and believes himself to be the top man of the house, and Brandon begins dating the girl he seems to like also come into account as large factors of how the situation became deadly. It is a small town, with small beliefs, and a strict and routine driven way of living.

Part 2: Platos 'Allegory of the Cave' is very relatable to the movie we just watched. I believe that John, Tom, Candice, and Lana's mother are stuck in the cave. They were brought up chained and in a dark train of thought. They do not know of the depth of the world, and what lays beyond it. Lana, to me is a cave dweller who wants to leave the cave desperately. She is willing to leave the cave because she despises the manner of life in it. Candace is still living in the cave, but I see her half chained. She feels sympathy for the way the others in the cave speak and act towards Brandon, therefore her sympathy helps her become more tolerant. I don't think Brandon is in or out of the cave. To me, Brandon is like a reflection of the light, or a mere sun ray living inside this cave. Her gender identity forced her to escape the cage, those in the cave are afraid of her, because she is a projection of what lays outside of the cave. Knowledge, that there is more then just straight and fixed genders. I can not say whether Brandon is out of the cave, because his circumstance makes it difficult to tell whether he is more knowledgable, or is just an example.