The Brandon Teena Story

The most disturbing element of this story for me is the horrifyingly inappropriate, and unprofessional way the so-called "law enforcement officials" dealt with it.

The fact that ignorant, uneducated, mentally and genetically impaired American citizens like Brandon's rapists exist is an unfortunate reality that I've nevertheless learned to expect. However, I will never get used to witnessing those same behaviors in people we elect, pay and trust to keep us safe.

I can only hope that we are still at the earliest stages of evolving as humans.

"The Brandon Teena Story" (1998): This is the documentary which inspired the film "Boys Don't Cry", about the young woman who cross-dressed as a man, and was eventually beaten, raped, and later shot to death. No, it's not a comedy. Nor will you want to live in a small town, the Midwest, on a farm, or near country-western music… but then you'll come to your senses and realize that this sort of horror can, and does, happen anywhere. Was Brandon a good kid? Not really. She was a check forging thief. Were her friends any better? It's hard to decide by the documentary, but I almost MUST believe SOMEONE was level headed and decent. Were the police effective and professional? I doubt you'll want to rely on them when you're traveling through Nebraska. Was the criminal justice system fair? Well, how do you feel about plea bargains, and rats who rat on other rats? Are there ANY people in this sad story you want to go line dancing with? I'll leave that to you. (It would be a good idea to rent "Boys Don't Cry" and watch it after "The Brandon Teena Story". Hillary Swank stars, and has "Brandon" nailed. It's a top notch film.

I thought that although the movie was somewhat amateur, the vein of Brandon's story was tapped into. I really liked the fact that the filmmakers went out and found and interviewed people who actually knew Brandon and that we as the audience were able to learn more about him and his life. I also can appreciate that the movie at least gave mention to Phil DeVine and Lisa Lambert. "Boys Don't Cry" never even mentioned Phil and that movie also made it seem like Lana Tisdel was the one and only true love in Brandon's life. This movie minimizes her role in Brandon't life and eventual death. At least this film didn't just use the really "interresting" aspects of his life, but it used the real aspects of Brandon's life. There was one main thing that did bother me in this movie though. The use of long, drawn out music that seemed to have very little to do with the film itself. I think that if that had been cut back a bit, I personally would have enjoyed the movie far more. This was definitely worth watching if you are curious about the life and death of Brandon Teena.

I just watched this on video last night, after having seeing "Boys Don't Cry" in the theaters a few weeks ago. This is the perfect companion piece for that movie which, though fictionalized in some aspects, treats the story pretty well. Where "The Brandon Teena" story suffers is in its failure to completely document Teena's pre Fall City lifestyle. We know Teena left Lincoln, Nebraska but we aren't given a more clear picture of his/her life there. For instance, while the mother is interviewed, what about the father? Was there one? Why didn't the mother drive down to Falls City right after she was raped? Why didn't she send her away from that town to a safe shelter, especially when the two perps were given their freedom? Didn't anyone think that John and Tom would try to exact revenge? These questions are never answered. One gets the feeling that Teena, aside from having a "sexual identity crisis" as she puts it, was an incredibly tortured soul, one who couldn't see the forest for the trees, as the saying goes.

This film contains fascinating subject matter which isn't given as thorough attention as it deserves.

OK. I spent the last fifteen minutes reading the comments written about this film. Out of the twenty some I've read thus far, only about four users seemingly understood the film's content and message. Brandon Teena was male. Yes, he was born in a female body, but he was transgender, therefore ONLY male pronouns should be used in reference to him. He/his/boy/man/etc. HE WAS NOT A GIRL. The fact that all of the users who have commented have presumably seen the film, and especially those of you who claim the ignorance of others, but then continue to use wrong pronouns for Brandon disgusts me. Do your research, and have some more respect.