Transamerica vs. Boys Don't Cry

Our class discussion yesterday about the film Transamerica was very interesting and insightful. In class, the film Boys Don’t Cry was also mentioned. I find it quite interesting that the public seemed to respond to each of the films in different ways, despite their very similar content and subject matter. Both Transamerica and Boys Don’t Cry were critically acclaimed, capturing several award nominations and wins. However, it seems to me that Transamerica was much more mainstream and popular than Boys Don’t Cry. When Transamerica came out, it some how seemed to be more accepted by a wider audience base, while Boys Don’t Cry was more of a cult film, appealing to independent film viewers. In my opinion, this difference is to due to the women who played the trans-gendered individuals in these films. Because Felicity Huffman, who played the lead role in Transamerica, had already established herself as a beautiful, feminine woman in her hit show Desperate Housewives, in my opinion, the public felt more comfortable watching her portray a male to female trans-gendered person. The audience knew who Felicity Huffman really was and could differentiate the actress from the role. In contrast, Hilary Swank who stared in Boys Don’t Cry was relatively unknown. This was her first large role and, in my opinion, the public did not know how to respond to her. They felt uncomfortable not knowing quite how to identify Hilary Swank and this discomfort turned many people away from watching the film. As we discussed in class yesterday, in our society, we use a dual gender system of male or female classification to categorize and identify people. When we are unable to identify individuals using this system, we typically find ourselves in a state of confusion and uneasiness, completely out of our comfort zone. Essentially, in my opinion, this is what occurred with the film Boys Don’t Cry; unable to categorize Hilary Swank, the public felt uncomfortable with the film.