shaystewart 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.

tankgrrrl13 Just a note of clarification. Brandon, did not lie about his gender. Brandon lived his short troubled life trying to express his gender the way he saw it and wanted others to see it. What he did however cover up was the truth of his biological sex. I tend to agree that full disclosure of these facts to his sexual partners would have been just. However, people are often not understanding of issues of gender nonconformity. Nor, have many people been equipped with the language, self-understanding, support, safe-space, and confidence to speak about these things without fear of being met with fear, ignorance and hatred. Our society has a strictly enforced binary gender system that is extraordinarily hard on those who do not conform. This is so entrenched in the sub-conscious of most everyone from such an early age that sometimes it seems that only those of us who do not fit in that system know that it is there and has been constructed by a society built on easy answers and small thinking that limits so many of us in numerous ways. It is so ingrained in people to believe that woman = feminine / man = masculine and all the stereotypes and behaviors that go with these two choices that they think these unwritten (and sometimes written) rules are natural. Therefore those who do not, nay, cannot play by these rules are unnatural, sick, sinful .. etc. So while I was disgusted by the behavior of the local authorities (including the civil court judge) I was not shocked. Serious deep changes need to be made to the way we as the human race see sex and gender or this type of appalling hatred will continue.

caitlinc-1 I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that if we are going to talk about how people are closed- minded and how society's views must be altered to include transgendered individuals as people of value and importance in our culture, then we must first begin with the little things: If Brandon felt that he identified as a male then we should give him the respect he deserves as someone who served as a lesson for us all. This means referring to him as male. If Brandon saw himself as male then we should refer to him accordingly. I suggest that whoever designed this IMDb movie profile should re-evaluate the way this profile is set up and change the cast description to Brandon Teena...himself (not herself). This is the first step to achieving what I'm sure Brandon would have wanted: to have transgendered people be accepted as how they see themselves- not how someone else sees them.

Sasha-13 This film is about a triple homicide. One of the victims and the main target of the "execution" was a young woman who felt she had been born the wrong sex. He called himself Brandon.While the cinematography isn't great, this film does justice to a disturbing subject, the bigotry and hate that thrives in too many small towns. But this isn't just any small town and the people Brandon associated with weren't the type of educated individuals who would be likely to understand and accept someone like Brandon.This movie immerses you in a world of truly scary people. Hate, and ignorance abound. You don't have to be gay or transgendered to feel unsafe with the folks in this film; being middle class will do it. This touches on another even more disturbing subject. Why do some gay and transgendered people take chances with all the wrong people? Strangers aren't a real safe bet for anyone, especially someone who is different in some way. The people in this film aren't the understanding college educated types. For the most part they are people from the very bottom of America's social strata. When you look at Brandon, you have to wonder why he chose to befriend the people who killed him in the first place. The two men were acknowledged low-lifes and ex-cons. He could not have put himself more in harms way if he had tried. Brandon, in spite of his problems with petty crime, was apparently a very sweet, though simple person who seemed unable to accept that his inner male being was not reality. The film portrays him as a romantic who stole through forgery in order to buy flowers and gifts for the people he loved. Even in the sound clips we hear of his voice, he was extremely passive. He was calm even as he discussed the rape that preceded his murder. Why didn't this gentle person see the danger? Why didn't he assume it? Perhaps Gay and transgendered people don't have to be totally paranoid to survive, but certainly they need to be at least as careful as the average African American would be when confronted with a car full of red necks.