Responsibility...
Responsibility…we as a nation, and/or generation, have evolved into an entity that rejects and continually pawns accountability onto someone or something else, but in fear of what? A ruined reputation, or financial, civil and criminal repercussions? But with that said, it would be nice if more people started standing behind their decisions, actions and work, especially if creating a heated social production for society to intake and react to. Responsibility should weigh on the minds of everyone in any situation.
In the case of Boys Don’t Cry, Pierce took liberties to ensure that the message, emotion and power of this horrific event was portrayed and felt by her audience. In that sense, I feel that Pierce was aware of the “responsibility� she took on to give Brandon and his story agency, even if it wasn’t told verbatim. Some of the other posts to this topic touched on the fact that Pierce left out a third victim’s story, and in that sense she somehow didn’t live up to the accountability she signed up for. Yet, if Pierce set out to tell the story of Brandon Teena and felt that the third victim confused that story or hindered the sympathy conjured or ground gained for the transgendered community, as a filmmaker/director she should be granted that right. Leaving out the third victim doesn’t make what happened to Brandon any less true.