美国国家公共电台 NPR 20 Years Later, 'Boys Don't Cry' Still Inspires Admiration And Debate

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

When "Boys Don't Cry" opened 20 years ago, it introduced moviegoers to a transgender hero, a character that simply was not represented on-screen at the time. The independent film became a box-office hit, and it earned its star, Hilary Swank, an Oscar. It was based on the true story of Brandon Teena, who was brutally² raped³ and murdered because of who he was. Allyson McCabe reports on the legacy⁴ of "Boys Don't Cry."

ALLYSON MCCABE, BYLINE⁵: Today, trans actors appear on such popular TV shows as "Orange Is The New Black," "Good Girls" and "Grey's Anatomy⁶." Trans directors and writers work behind the scenes on "Transparent⁷" and "Pose." But when Riki Wilchins began transitioning in the late 1970s, there was very little trans visibility, even in big cities.

RIKI WILCHINS: Trans people were like unicorns⁸. No one had ever actually seen one in the wild. And there really was no one to talk to. The term transgender wasn't even in use.

MCCABE: In the early 1990s, Wilchins co-founded Transexual Menace, one of the first transgender rights organizations. And one of its first goals was to document anti-trans murders, which, if they were reported at all, were often coded.

WILCHINS: When trans people were killed, the only way we would find out about it is there'd be, you know, four paragraphs in the back of the local paper, you know - man found wearing articles of women's clothing murdered in alley⁹. And that meant that a transgender woman had been violently murdered, but you had to kind of read backwards¹⁰.

MCCABE: Brandon Teena's murder was atypical. It garnered¹¹ national headlines. Two men were put on trial, and members of Transexual Menace and their allies planned a vigil outside the Falls City, Neb., courthouse.

KIMBERLY PEIRCE: We were standing¹² in front of the court building, and guys would go in their big truck and scream terrible things at us and throw things. And certainly, us being there, you know, was catalyzing¹³ some kind of anger. And that was scary.

MCCABE: Kimberly Peirce had hitched¹⁴ a ride to Falls City with Riki Wilchins and members of Transexual Menace. At the time, she was a graduate film student at Columbia and decided¹⁵ to make her thesis film about Brandon Teena after reading about him in the Village Voice.

PEIRCE: I was coming at it from a person who was discovering my own genderqueerness and getting to know trans people and saying, help me tell this story the way that it would be the most authentic¹⁶. And I wanted to tell his story as a movie so that other people could empathize with him and love him. And I wanted to bring him to life in such a way that people would not be compelled to treat him unfairly, but instead treat him with love and humanity.

MCCABE: The thesis evolved into a full-length feature film, and over the next four years, Peirce immersed herself in Brandon Teena's world, returning to Falls City to interview his girlfriend and other townspeople. When it was time to cast the film, hundreds of actors auditioned¹⁷. Peirce says she started with the trans community but says trans actors were harder to find than they are today. The part went to a relatively¹⁸ unknown cisgender actress, Hilary Swank.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BOYS DON'T CRY")

HILARY SWANK: (As Brandon Teena) Look. I never been on a highway or the Grand Canyon¹⁹ or any place like that. Until I came here, I never even been out of Lincoln. I never even met my dad.

MCCABE: "Boys Don't Cry" opened on October 22, 1999, on 25 screens, then spread to hundreds. It became a runaway²⁰ indie hit that drew rave²¹ reviews for its empathetic portrait of a young person on a quest for love and acceptance. When Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal²² of Brandon Teena, she used her acceptance speech to honor his courage.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SWANK: To remind us to always be ourselves, to follow our hearts, to not conform. I pray for the day when we not only accept our differences, but we actually celebrate our diversity.

MCCABE: "Boys Don't Cry" was a landmark²³, says Nick Adams, director of transgender representation for the media watchdog group GLAAD. But today, he says, we expect trans roles to be played by trans actors, like "Orange Is the New Black's" Laverne Cox.

NICK ADAMS: Prior to "Orange Is The New Black," almost every transgender character was portrayed²⁴ by a cisgender actor, and with transgender women, men playing them, which only reinforced in people's minds that transgender women are not women, but just men in dresses.

MCCABE: That awareness²⁵ and the violence in the film has brought something of a backlash against "Boys Don't Cry." But Riki Wilchins says Kimberly Peirce doesn't deserve that.

WILCHINS: Who is authorized²⁶ to tell what story shifts over time? It may not be the way we would do it if we did the story again, but it's not fair to go back and apply standards 20 years later that didn't exist back then. We needed that story told, and she did a phenomenal job and put out a phenomenal movie. And it legitimated²⁷ and made possible all these other representations that we've had since.

MCCABE: Riki Wilchins says visibility matters, but it hasn't stopped the violence. According to the most current figures, at least 19 trans people have been murdered so far this year. Nevertheless, Wilchins is encouraged by other recent studies that indicate binary²⁸ definitions of gender¹ have less meaning for the next generation.

For NPR News, I'm Allyson McCabe.

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

3 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

4 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 unicorns   

n.（传说中身体似马的）独角兽( unicorn的名词复数 )；一角鲸；独角兽标记

参考例句：

• Unicorns are legendary beasts. 独角兽是传说里的野兽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Assemble50 Elder Druids, 30 Silver Unicorns and10 Green Dragons do defend it. 募集50个德鲁伊长老，30只银色独角兽和10条绿龙用于防御。 来自互联网

9 alley   

n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路

参考例句：

• We live in the same alley.我们住在同一条小巷里。
• The blind alley ended in a brick wall.这条死胡同的尽头是砖墙。

10 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

11 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

12 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

13 catalyzing   

v.催化，促进( catalyze的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Enzymes catalyzing this reaction have been detected in plant extracts. 并在植物提取液中已经测出催化这个反应的酶系统。 来自辞典例句
• Transitional metals (Fe3+) play an extremely important role in catalyzing CLA oxidation. 变价金属离子(Fe~(3+))能够促进共轭亚油酸氧化。 来自互联网

14 hitched   

（免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上

参考例句：

• They hitched a ride in a truck. 他们搭乘了一辆路过的货车。
• We hitched a ride in a truck yesterday. 我们昨天顺便搭乘了一辆卡车。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

17 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

18 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

19 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

20 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

21 rave   

vi.胡言乱语；热衷谈论；n.热情赞扬

参考例句：

• The drunkard began to rave again.这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
• Now I understand why readers rave about this book.我现明白读者为何对这本书赞不绝口了。

22 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

23 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

24 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

25 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

26 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

27 legitimated   

v.合情合理的( legitimate的过去式和过去分词 )；合法的；法律认可的；法定的

参考例句：

• The judge legitimated the use of the gun as evidence. 那位法官使用枪支作为证据合法化。 来自辞典例句
• He legitimated his accession to the estate. 他使他的承继产业合法化。 来自辞典例句

28 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。