Movies can indeed enrich, encourage, uplift, dumbfound, and evoke many other powerful emotions within people through the various forms of art and mediums of communication present within them. In one way or another, “Boys Don’t Cry” evoked all the emotions described in the book within me (as well as some others) at some point in the movie. As the story as a whole was both based on a true story and dealt with a variety of real human emotions, it was an enriching experience overall. The fact that the story was unique and dealt with issues not normally portrayed as they were in movies also made the experience enriching. The movie was uplifting, mostly in the beginning, because even characters with as many problems as Brandon were able to find happiness and quality of life, if even for only a short time. The movie was encouraging on some levels again as it showed there is potential for life despite many possible negative circumstances; however, this would have been more encouraging (and likely safer for Brandon) if deception was never used as a way to make progress in life or social relationships. The unique topics and issues, especially combined with the mischief of the characters, made the story rather thrilling. It was also suspenseful and thrilling to watch Brandon’s relationship develop despite her true gender. The ending was especially thrilling, of course because it was so violent and shocking. The ending was also dumbfounding as it was so ultimately horrible, cruel, ridiculous, and sickening. While the beginning was motivating and elevating, this was not the reaction I was ultimately left with. The most lingering emotions within me after watching this film are disgust mixed with being dumbfounded. I expected the film to be about homosexual and transgender issues, discrimination, and general emotional issues related to such lifestyle. I thought health issues may eventually play a role, but I did not expect to see much, if any, violence and I definitely did not expect to see such a high level of violence. I expected that the film would basically show the emotional difficulties of being a transgender, and I expected the relationship to take a turn in some direction prior to the end. I thought the end of the movie would either result in becoming sexual or becoming hateful, as I did expect the true gender identity to be revealed. At this point I assumed either it would be a happy ending portraying the gay and transgender lifestyles in a positive light, or that it would end in a fight, serious anger, and depression as Brandon would leave yet again after being discovered. I never expected there to be multiple deaths, violent raping, and all around chaos. I viewed homosexuality and transgender issues as something commonly “under wraps,” and while I was once against these lifestyles I was never violently opposed to them. At the time of watching this movie I was accepting of such sexually unusual lifestyles, and was actually a bit sympathetic of the ways either they had become because of society or limitations from the structure of culture. While in the back of my mind I was aware of the potential for violence because of deception in these situations