BOYS DON'T CRY: AN ERIKSONIAN VIEW

The purpose of this paper is to examine the movie, "Boys Don't Cry" from the standpoint of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. To this end, the paper first presents a brief synopsis of the movie followed by an analysis and interpretation of its main character and events using the basic conceptual framework of personality and psychosocial development formulated by Erik Erikson. The paper ends with a summary and conclusionary statement.

Based on a true -life character, this movie presents a tale of a girl on the border between adolescence and young adulthood who is living a double life. The main character, Teena Brandon, is a young girl whose efforts to suppress her gender allowed her to successfully pass as a boy (Brandon Teena) in a small middle American town. As a boy, Teena was well liked by women and bonded with a group of male friends. However, when the secret is found out, the life that Teena so desperately wanted to live comes to a brutal and horrific end in rape and murder. In some ways this story is much like the Greek classics (e.g., Oedipus Rex) in which a flawed hero has a friend who turns violent, and there exists some inability on the part of the hero's part to make those choices that allow escape from a bloody destiny.

Eriksonian Analysis and Interpretation

In psychological/psychiatric terms, it can be noted that examination of the behavior of Teena Brandon would probably

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developmental stage is one in which a child's energies are directed toward physical development and skills such as walking, grasping, etc. Control is learned but if it is poorly taught, the child may develop deep and neurotic feelings of shame and doubt. However, pivotal to Erikson's (1993, 1994) views of human personality development is the stage that takes place between 12 and 19 years. The psychosocial crisis to be resolved here is that of identity vs. identity role confusion. According to Erikson (1994) it is at this stage that the adolescent/young adult seeks to achieve a sense of identity in multiple areas, e.g., identity in terms of occupation, politics, religion, and sex roles. Erikson conceptualized identity as a persistent sameness within oneself, noting that establishing identity involves a synthesis of childhood self-images with present self-evaluation and future ideals Relationships to the external world are also an integral part of this process. During the stage of identity development, if the crisis is not resolved, a person is left feeling unable to commit to making choices based on self-definition. In terms of sex roles, Teena Brandon obviously has a sense of her personal identity as masculine, and to th

Category: Psychology - B