First and foremost the film is very little about Gender or trans issues because when it was made, these things were certainly not fucking mainstream.
What it mostly was about was the contrast of culture between the Catholic community of Northern Ireland, with the hotbed of diversity and mixing in London.
Dil, the homosexual male transvestite character, is introduced to Fergus, played by Steven Rea, who has no idea that Dil is male or a transvestite, due to the reality that Catholic upbringings frequently shelter people from such things.
Everything about Fergus’s values are challenged.
The humanization of the black British soldier he is expected to kill.
Falling in love with a man, a man certainly outside of his realms of experience and perception.
The personal torment over is he really fighting for the right side, or are the hated British not really that much different to him?
The film of course was designed to shock and push boundaries.
But the main boundary it wanted to push, like “Harry’s Game” was to explore the psychological effects of being a PIRA volunteer.
He is a guerrilla fighter, face to face with a legitimate soldier. Learning how his values are not to far from the a legitimate soldier and how they engage and respect the rule of warfare and rules of engagement within NI.
In turn learning the challenges of being a homosexual soldier at the time, people forget that being gay was illegal in the British army at the time, so while it is not fully explored, it is strongly implied that this is why Dil lives so committed as a woman.
Dil himself is portrayed in a very stark and clear light, this is a deeply committed transvestite, who is treated as a woman thoroughly and even by men who are aware that he is not really a woman.
The killing of Miranda Richardson’s character is indeed revenge over the boyfriend in Belfast and to protect and in his hope, to free Fergus from his commitment to the IRA.
This isn’t the act of an insane murderous troon, but of someone hurt and angry, but also flung into a desperate situation they don’t fully understand, with probably the most dangerous people they will ever encounter.
Inadvertently Dil is successful in freeing Ferguson to a certain extent, because Fergus is willing to take the blame for the murder.
The future for them is uncertain, but seems optimistic as the film closes with Dil visiting Fergus in prison.
This is the least transphobic in that regard film of its fucking generation and anyone who says different deserves a fucking nail bomb out of lack of respect for those who suffered in NI as a result.
Alexandra Gonzenbach Perkins wrote in
Representing Queer and Transgender Identity that mainstream representation of transgender identity at the turn of the 21st century was limited, observing that "the representations that did exist tended to pathologize transgender people as mentally unstable". Perkins said
Ace Ventura, along with
The Crying Game, depicted "transgender characters as murderous villains".
This fucking know it all deserves to have their hands nailed to a packing crate, both kneecaps done and “nonce” cut into their forehead.
That way anyone who encounters them will know they are a dirty pedo who fell foul of the RA.
This kind of vigilante justice was usually sanctioned across the paramilitary organizations and even the RUC and British army turned a blind eye.
Perkins hasn't watched "The Crying Game", Dil isn't a villain.
See above
Secret Gamer Grrl once
wrote an essay about
The Crying Game being a bad movie and the worst kind of transphobia, based on what he thought the movie
might be about. He didn't even read a Wikipedia summary.
Not wanting Miranda Richardson to kill two of your boyfriends in a row is a pretty reasonable motivation, and as an American I'd call it self-defense.
Secret Gamer girl deserves that and necklacing.
It’s been years since I saw it, so I’m relying on the Wikipedia synopsis, but if Miranda was overpowered and then shot then self-defence is off the table even in the US, no? Not that one blames her for doing it. On top of that, Dil is a talented, forgiving and loving person, so hardly a villain. But is she trans?
Wikipedia reveals Neil Jordan’s view on his creation: „The character was a transvestite and a gay man, basically... She's not a transsexual”. Bloody TRAs, erasing transvestites…
TRAs are fucking stupid. And inflammatory.