Interview with Brandon Teena

Mr. Brandon, how do you feel about how society is currently treating trans and other LGBTQ+ youth?

I think that we’ve definitely grown. There is more of an understanding in the general public for those who are like me and are conflicted with who they are and what they identify as. It’s really heartwarming to see a bigger acceptance from everyday people. However, there are still many challenges and hate being spread. I believe that currently many states are passing bills that are harmful to trans people, especially kids. 

So you believe that there is still a long way to go?

Absolutely. There is still so much hate and violence targeted towards those like me all because of their identity. We won’t be accepted by everyone, I know that, but there should still be laws and things to protect us. We’re still people at the end of the day. People with feelings and lives. 

You’ve experienced this hate and violence yourself, right?

Unfortunately, yes. Back when I was younger, it was harder to explain to people how I felt. I would try so hard to hide my femininity. I am a man, just with the wrong parts. I was born, well, what’s now called intersex, where I was born with both sets of genitals. And I was treated like some sort of monster. To them I wasn’t human. The only ones who really supported me at the time were my cousin, who I lived with for a short while, and my partner, Lana. In fact, it was her own friends and family that rejected me and did all those horrible things, but she never did. 

Did Lana accept you for who you are?

Yes. She didn’t care about what I was or what gender I was. She loved me for who I was and I thank her for that. It felt nice to be cared about by someone who knew the truth. Someone I didn’t have to hide from. She became everything to me. We still live together now and I’m a lucky man to have someone like her stick by me all these years. 

You stated something before about the anti-trans bills being passed in some states. What are your opinions on that?

Well, they’re just awful. They were made by a lack of empathy and understanding. See, throughout my whole life one question hasn’t been answered for me. Why do they hate us so much? What did we ever do to them? We’ve been built on these standards of men will be men and women will be women, I don’t think one little change would hurt anybody. All they’ve done is kill us and they’re still killing us! We have to suffer from death threats and threats of violence at such a young age that we end up killing ourselves! We may be more accepted by friends and family but not by the country itself. In my own state of Tennessee they’re passing these bills.  

Do you feel safe living in Tennessee now?

No I don’t. They’ve banned health treatment for trans youth and for gender surgeries. These are children! Children that you are subjecting to hate by their own government that’s supposed to protect them! I feel terrible for them! I know what it was like to be fought and discriminated against and I understand the pain that they are going through. I’m glad to see that they are standing up for themselves and protesting though. I believe that it’s very brave of them, especially at a young age. 

They’ve also passed bills banning drag shows in public spaces in Tennessee due to them being “harmful to minors”. 

I don’t believe drag shows are inappropriate at all. I’ve seen many drag shows be friendly to kids when they know that they’re there. Drag is some of these people’s jobs and it's being taken away from them. It’s a passion, y’know. A way to express yourself. 

It’s sad what’s happening.

Yes, it certainly is. 

I know you’ve said you’ve experienced hate crimes and such in your younger days, do you still have them now?

I’ve been threatened a few times. You start to just become numb to it, y’know (Laughs). They start to get a bit redundant after a while. Sometimes I feel sorry for them. They have nothing better to do with their lives so they come after me and mine. I’ve experienced a lot of hate during this time, but also a lot of love, too. Love that I wouldn’t get from the majority back then. That’s why I feel like we’ve gotten better despite all the setbacks. Compared to the 90s, there’s a lot more love going around. And I’m very lucky and glad that I’ve been able to live to see it. It makes me believe that there really is good in people. That we can do something if we really want to.   

What do you think should be done in order to keep this love going around?

I believe that we should see transgender as a normal way of life. It’s something that can happen and we should accept that. We should have a world where people shouldn’t be afraid to express themselves and should have the resources to find their identity and gender. I also think that more teaching of the subject should be involved. Kids aren’t stupid. They know when something feels wrong with them. They know that they should be allowed to fix it.

Do you have anything you would like to say to those who are having trouble with gender identity or their identity in general that may be listening or reading this?

Don’t give up. Not everyone out there will accept you for who you are, but I guarantee that there is someone who will. You just have to put in the effort to find them, or maybe they’ll find you. Life is funny like that. Things will get better. Know that there are people fighting for you. And if you can’t seem to find someone who will accept you for who you are, know that I accept you. And I will fight for you. 

“Boys Don't Cry (1999 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Don%27t_Cry_(1999_film)#:~:text=Background,-Further%20information%3A%20Brandon&text=Brandon%20Teena%20was%20a%20trans,1993%2C%20when%20he%20was%2021. 

Brown, Melissa. “Gov. Bill Lee Signs Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors, Drag Restrictions into Law.” The Tennessean, Nashville Tennessean, 3 Mar. 2023, www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/02/tennessee-governor-bill-lee-signs-anti-trans-bill-drag-restrictions-into-law/69937336007/. 

“Film Interviews.” The Talks, https://the-talks.com/interviews/film/actor/. 

The Black Panther

Many of the main characters from the movies we watched were interesting, but I chose T’Challa from Black Panther to write about. His character is very interesting and he has a lot going on, balancing the responsibilities of being a king and a superhero. His responsibilities of being king were thrust upon him quickly from the untimely death of his father. Throughout the film he is constantly faced with challenges to his land, his throne, and his power. However, he is not a one man show and has powerful allies to fall back on, such as Okoye, his bodyguard, and his little sister Shuri, who is his tech support.

According to Marvel.com, “As the king of the African nation of Wakanda, T’Challa protects his people as the latest in a legacy line of Black Panther warriors'' (Marvel.com). T’Challa is the major protagonist and hero of the film. He grew up in Wakanda surrounded by royalty continuously being prepped as heir to the throne. He is constantly told of Wakanda’s isolation from the world and continues that isolation when he becomes king. This was to protect their secret, technologically advanced society and their most important resource, vibranium.

With his taking of the throne, he also takes the responsibility of being the Black Panther, a warrior and protector of Wakanda. The Black Panther drinks from an herb which gives them the strength and instincts of a panther and dawns a suit made from vibranium making it bulletproof and it even has vibranium claws that retract into the gloves. With his sister’s, Shuri’s, modifications, it can absorb and store kinetic energy which it can then redistribute to increase the strength of his attack or release it in an energy blast. The suit is also stored in T’Challa’s necklace and can be called on whenever. Along with the powers of the herb and his hand-to-hand combat skills, he is a very strong fighter and not an easy opponent.

In terms of personality, T’Challa puts on a very regal and dignified face. He shows a sense of humor with those who are close with him, but then puts on that calm demeanor when with others. He is definitely a family man, with Marvel.com stating, “Besides his devotion to his people, T’Challa values family above all else and welcomes his relatives to be close to him to lend support and wisdom” (Marvel.com).He values his country and family above all else. He is disciplined and tries to live up to his father. According to Gareth Lewis from writeups.org, “In a way he has two masks. His real face rarely displaying his true self, so is really as much a mask as the Panther face. He will use whichever is best suited for achieving his current goals.” (Lewis, Gareth). Although he is talking about the comic version of T’Challa, I believe that this can also apply to the movie version of him as well. We can see how he switches back and forth. When he is with Shuri, his sense of humor shows and he is very warm with her. With people outside of Wakanda, such as Everett Ross, he is very cold and untrusting. He wants to keep his regal demeanor and look responsible and disciplined, as a king should be.

However, we do see growth throughout his journey in the film. In the beginning, he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps; live in isolation from the world and only protect your people. Wakanda’s purpose was to keep vibranium and its true identity out of the hands of outsiders. This leads him in the pursuit of Klaw, a man who’s been selling and stealing vibranium for years. T’Challa is put in a constant chase of a man who his father failed to capture, another responsibility that was thrown onto T’Challa from him. Speaking of responsibilities, there is also Killmonger who turns out to be T’Challa’s cousin, another one of his father’s problems that he now has to deal with. He learns of his father’s killing of his uncle and this horrifies him, leading him to believe that his father was not who he thought he was. This was the first push for T’Challa’s change of character. There was also Nakia’s, his ex’s, push for opening the country, saying that their resources could benefit other people like them around the world. He realizes that this constant isolation was just running away from problems that could have been easily resolved if they had just opened up. The past kings were fearful of outside forces and what they would do with vibranium if they got their hands on it. They created their own demons. T’Challa wants to help people that can’t help themselves and realizes that they have the technology and resources to do so, even if it opens his country to new threats. By opening up his country, he opens himself up in a way as well. He doesn’t have to be this regal, closed minded king anymore. Instead, he can open himself up and still focus and protect his people while helping those who are like him outside of Wakanda.

In conclusion, T’Challa’s character is all about change and growth. He goes through changes of his thinking which leads to his growth in character. He faces the challenges that were left to him by his father and comes to a new way of understanding what it means to be a king and a hero. It is also about breaking free from tradition. He opens up and doesn’t wear a mask. He is the Black Panther, but the Black Panther is not him if you get what I’m saying. He is not his father and will not be him. He discovers his own path and realizes that he can go wherever he wants. He can both protect his people and the people outside as well.

“Black Panther (T'Challa) on Screen Powers, Enemies, History: Marvel.” Marvel Entertainment, https://www.marvel.com/characters/black-panther-t-challa/on-screen.

Worgmeister. “Black Panther - Marvel Comics - T'Challa - Avengers - C. Priest.” Writeups.org, 29 May 2022, https://www.writeups.org/black-panther-avengers-tchalla-marvel-comics-priest/.

Introduction

Hello! My name is Adriana. My family comes from Italy and England. My name comes from Latin origin meaning “from Hadria." If I could change my name to a fictional character, I would change it to be Ellie from The Last of Us. I've been told that I look like her and I think she is a strong character.

I don't remember much from my high school years. I believe the first day was more of an orientation and I had a lot of people I knew from my previous school there with me. The last day of high school we celebrated on the bus ride home. I think my favorite moment from high school was when I did our spring musical during my sophomore year. It got me to come out of my shell and be on stage. My least favorite moment I honestly don't remember. If I could do high school all over again, I would want to go in with more confidence.

I am a Liberal Arts major. I chose this major because I don't know what I'm going to do in the future. I am interested in animation though. I've loved animation since I was younger and found a great interest in it. It's fun to do but also stressful, however it gives me the chance to get creative.

I used to play sports when I was younger. I played a lot of basketball in elementary and middle school and I played soccer and track and field in high school. I like to draw and animate now as a hobby. I got into drawing when I was younger when me and my family would go to church. I have Tourette's syndrome and I had a lot of vocal tics. So in order for me to stay quiet during church, I would draw since I wouldn't tic while I drew. I found out that I could draw something almost perfectly when looking at a picture of it, and I drew a lot of Pokémon back then. I still draw them now.

The last movie I watched was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. I definitely recommend this movie even if you don't like animation. The story telling, art style, and character design is amazing and is well worth the watch. It is defiantly one of my favorite movies, but my all time favorite movie is probably Into the Spiderverse. I am a sucker for art styles and this one was just so pleasing to look at. The comic book look and how they use colors is just...wow. My least favorite movie would probably be Frozen 2. It was way too over hyped and was very predictable, although the music was good.

The last thing I created was a sketch of the wolf from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Its one of the best character designs I've seen in a while since its so simple yet so menacing.

If tomorrow was my last day on Earth, I would want my last meal to be waffles. I just like waffles. Better than pancakes and I will fight you on that.