Queer Classics: Boy Meets Girl

The 2014 film gives trans people a romantic happy ending that mainstream film too often denies them.

Anyone who’s read even one of my film commentaries knows that I’m a sucker for a good romance. There’s just something about the idea of two people getting together that appeals to my Piscean nature, and it’s very rare that I don’t find myself enjoying a romantic film, assuming that it’s told at least reasonably well.

And it’s also no secret that, for the queer community, seeing those stories brought to life in a convincing way on the big screen is something of a rarity. It’s even more rare for romantic trans stories to be told, and it’s even rarer for these things to take place in a location like Appalachia. And yet, that’s exactly what we get with Boy Meets Girl, an absolutely charming little gem of a film.

For those who haven’t seen it, the film focuses on Ricky, a young trans woman living in Kentucky. At the time that it begins, her most important relationships are with her father and her younger brother, as well as with her best friend Robby. However, the arrival of the beautiful Francesca throws Ricky’s life into chaos as she begins to develop feelings for her new friend (who, it turns out, is engaged to a local military man named David, with whom, oddly enough, Ricky…