Brokeback Mountain

Just announced this morning "Brokeback Mountain" leads the field. So what do you think?

Sincerely
Marc Blackwell

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Jan. 31) - The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations, among them best picture and honors for actor Heath Ledger and director Ang Lee.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Jan. 31) - The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations, among them best picture and honors for actor Heath Ledger and director Ang Lee.

Best Picture: "Brokeback Mountain,"
Actor: Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain"
Supporting Actress" Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain."
Director: Ang Lee: "Brokeback Mountain"
Adapted Screenplay: "Brokeback Mountain"
Director: Ang Lee, "Brokeback Mountain"
Original Score: "Brokeback Mountain,"

I think it's great that a "Gay Themed" movie is being recognized. But to be perfectly honest about the movie itself...I felt that the movie was lacking in it's story. I found it unfortunate that Heath Ledgers character couldn't commit to the gay relationship and then it was too late because Jake Gyllenhaals character dies.

But explaining why Heath Ledgers character couldn't commit was veg and it didn't capture the reality of the situation as I would expect it to. The 3 other people I went to go see it with were balling like babies and I couldn't muster up any tears because it didn't tug on my heart strings as I have encountered with other movies like; Torch Song Trilogy, Billy Elliot, Bent or even Beaches.

All I know is when I finish writing my life story and if anyone ever does an adaptation of my book, I am going to make sure that those key elements that are use for gripping at peoples hearts and having them feel what the characters feeling and become one with the character are all highlighted, so that the viewer will be moved and consumed with the emotions that are being portrayed.

Can you imagine a time when if you liked another guy there was absolutely no place ... no place ... no single place anywhere to kiss him unless you were behind a locked door out of everyone's sight?

I think many gay people today only know of a gay rights movement defined as establishing a right to marry, and just have no touch with the realities we faced in the sixties. (I also find this attitude about gay rights to be extremely decadent, but...)

This was a time when if there maybe was a gay bar in a city, it had a number and a light bulb over the door... never no name ... just a street number... and you were taking a severe, life-jeopardizing chance that the cops wouldn't bust in .... like in Stonewall.

Another great film that would apparently go right over the heads of people today would be the Merchant/Ivory 1988 movie Maurice, which is about British aristocrats dealing with homosexuality in the 1910s.

I appreciate your opinion, and you are one of many people who have made similar statements about Brokeback Mountain, particularly a puzzlement as to why the characters just didn't decide to embrace their love.

Go read about what happened to Oscar Wilde.

Steve

Desslock
I could not have said it any better. I knew of that time, I was that time. I grew up in the 60's and I remember you had to sneak, hide and pray no one would find out. That was then and I am so happy to see the changes that have already come about and there are still many more to go.

I joke with people and tell them when I was their age, 18 we didn't even have a closet to hide in. Today they forgot what the term really does mean.

Personally I never thought in my life time I would see the changes that have taken place and yes it is a revolution, just as the civil right movement we have our own. It's a struggle but we will get there. But lesson of the past should aslo be a learning tool for today.

Myself I appluade the fact alone that in 2006 a gay themed movie could even be nominated. My how things have changed from praying no one would find out to today where freedom is closer than one could ever imagine.

Sincerely
Marc

I've said this before about this movie, but what I love about Brokeback Mountain is exactly what Juan didn't like about it. Finally, a movie that DOESN'T hit you over the head with the sentimentality of the situation. Instead of consciously tugging at the heart strings, Ang Lee simply presents the reality of the situation. He just tells the story, in a brilliantly understated manner. This blew me away -- but not right away. The first time I saw it, I walked out thinking much the same thing: "Why didn't it blow me away?" Well, the next day, I was sitting in my cube at work when I was suddenly floored with emotion. The film's affect comes later, after you've had time to think about it and digest its weight.

No offense to Juan or anyone else who feels that the characters should have ended up together, but I'm really shocked that anyone would think that this movie should have ended happily. If you were raised in 1963 -- in MONTANA, of all places -- I seriously doubt that you would be living an openly gay life. Hell, I grew up in Gettysburg, PA, and it wasn't until I moved away that I was finally able to break free of societal constraints and come out. But that was in 1991, after the gay rights movement had gained serious momentum and movies were being made about gay people left and right. Again, no offense, but I think it's kind of insulting to the immense power and the magnitude and emotional weight of the the truth of this movie that anyone would say that it should have ended differently. This is exactly the way the movie should have ended -- like real life.

I saw the movie for a fourth time last night. I really thought I was done seeing it in the theaters after the third time, but last night there was a special AFI Awards presentation of the film at the ArcLight in Hollywood that was followed by a Q&A with screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossanna, and there was no way that I could miss out on hearing them talk about the writing of this beautifully elegiac film. There was a guy in the audience who'd seen it SEVEN times, and he was so emotional when he started talking about how the film captured his experience coming out perfectly.

Brokeback Mountain will not speak to everybody. Unfortunately, today's gay community is so informed by Will & Grace and Queer as Folk and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and spoiled by how liberal things have gotten that we've forgotten where we came from. We demand that all films with gay characters end happily (a rather immature notion, I must say) or that they show more sex (a rather insulting one), and if they don't do those two things, we accuse them of misrepresenting the gay community. But what I love about Brokeback -- and what I think signifies just how far we have come -- is that is a movie that has the power to appeal to all audiences, no matter your background or personal beliefs. It's a film that is as designed to entertain the mainstream as it is a movie that speaks to the gay experience, and that is its beauty. That is its brilliance. The best movies are always the ones that don't pander to the choir, and Brokeback -- thanx to the mesmerizing talent of the incomparable Ang Lee -- makes loneliness and despair, and indeed true love, a universal thing once and for all.

That is something that should be applauded by everyone, IMHO.

Just my $.02, though.

Juan - I hope I didn't sound like I was snapping at you. As I said...I've read many people who watch the movie feel that way. I've read gay porn stars on their blogs say they "didn't like it" (Sean Storm)... a curious cross section of people. We all have our own tastes.... maybe Torch Song Trilogy tastes good and Brokeback Mountain is just too bitter.

When I first heard about Brokeback Mountain, the discussion centered on if it would "play in Peoria" and break out from the gay audiences. Hell... it sure can play in Perioa, but can it play in West Hollywood? Manhattan? Dupont Circle?

So many people today are used to seeing gay television characters, it can be really a great reach to grasp it. So, have we now realized how far we've actually come???

Michael Lucas made a blog entry that typiifies this attitude: Criticizing the Brokeback Mountain producers for not mentioning the gay theme of the film during the GG awards. As I mentioned, the typical gay attitude is so extremely decadent, when all you expect out of a civil rights movement is for someone in a tuxedo to give you a verbal lick on national TV....

What makes Brokeback Mountain's story so powerful and elegant is that it spells out to all watching how homosexuality is as much a force of nature as the sweeping mountains of Wyoming. Compared to the effectiveness of, say, National Coming Out Day, it's it like the power of the sun to an energy-saving light bulb.

Steve

Oh Please I am not offended...I believe everyone is affected differently by the movie...And I am not saying I didn't enjoy the movie, either. I truly enjoyed the movie and appreciate the story behind it. I am going to be 36 this year and yes, I know of the pain and the pressure of not coming out and having to hide my identity. I grew up in a highly religious fanatical family who like any religious fanatics frown on homosexuality.

I think my whole purpose and complaint about my previous comments were merely based on the fact that we are a society who is becoming more and more each day, insensitive and numb to the things that occur around us. I am not saying everyone, but our society as a whole has hardened their hearts to certain issues.

I believe we have become a desensitized society and we need that emotion to hold on to. What happened to the main character as a child didn't seem to me as tragic or disturbing as it should have been portrayed. That was my only complaint about the movie.

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Juan - I hope I didn't sound like I was snapping at you. As I said...I've read many people who watch the movie feel that way. I've read gay porn stars on their blogs say they "didn't like it" (Sean Storm)... a curious cross section of people. We all have our own tastes.... maybe Torch Song Trilogy tastes good and Brokeback Mountain is just too bitter.

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See, when I watch Torch Song today, I kind of wince. It plays to virtually every stereotype ever mentioned about gay people. I value the film for its place in history, but it's hard for me to really enjoy it today as much as I did back when it first came out. Plus, it tugs at far too many heartstrings in a really ham-handed, overly melodramatic way. Leave it to a drag queen. :)

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When I first heard about Brokeback Mountain, the discussion centered on if it would "play in Peoria" and break out from the gay audiences. Hell... it sure can play in Perioa, but can it play in West Hollywood? Manhattan? Dupont Circle?

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Sure it can. I know LOTS of gay people who love this film with all their heart. It's the film the gay community has been begging for -- one that finally shows us as human beings who value love instead of as wantonly promiscouous dick hounds cruising the back alleys and back rooms for our next trick.

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So many people today are used to seeing gay television characters, it can be really a great reach to grasp it. So, have we now realized how far we've actually come???

Michael Lucas made a blog entry that typiifies this attitude: Criticizing the Brokeback Mountain producers for not mentioning the gay theme of the film during the GG awards. As I mentioned, the typical gay attitude is so extremely decadent, when all you expect out of a civil rights movement is for someone in a tuxedo to give you a verbal lick on national TV....

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People are also attacking the commercials for not being "gay enough," as if there is ANY question when Heath and Jake are embracing what the movie is about.

The irony is that I used to be the guy who got mad about silly little things like this. I used to be the in-your-face gay guy who wanted it NOW, damn it, but after I spent three years as the notoriously outspoken columnist at my college paper and received tons of hate mail and death threats, I realized the value in a little bit of stealth. Nobody wants to be hit over the head with polemics. It just makes you feel as if you are being beaten into submission. People have a negative reaction to anger and self-righteousness. When I moved back to my hometown and started writing for that paper, I decided that I was going to try something a little different. I was going to talk about all the same things, but I was going to do it with a little bit of stealth and see how people reacted. Well, wouldn't you know it, I got more positive response from that than when I was angrily crying from the rafters and rooftops.

The timing of this movie couldn't have been better. Considering the landslide defeat of all the gay marriage bills in 2004, Brokeback is just the movie that Middle America needs to see right now. It doesn't let audiences off the hook -- it shows the sex (which is a lot more than we could say for Philadelphia) -- and it asks the questions: What is it you are so worried about? What's so wrong with the way these two guys feel about each other?

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What makes Brokeback Mountain's story so powerful and elegant is that it spells out to all watching how homosexuality is as much a force of nature as the sweeping mountains of Wyoming. Compared to the effectiveness of, say, National Coming Out Day, it's it like the power of the sun to an energy-saving light bulb.

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Great analogy, and I agree with you. For gays not to understand the merits of this film simply stupefies me.

There was one guy who was posting on this blog site who said, "I was really disappointed that there was not more sex. I expected a Falcon film, and I got nothing like that." And my mouth just fell open. Is that all that gay audiences care about? Seeing guys have sex? What a sad, sad statement about our community that is. But what a sadly perceptive one at that.

People obviously have the right not to like this movie. Some think it's way too slow. I can see how a lot of people might be bored by its languid pacing. And a lot of people just don't like love stories. OK. But I would say to really ask yourself WHY you didn't like it, and see if perhaps the problem is not the movie itself, but your expectations of it. Then ask why you have those expectations in the first place. And who is it more important for this movie to speak to? The quoir (us), or a larger community of ill-informed people (Them) who can learn and grow and change from having seen it?

I hated both of them and only thought The Wedding Banquet was milding amusing.

So maybe I'm not even gay.

I did like Harry Potter.:goof: :whip:

I guess what xxxwriterdude says about the first time he saw it, he left thinking, "Why didn't it blow me away?" and that is exactly how I felt. I guess I just need to go see it again.

Oh and Jasun, You're so cute! Yes Harry Potter was pretty good for it's genre.

Well since I started this let me throw another two cents worth in. I watched Latter Days. Now did I cry, oh I am not one to keep feelings bottled up, you bet I did. I thought it was so honest and didn't skip around anything, just came right out and unfolded the story and let you be the judge. For me, it is worth not only buying, which I have but I have watched it several times with friends, straight friends that had an emotional effect on them as well. I hope we as a society aren't coming to the point that we loose the ability to get involved in something and loose touch with our feelings. But Latter Day's. Is a must see. I am sure there are others that have seen it and would love to hear any of their thoughts. This movie just left me in awe when it was over with. I would love to hear what anyone else thought of it.

Sincerely
Marc Blackwell

As I sit here looking at my screener of Brokeback Mountain sitting on my coffee table, I wonder why I'm not clammering to jam it in the DVD player one more time...

Well kids, I'm angry. Call me what you like but, I'm tired of Hollywood portraying queers as guys who always have to die... either as criminals or
murdering psychopaths or whatever. In Hollywood, we just don't seem to be able to tell a nice wholesome story about two men in love. Someone has always got to die!?!?!

If the characters are flamers, they are A OK and get to live long queenie lives but, if you're any other kinda queer, chances have it, you're just gonna DIE!

Spare me...

pretty much my attitude.

What I REALLY think would be ground breaking is a mainstream action movie where the side kick is gay, it's not a big deal, and the guy is part of the team and shoots guns and is just one of the guys.. buy he's gay.

we're still a little too thankful for the scraps thrown on the floor for us at this point, it seems.

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Originally Posted by desslock

When I first heard about Brokeback Mountain, the discussion centered on if it would "play in Peoria" and break out from the gay audiences. Hell... it sure can play in Perioa, but can it play in West Hollywood? Manhattan? Dupont Circle?

So many people today are used to seeing gay television characters, it can be really a great reach to grasp it. So, have we now realized how far we've actually come???

Michael Lucas made a blog entry that typiifies this attitude: Criticizing the Brokeback Mountain producers for not mentioning the gay theme of the film during the GG awards. As I mentioned, the typical gay attitude is so extremely decadent, when all you expect out of a civil rights movement is for someone in a tuxedo to give you a verbal lick on national TV....

What makes Brokeback Mountain's story so powerful and elegant is that it spells out to all watching how homosexuality is as much a force of nature as the sweeping mountains of Wyoming. Compared to the effectiveness of, say, National Coming Out Day, it's it like the power of the sun to an energy-saving light bulb.

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Well said.

It's unfortunate to see so many people puting their agenda on a movie like BrokeBack. Our community is made of many facets of people from transgendered, Lesbians, Drag queens to closeted married men. We all have our individual stories and ways of life.

I'm an average person. Not a scene queen. Not up to date on fashion. Just your average Joe raising his son as a single parent. And yes I happen to be Gay.

It's sad so many in our community think that being Gay is dressing a certain way or doing certain things. We are more then our sexuality and our own stereotypes. Straight people are just like us, they just have sex a different way.

I'm glad that a Gay themed movie is getting so much recognition. I think many closeted men will relate to this movie.

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Originally Posted by Jasun

pretty much my attitude.

What I REALLY think would be ground breaking is a mainstream action movie where the side kick is gay, it's not a big deal, and the guy is part of the team and shoots guns and is just one of the guys.. buy he's gay.

we're still a little too thankful for the scraps thrown on the floor for us at this point, it seems.

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Now you know, Jasun, that I must take expception with this. Brokeback Mountain is hardly a "scrap" that is being tossed to us. And this is just what I think is wrong with the gay community's attitdue toward this film. It's not just for us. It wasn't even made for us. It was never meant to be for the gay community alone. The movie is a gift that is being given to the whole world. And that is precisely what makes it an extraordinary piece of filmmaking.

Again, we gay people are just so jaded about what we expect from movies featuring gay characters that we forget that there are people out there whose exposure to such things is incredibly limited. Think about how this movie might affect them.

And again, I must point out the time period in which the movie takes place. Arguments about the film's ending are really a moot point, as far as I'm concerned. If this movie had ended with the gay guys walking hand and hand into the sunset as happy gay lovers, THAT would have made me mad, b/cuz it simply wouldn't have been realistic.

Oh, by the way, at last night's Q&A with the screenwriters, Diana Ossanna clarified the scene that depicted Jack's death. She said, point blank, "That was all in Ennis' imagination. It was indicative of who he was and his experience as a child. There's no reason not to believe that Jack died from an accident on the side of the road." So, for those who are quick to say that Jack was fag-bashed to death, you might want to rethink your interpretation, and think about why some are so quick to jump to that conclusion. Why are we always so quick to play the victim card?

At least in Jack and Ennis' case, their love for each other is a victim of their time period. What's our excuse?