Brokeback Mountain
Last night my partner and I watched Brokeback Mountain. We had been wanting to see it for quite some time, but just hadn’t been able to do so. We were finally able to. First impressions of the movie; it started out slow, but then progressed, the music was wonderful, and the scenery was breathtaking. I think there was way too much hype about the movie. Okay, so it was a movie about two cowboys who have a 20 year relationship that started in the early 60’s. Big deal right? I guess it was a big deal for so many people, hence why the controversy, and why it wasn’t being played in all theaters. But in watching the movie, I didn’t think it was controversial at all. The love scenes were tastefully done with the Jake and Heath. Was a little surprised to see Anne Hathaway’s breasts in the movie. I’m so used to seeing her playing “innocent” and “youthful” roles. I of course have seen Michelle Williams’ bare chest in If These Walls Could Talk 2, so that was of no surprise to me. Everything, I thought was tastefully done, which I think would have stirred up a lot of people, had it not been done that way. But even so, some people may have said it was too vulger.
I wonder how the gay community took to the movie, mainly gay men. The reason why I ask, is because of the fact that “are cowboys” part of gay culture? Not to sound like they’re NOT, but think of all the stereotypes that fall in the realms of gay culture. You rarely hear about gay cowboys. The friend of ours, that is gay, he didn’t really like the movie. He thought it was alright, but he couldn’t really get into the gay cowboy theme. But I see the gay cowboy theme, as another element to gay life. In the media, we’re used to the stereotypes, but it’s nice to lean away on such ideas.
Any one else seen the movie? If so, what was your initial reaction, and do you believe the Oscar nominations were well deserved??
-current mood-TIRED, I think I slept too much.
posted by Gaylicious© at Sunday, February 19, 2006
2 Comments:
I thought i would like Brokeback Mountain more.
Technically, it was as close to flawless. But a movie is more than the sum or its parts. Any film, if it fails to engage or touch the viewer, is a failure for that viewer, not matter what its pedigree is.
At its core Brokeback is a love story. And it's the type of love story that, if successful, will make the viewer forget about the externalities of the lovers. What it sought to do was have the audience see Jack and Ennis as two people who loved each other very much.
But it was in that crucial realization that it failed for me.
Why?
Were the leads too well known?
Was there too much hype?
Maybe.
But for me it was something more.
Or less.
It did not have the ring of truth.
Cinema is a strange art. Because it is the only truly collaborative medium, it has the strange characteristic of manifesting the energy of those who were involved in it.
And maybe the reason why the movie did not ring true for me is that Ang Lee and Larry McMurtry are not gay.
Talented and brilliant, yes.
Geniuses in their respective fields, almost certainly.
But not even a talented, brilliant genius can capture the truth of an experience if he has not lived it.
Too simplistic?
Maybe. But let me leave you with two examples.
"The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love" is not a perfect movie, by any standard. Yet in spite of that imperfection it does what Brokeback failed to do with remarkable ease, showing the two leads as people who fell in love. The ring of truth in this movie touched my soul. Maria Maggenti, the writer/director of the movie, is a lesbian.
Let's take a more recent example. The only other film that carried the truth of its convictions is "The Passion of The Christ". And little wonder that it did; as almost everyone knows by now, Mel Gibson, who directed, co-wrote and produced the movie, is not only a Catholic, but a devout traditional Catholic.
That is not to say that Brokeback Mountain is a bad movie or that it will not work for others.
It may very well, but i would not be surprised if it fails to many members of the GLBT community for the reason i have stated.
It is a valiant effort and if it is able to change the heart of even one person, then it will have done all that it set out to do and more.
I have to honestly say, with this movie being a poineer of sorts (cause lets face it we see more movies about lesbians then about gay males) to tell the forbidden tail of two gay "cowboys" no less, I loved it..absolutely loved it...I feel like the movie portrayed a truth about gay men in that time...cowboys in particular. I do believe that cowboys "back in the day" did have affairs with each other and that some did fall in love but unfortunately they were unable to be who they really wanted to be because of society, just as with all gays back then. We all hear of cowboys being a MANS, MAN...big, burly, cow-folk that were all so very masculine, but lets face it...gays have been around for years and so have gay cowboys, it's just that noone ever hears about it, until now BRAVO. This was a great love story, these two men truly LOVED each other, I only wish that they could have been able to BOTH say it to each other, but never the less it's quite obvious that they both felt it and I could feel the love between these two men in this story. I have to say that I think that it takes a wonderful, open minded actor or actress to play a part that is the opposite of their real life. They both made the characters seem very real to me. Hopefully when movies like this are more accepted in society, the roles and the passions of the characters will be able to come to life more. That's my 2 cents, but I very much respect the opinion of others and applaud those that say what they think no matter what anyone else is saying. To me, that makes them a leader and not a follower!!!
Buffy
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