- Reviews & Essays
- Brokeback Mountain: Should I?
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NOTE: This is a copy of an editorial piece I wrote for several newspapers in the Lubbock and Midland, Texas, areas, some of which I personally edit. I have not seen "Brokeback Mountain" yet, but plan to review it if I do. I apologize if any comments about other gay-themed films or plays offend people, but I am stating my opinion on how best to approach these works.
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I travel to Midland frequently because my girlfriend lives there. She and I don't take in most of the activities there, but I still enjoy picking up the local newspaper and reading things I don't find in Lubbock.
One such thing is a movie-review column, written by somebody named Tom Laney, which assesses motion pictures based on plusses for entertainment value and minuses for portions likely to offend parents and children. I don't know if Mr. Laney's column is exclusive to Midland, or whether he's syndicated (the Midland paper is part of the Hearst chain).
At any rate, I liked his idea of assessing a film as age-appropriate separate from its merits, and my reviews thus far have followed his formula without his numerical ratings.
Then came "Brokeback Mountain." When I picked up the paper and looked at Mr. Laney's assessment of that film, I was very troubled. He devoted 21 column-inches – one-sixth of a page – to a single paragraph on the film. That violates some readability rules in printed text, as any blogger will tell you. But what disturbed me more was how he steadily changed his tone during that one paragraph, at first praising the film for its cinematography and performances and then getting steadily more agitated over the depiction of homosexuality. By the end of that paragraph, he was SCREAMING IN CAPITAL LETTERS.
Now, I'm a guy who shut off a video of the movie comedy "In and Out" after 37 minutes because the satire was lost on me and the notion of a closeted gay guy "coming out" for laughs just offended me. On the other hand, I watched all 227 minutes of "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches," a gay-themed stage play, and will go to "Angels in America: Perestroika," which runs something like 257 minutes, this spring. I despised "Millennium Approaches" for its politics and its rub-your-nose-in-it approach (along with having a TERRIBLE time keeping track of the characters – about 30 split among three supporting actors), but I wanted to see a serious play on the issue.
So ... should I go see "Brokeback Mountain?" If I do, I'll review it in a later paper. I know it's a strong contender for the Academy Award for Best Picture, maybe several other awards. I know the cinematography is supposed to be stunning. I know the acting is supposed to be superb.
But ... I'm far from thrilled with the idea of men falling in love with one another and having gay sex on the open range (reportedly, we see some of the action). I'm not thrilled with the idea that these guys get married to women and father children, and STILL sneak around on their wives, meeting each other on "fishing trips." (The wives eventually figure it out.) If I do see the movie, I'll almost certainly tell parents to respect the R rating and don't let kids under 18 go see it at all.
But I cannot and will not tell people to protest this movie. I was a graduate student in theater when "Millennium Approaches" was staged by the Texas Tech University Theater Department. I sat in on a presentation by some guy from North Carolina urging the department to "meet fire with brimstone" – to counter protests with nasty stuff about the protestors. I said to myself: "You TWIT. This is LUBBOCK, TEXAS. We DON'T launch organized protests here. Protests just give the other guy free publicity and unwarranted sympathy from so-called persecution."
Trying to bully people into denouncing a movie/TV show/record/art exhibit doesn't work here. Maybe that makes this part of Texas good.
If you're at all averse to "Brokeback Mountain'"s themes, just save your money and see something else. If you want to see it because it addresses important issues, then consider seeing it. But DON'T slam it the way Mr. Laney did and expect to profit. You won't. Find some other way to show you feel love should be between men and women (without cheating), and promote that positively. You'll feel a lot better.
- COMMENTS
warrenbmeabout 18 years agoDear readers,
I had the privilege of watching this movie, not at the cinema.May I say, no I will say, that right from the outset that I'm glad I didn't pay any money to see this movie. Whilst I understand that the director Ang Lee is minimalist in his approach to some movies, there were a few, acutally many things I didn't enjoy about this movie.
There was supposed to be this relationship between two guys - apart from the obvious scenes, there was little volume and depth to the relationship. There were struggles, as there are in most movies about affairs of the heart yet this didn't have any depth.
Heath Ledger's diction and verbalisation of the words on the page was horrendous! I had to really concentrate on trying to listen to what Heath was saying, in fact I think it was mumbled most of the time. This certainly detracted from the film, several times I had to rewind the scene just so I could decipher his words. How he was nominated for an Academy Award is beyond me. Must be the industry....
This film was supposedly set in "Cold War" times. Well having not lived in the USA, the only way I could get that feeling was the opening scene's title, giving the location and name and date - apart from that I don't think it impacted that heavily on the film. If it had been set in an urban location then it may have had more impact yet for me, some aspects of rural/semi-rural life haven't changed that much.
My recommendation is NOT to see it, waste your money elsewhere, or hire the dvd when you can split the costs among friends, iif they want to see it also.
Happy viewing.
Anonymousabout 18 years agothat most people go see the types of movies they like. If this was a movie celebrating war and you hate war, why would you possibly want to go see it? Just because it won an award, or because someone told you to go see it! Or vice versa with a recent anti-war movie I have no plans to watch.
I have no interest in seeing this movie for the same reason I don't read Gay stories: It's not that I'm either for or against them, they are just outside my realm of life and interests (damn, you can't be interested in everything and you can't watch every movie). The grade school I went to had no Jewish families and one Catholic family. Did that mean I hated Jews and Catholics? No, I married a Catholic and have the highest regard for both the Jewish faith and culture! It's just that, at that time, they had nothing to do with my life.
I have met very, very few people that went to see a movie because it won an award. Those are the same people that buy toothpaste based on a TV ad. I prefer to make my own chilces and not have others make them for me!
I do understand that it is well made, well acted and has stunningly beautiful photography! Great!
Regards, DJ
Anonymousabout 18 years agoto "See it":
If the best argument provided is to see the film because of how "our gay and lesbian citizens" are feeling, then that is proof that the film is nominated (and awarded) not because of its value, but because of its social statement. Silly me, I thought that the idea behind the Academy Awards was to celebrate the finest pieces of filmwork to come out within the past year. If it's all about social statements, if it's all about some group's feelings, then why in the heck are the rest of the American public expected to bow down at the feet of the Hollywood elites, just because they say so??!
If the gay and lesbian citizens want to make a film which makes them feel better about themselves, then let them pool their money and go for it! But there is no reason for the other 95% of the people to throw money at it and bow down and render homage to the film. Last time I checked, the movie industry was in business to make a profit. If they can make a profit with the likes of "Brokeback Mountain", then by golly, they should do it! But if it doesn't sell to the masses, then why in the heck does it warrant all these pretty awards?
If I sit in my workshop and make the finest-ever widgets, but nobody wants to buy widgets anymore, do I deserve accolades, awards, and money? No, and that's now how the free marketplace works.
If the Hollywood moguls want to make movies with a gay/lesbian agenda, then they had better be expecting to make a profit on that 5% of the population. Either that, or be willing to donate to that fringe out of their own pockets.
Very simply: If it's not a movie good enough to entertain me, why is it that I "should" go see it?
As to the "road to equality" issue, gays and lesbians are operating under the same rules as are all the rest of us. If the objective is to change the rules to favor the minority, then write the oppropriate legislators. If enough people get on that bandwagon, then it will happen. But if the position is not popular enough to get that "enough people" vote, it won't. But then, that's the definition of a democracy, isn't it?
The "virtual visit" has already been had. I heard about it, I know the reviews, I know the subject material. I have no desire to see it. Similarly, I dodge teenage-slasher films and sci-fi horror films. Why? Same reason. I don't like the content. Is there a reason I "should" go see such films, something about seeing that perspective? No, I don't think so. And certainly, not unless someone else is going to buy the ticket and also pay me for my time.
And gee, we just returned to my earlier point. If the film can't make a profit at the box office, then it would appear that the population at large has voted with its dollars.
-- KVK
Anonymousabout 18 years agoI loved the film and hope Hollywood churns out more films like it. I find it to be just as good as The Hours from a few years back. Long overdue in my view. Now on to the Oscars.
Anonymousabout 18 years agoSee it, if only to introduce yourself to some possible feelings our gay and lesbian citizens are experiencing right now. On the road to equality, a virtual visit is worth the price of a ticket to an Academy nominee.
