Brokeback Mountain
Everyone seems to love this movie, but I have some
political problems with it
Ang Lee's latest film, "Brokeback Mountain" is
redeeming him in the eyes of many filmgoers after making the mistake of
directing the awful "Incredible Hulk" movie last year. Based on a short story by
Annie Proulx, "Brokeback Mountain" spans the years 1963 to 1983 in the lives of
two closeted gay or bisexual cowboys. Ennis and Jack (Heath Ledger and Jake
Gyllenhaal) wind up having an affair that is conducted sporadically through the
years on "fishing trips" during which no trout are ever caught. Both men soon
marry women and sire children shortly after their first encounter, but either
love or "nature" keep them colliding into each other sexually.
It's hard to call this love, because they are living what I call "Persephone Existences," wherein they are enduring long periods of hell for the few moments of heaven together. It's hard to say what would happen if Ennis had taken Jack up on the idea of living together on a ranch.
The world of Wyoming sheepherding and cowboying is not all that compatible to gay life, and certainly wasn't in 1963. It is safe for me to argue that perhaps the "romance" here is fueled by it's being of forbidden quality. I mean, who wants to see a happily settled couple, gay or straight?
Here's the spoiler, so don read any more if you don't want to know how it ends...
Twenty years into the torturned romance, Ennis's postcard to Jack is returned stamped "deceased." While Jack's widow says it was an accident roadside, her own mental flashback proves otherwise: Jack was beaten to death by a group of rednecks. So once again, we have a Hollywood film, big as can be, in which gay passion and love is punished with the death of one of the participants. MEanwhile, audiences, gay and straight, are yelling "best picture."
I especially don't understand the appeal for gay audiences to seeing gay men dying on screen and leaving theatres satisfied.
It's hard to call this love, because they are living what I call "Persephone Existences," wherein they are enduring long periods of hell for the few moments of heaven together. It's hard to say what would happen if Ennis had taken Jack up on the idea of living together on a ranch.
The world of Wyoming sheepherding and cowboying is not all that compatible to gay life, and certainly wasn't in 1963. It is safe for me to argue that perhaps the "romance" here is fueled by it's being of forbidden quality. I mean, who wants to see a happily settled couple, gay or straight?
Here's the spoiler, so don read any more if you don't want to know how it ends...
Twenty years into the torturned romance, Ennis's postcard to Jack is returned stamped "deceased." While Jack's widow says it was an accident roadside, her own mental flashback proves otherwise: Jack was beaten to death by a group of rednecks. So once again, we have a Hollywood film, big as can be, in which gay passion and love is punished with the death of one of the participants. MEanwhile, audiences, gay and straight, are yelling "best picture."
I especially don't understand the appeal for gay audiences to seeing gay men dying on screen and leaving theatres satisfied.
Posted: Mon - December 26, 2005 at 11:32 AM
Quick Links
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
Archives
XML/RSS Feed
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jun 20, 2009 07:03 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jun 20, 2009 07:03 PM