Brokeback Mountain

I saw the film this past weekend. I’m not going to attempt to review it; excellent reviews can be found almost everywhere. (A highly perverse review from the Traditional Values harpies can be read here).  Suffice it to say that it’s a very good flick and well worth your time and the price of admission. I read the short story before seeing the movie, and I thought the movie was faithful to the writing -- just expanding on it a bit here and there. I'm haunted by the film and eager to see it again.

Here in Atlanta Brokeback Mountain is showing in only one Midtown theater, although it’s showing on three screens. As far as I can tell, every screening was sold out all weekend. I’ve been going to this multiplex since it opened, and this is the first time I couldn’t find a place to park anywhere in the shopping center.  It's clear that the gay community has been very eager to see this story on the screen.

I've been very interested in reading reviews about the film. I think it's a good pulse-taking about how gay men are understood in society, or at least by film critics. The review have been positive, I think, but even then some writers couldn't resist nervous jokes about "gay caballeros" or "yippee yi oh ki gay."  This struck me as less homophobic than childish and over-anxious.

So much has been made of the "on-screen sodomy" that I was take aback (OK, a little disappointed) by how demure it was, really. So much attention has been paid to the sexual aspect of the connection between the characters, I suppose because people are astonished that two presumably straight male actors would agree to kiss for the entire world to see. But the story was about love, not sex. Typical; much of society looks at same-sex love and sees only "sodomy."

Beyond anything gay, though, I was struck by how the film explored masculinity and the other relationships between men. Other than the relationship between Ennis and Jack, all the relationships between men in the film were just cold and brutal. It is a bleak look at masculinity.

I’ve spoken with several people this week that identified with Ennis, the film’s shut-down main character. They spoke about how before coming out, life felt much like the one portrayed by this sad cowboy. I felt much the same, and am spending these days appreciating the 23-year-old version of me that faced down some big fears so long ago in order to make a happier life possible.

--John Ballew
  www.bodymindsoul.org

Comments

[Francis]

I just saw the film in San Francisco and it was packed with gay men. Last weekend was sold out! It was powerful to see the film in community. I differ a bit with John. He says the movie was about love, not sex. It was about sex and love! I think for gay men it is too easy to keep sex and love seperate. How wonderful it is when we can have both! (And, isn't that what most of us really want? Why we have such a time of it speaks to what it means for us, I think) In Brokeback love with sex was wonderful as well as tortured.

I have to comment on the sodomy scene. When I saw them in action I couldn't help but wish it was that easy! And these two men were both neophytes! The scene that got me balling though was their first kiss -- tender, passionate, loving! Incredible acting for two straight men!

Many are saying Brokeback is not a gay story and I have to differ with that. Although the gay theme is a subplot, the story can not happen without it. The story is a gay story because of that.

I don't think Ennis ever comes out to himself. I think he acknowledges he loves Jack, but I don't believe he comes out to himself as gay. Maybe that is my own white, urban bias. I know in other cultures coming out to oneself is a foreign concept. But Jack does come out to himself and in their last scene together, comes out to Jack by declaring his needs, desires and frustrations!

I like to think the movie brings a fresh and hot meaning to the word "partner"! Enjoy! It is a ground breaking event!
Francis

[james manning]

My girlfriend thinks I'm a homophobe becausse I have no interest in seeing this movie. I wrote a blog that convinced her otherwise and I have escaped yet another chick flick. It may be a good movie but it seems like something for art houses.

[John Ballew]

Deciding not to see a movie doesn't make you a homophobe. But I don't think Brokeback Mountain is exactly a "chick flick." It's got a lot to say about the situation of men and how they interact with one another.

[Darrell Grizzle]

I finally saw the movie, at a theatre near my home in Cobb County, Georgia (which has a reputation for not being gay-friendly). It was showing on two screens, and the theatre was packed for a matinee showing.

The one thing abou the movie that didn't ring true to me was the initial sex scene. There was none of the awkwardness or tentativeness that comes with a first encounter. Those boys acted a little too experienced for me to really believe that was their first time.

I cried several times during the movie, especially at the end. It was a beautiful and moving love story with an ending that I won't give away here, but I should have seen it coming, given that the screenplay was written by Larry McMurtry (who was also a producer of the movie). McMurtry's novels and movies always contain some element of despair.

Above all, the movie made me deeply grateful for the times in my life when I have followed my heart. I am grateful that I live in a time and a place where it is (relatively) safe for me to do so.