08 January 2006

That gay cowboy movie

The wife is after me to add "Brokeback Mountain" to our Netflix list. I am still on the fence about it. While I am certainly open-minded and supportive of our gay brothers and sisters, I am somewhat suspicious about the motives of those film critics that are falling all over themselves praising this movie. Is it really that good, or is it political correctness run amok? Gene Shalit (not someone whose opinion I especially value, BTW) wrote a less-than-favorable review and has been excoriated by, among others, GLAAD. Perhaps other critics fear being labeled homophobic if they don't heap praise on the film. Admittedly, I have not read or heard his actual review, and from the sounds of it, he was complaining about the behavior of the characters in the movie, not the filmmaking itself.

The other issue I have is with the subject itself. All the talk (hype, that is) centers on the gay issue. This makes me think it's all about tittilation. Would this movie have generated the same buzz if it centered on a hetrosexual couple's lives? Or would it just be another routine soap opera set among some beautiful western surroundings? It seems to me that we should be beyond using the topic of homosexuality as a means to sell tickets. Gay people are just that-- people, and it's demeaning to them when Hollywood sensationalizes their sexuality just so Joe Sixpack and Sally Boondocks can titter uncomfortably in the theater or their living rooms.

My concerns aside, I probably will put it on the list. The assholes on Faux News and their ilk have been foaming at the mouth in their rush to condemn it (mostly sight unseen I'd guess), and maybe that's a good enough reason to see it!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Inything we can do to go against the tide of Faux news, we should be doing. And if that means seeing a movie about gay cowboys, I say Round 'er up and let's just see what all the commotion is about.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, inything.

Whack Patti said...

I think the true message of the movie is about what happens when everything is repressed and not talked about. I think it's about how denying our authentic self is hurtful all around. I think the gay aspect of the movie is just a sidebar. I guess I should go see it though before commenting on it. I think it probably really is that good.
See ya tonight!

Anonymous said...

Who would you rather make love to: Jake or Heath?

Griz said...

When all is said and done, it's just a movie about how men repress their feelings...especially cowboys...and the ways they deal with it. Of course, it was set in the sixties and seventies when just looking cross-eyed at another man would get you beat up. I guess that still happens in Texas, doesn't it? Hmm...does that say anything about our current president and his father and the direction the country is going? You be the judge...and just see the freaking movie and quit talking about it...I'm so done with it.

Whack Patti said...

"Are you a real cowboy?"

-Debra Winger to John Travolta in "Urban Cowboy"

BTW, I love cowboys!