Posted on 12/28/2005 8:48:09 AM PST by presidio9
In case you've been hunkered down on Mount Kenya, "Brokeback Mountain" recently opened. No hurricanes destroyed Orlando. No meteorites were reported in Los Angeles.
In fact, the film quietly attracted record-breaking crowds in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. And so it seems that Ang Lee's film about two cowboys in love is — at minimum — surviving. The reason for this is hard to figure out.
Could it be that all three opening cities have hefty gay populations? Another option is that right-wing groups, such as Focus on the Family, are all but keeping silent, in hopes that the film just goes away. Or it might have to do with Hollywood hunks Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal and their huge female fan bases.
Whatever the reason, Exhibitor Relations Co. reports that over the first weekend, Dec. 10-11, the film brought in the highest per-screen average for any film release in 2005.
And if that's not enough, "Brokeback Mountain" has already landed awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Associations and the New York Film Critics Circle.
Even some real-life cowboys applaud the flick. "I think it's something that's now just being more understood," seven-time world-champion cowboy Ty Murray, who is straight, recently told ABC's Good Morning America. "Hopefully, this movie helps people further understand it."
But as a gay man from a small town like the one in "Brokeback Mountain," I find that the beauty of this film lies in its navigating away from stereotypes to convey the power and randomness of love. A welcomed change, I'm sure, for many— especially gay Americans.
Two years ago, I published a column, "Queer TV: Advancing Tolerance or Fostering Stereotypes?" In it, I questioned whether such shows as "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and "Queer as Folk" were anything more than ratings ploys. And I wondered what viewers, once they found themselves uninterested, might come away with.
Would these programs help in showing the normality of being gay? Or would many viewers come away thinking that we were indeed "different"?
Hollywood has featured gay characters since the 1930s, usually as the effeminate best friend of the leading man. Their orientation was understood, though not discussed. This continued through the '50s, when gay characters were portrayed as emotionally troubled and often suicidal.
By the '70s, both cinema and television started to discuss real-life gay issues.
And during the '80s and '90s, gay characters and gay-themed programming moved to the forefront. Still, the way in which they were depicted — in most cases — cultivated dated stereotypes.
Now, through movies such as "Brokeback Mountain," Hollywood is shedding light on the fact that not all gay men are fashion gurus, hairdressers, interior designers, and superior in the arts, but that some might — God forbid — be cowboys, herding sheep in Wyoming. And, more important, capable of love-based relationships.
Not all of us gay folk are comfortable with the flamboyance of gay-pride parades. And many would rather sip a Killian's in an Irish pub than dance to techno in a noisy gay bar. "Gay" has nothing to do with lifestyle. And rather than coming out of the closet to make a declaration of individuality or identity, most of us "come out" so that we can share the gift of love openly with another individual.
So when the numbers are tallied and the awards dispersed, my hope is that "Brokeback Mountain" is seen not only as a monumental moment in cinema history but also as a daring and original attempt to prove that love is not bound by interpretation or stereotype.
Correction to the article: they are not (I repeated "not") cowboys - they are two shepherds.
Hi, nmh:
I just checked the grosses of "Bareback Mountain" at RottenTomatoes.com.
As of today (12/28/05) the film has grossed $7,888,312.
About doubling its gross with it being played in 216 additional theaters Coast to Coast just before the Christmas Weekend.
By straight Financial Standards, a FLOP! Perhaps NOT by Simple Hollywood Standards. Which are : If the film takes in more than it cost, it's a good film. A winner.
I'll have to do some more digging to find the film's total budget. I'm guessing, around $12,000,000. Especially considering how badly Ang Lee's last project, "The Hulk" bombed.
Even if Hollywood claims victory (And they will!) with this piece of dreck. It will just deepen the rift between it and Red and Fly-Over States. Making them and the Oscars even more irrelevant.
Jack.
Yeah, but the vast majority of lesbians do not look like Portia Di Rossi, they look more like Helen Thomas.
I think it is pretty silly as well, but it is doing a fine job of showing up how little the libs really understand about our culture.
What is the connection with Ty and Jewel?
That's interesting, every gay person I know personally--including two male couples and two female couples--do everything they can to avoid being "in your face" and they are highly embarassed by the flamboyance and militancy of the gay activism community.
Perhaps it's a difference of the communities in which we live.
This paper is referred to as the "Baghdad Herald" by many native Vermonters. Make the NY Times look ultra-conservative. I've been in their offices...mostly staffed by womyn who closely resemble Eleanor Clift or Helen Thomas.
Any port in a storm...
Get back in the closet
Buggery is not kewl.
Previews were enough for me.
Now it's fixed!
Here's the subtle difference: "shepherds," aka sheepherders, herd sheep. They mainly use dogs to keep the sheep bunched-up.
Cowboys herd cows. They ride some of the smartest and best-trained horses in existence that are adept at keeping the cows where the wranglers want them to be.
Cowboys and sheepherders don't think much of each other because sheep leave the range in very poor condition for cattle. There were range wars back in the 19th century when sheepmen encroached on cattle country. Those antagonistic feelings persist today.
The fact the Hollywood people don't understand that distinction illustrates their ignorance, arrogance and propaganda motives.
YUCK
It's not showing in a lot of cinemas though. That's something you have to take into account. Box Office Mojo has it listed as the fourth most popular film out right now- I guess adjusting for the number of cinemas the film is showing in at the moment.
It doesn't come out in the UK until January. I always hate that. By the time I'm ready to discuss a film Freepers in the States have already moved on to other subjects.
Thanks for the trouble.
Good news for normal people!
I'm with you!
They're an item, or were. Try a search for "Jewel and Ty". (Our daughter thinks this is so not cool. For Ty, that is.)
You have homos in Georgia? We don't have homos here in Texas.
(Recalling the greeting of Billy Crystal's mother in law when he went down to Texas many moons ago in Soap. For the longest time I couldn't look at Billy Crystal without thinking he must be a homo. I don't think it was until City Slickers that I finally got over that particular bit of typecasting.)
Because they have pushed the in your face promotion of faggotry further just when we didn't think there was any further to go.
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