Posted on 12/12/2005 12:34:46 PM PST by sionnsar
The same weekend the Chronicles of Narnia premiers, so does Brokeback Mountain. Of course, what movie is the local Episcopal Church in Caspar, Wyoming, going to see and having a forum afterwards? Until I read this, I would have assumed it would be the movie based on a book by the Anglican paragon C.S. Lewis, that is about, well, JESUS! Ah, but we are Episcopalians, and we are far more concerned about homosexuality. But, seriously, shouldn’t the church have been promoting Chronicles rather than Brokeback? Jesus rather than gay cowboys who later marry women and then cheat on them with each other (hey, that sounds kinda like Bishop Robinson…)? I mean, can’t Hollywood do its own promotions of homosexuality, and doesn’t Jesus actually count on us?
Just asking.
From the Casper Star-Tribune:
‘Brokeback’ premiere packs house
By WHITNEY ROYSTER
Star-Tribune staff writer
JACKSON — Moviegoers wiped back tears Saturday after the premiere
of “Brokeback Mountain” in Jackson, saying it was a love story marred
by pain and social pressures.
Susan Juvelier, speaking at a forum after the movie at the St. John’s
Episcopal Church, hosted by the church and Jackson Parents and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said the story was a process of
discovering love.
“It took all that time and all that space and all that pain for (the
character Ennis) to come fully into himself as a loving being,” she
said.
The film premiered in Jackson on Saturday, and director Ang Lee was
in town for a question-and-answer session and party after the movie.
The story is about two Wyoming cowboys who fall in love but lead
heterosexual lives and keep their love a secret. It is an adaptation
of Centennial-based writer Annie Proulx’s short story.
Bill Hughes, another at the 20-person after-movie forum, said the
movie was so powerful because it depicted two people in love who
acted on that love.
“Some may never act on it,” he said. “These two people had such a
great thing that some people don’t ever have in their lives.”
Keith Mader said the fact that this movie was premiered in Wyoming,
and a church was hosting a discussion, showed progress toward ending
social bigotry.
A member of the Episcopal Church, Mader said events like this “are
strengthening my faith.”
“It’s just so silly that bigotry and intolerance have been allowed to
get to the point where it is. Pain and suffering over silly ideas of
prejudice and bigotry. This is a good step toward stopping it,” he
said.
Not everyone, however, was a fan of the film.
In an e-mail to the Star-Tribune Friday, Chris Sachall of Houston,
Tex., said Wyoming’s heritage is being “molested and exploited” by
Hollywood, as people have an image of a “typical cowboy.”
“No one would ever picture that typical cowboy as being gay,” he
wrote. “Hollywood realized this and decided to exploit and attempt to
change the fact in an effort to advance their liberal movement.”
And, he said “liberals would be infuriated if such a slant were put
on the culture they have built. Wyoming and every red-blooded
American should be just as infuriated that the same liberal mindset
is attempting to infiltrate and manipulate the culture that the
pioneers of Wyoming have built.”
In an October letter to the editor, Dewey Vanderhoff of Cody
questioned why the Wyoming state tourism office tried to
get “Brokeback Mountain” filmed in Wyoming. (It was shot in Canada
because of more favorable production costs.)
“Putting the beautiful landscape of Wyoming on the big screen as a
setting for real Western sodomy seems a bit skewed to me,” Vanderhoff
wrote. “I am no homophobe. But I do question why my state film office
would not consider the ramifications of their own desires. We should
be relieved that Keep Your Head Productions are filming 700 miles
north in a foreign country. Image is everything, and we ain’t talking
Marlboro Country or ‘Shane’ here.”
But sold-out crowds in Jackson and well-attended forums discussing
the film show most are embracing what people are calling a beautiful
film.
“The nature of this love was so rugged and hostile and also was so
beautifully encompassing and grand and powerful,” Tracy Lamb
said, “just like the environments they were in.”
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. It's established that Jesus Christ holds no more sway in the ECUSA. The only thing that matters to my former church is "feelings" and how the PR people like it.
Hollyweird has always been demented. They've managed to film enough about various questionable activities that not only do homosexuals think they ARE mainstream and deserve to be treated with respect but they think we want to watch them and their activities? Oh puh-leese.
I'll go the zoo when I want to see animals cleaning themselves and acting silly. Humans should know better. Decent human beings DO know better.
That's not really true. There are dioceses such as the Diocese of San Joaquin, and many others in the pews from whom the truth is being kept.
At the top level, though, it would appear you are correct.
I would generalize, but hey, every episcopal church for itself, right?
I thought the problem with the film was that it was not, err, umm, into himself.
No cheers, unfortunately.
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