Here's the official graphic.
Gets the point across, and saves you from getting posts pulled for profanity. You can also use this one:
Posted on 01/05/2006 4:21:21 PM PST by Incorrigible
BY DRU SEFTON
It's true, the movie "Brokeback Mountain" does provoke what one researcher calls "a very strong ick factor" in some straight men.
What is it in this story of two cowboy pals in 1960s Wyoming who find themselves in lifelong love -- yet go on to marry women -- that elicits this response from heterosexual males?
The answers are as complex as the plot.
A psychologist who coined the word "homophobic" said the revulsion is precisely that. A scientist who discovered genetic links to sexuality said he simply does not understand the response. The author of "The Sexual Brain" said there is nothing on a neurobiological basis to explain the aversion.
To film fan Eddie Hargreaves of Stockton, Calif., it's more like the "ick" of romantic drama. "I'm not going to speak for everybody," he said, "but I don't know a lot of straight guys who said, `Oh, man, I can't wait to see "Bridges of Madison County,""' 1995's famous tearjerker.
"Brokeback Mountain," directed by Oscar winner Ang Lee and starring box-office hunks Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, is sparking both critical praise and water cooler chatter. It's been nominated for seven Golden Globe awards.
But when movie critic Dave White, who is gay, wrote a humorous piece titled "The Straight Dude's Guide to `Brokeback,"' "I got hundreds of messages, most of whom hated me for just existing," he said.
An excerpt from the column: "The good news -- there's less than one minute of making out. It's about 130 minutes long and 129 of them are about Men Not Having Sex."
We're not talking here about rejections of homosexuality based on moral or religious grounds, though the film has provoked its share of those. It's that some men who pointedly won't see "Brokeback" are social liberals who generally find no fault with people being gay.
"I didn't write the piece with the homophobe in mind," said White, a Movie.com reviewer in Los Angeles who wrote the column for MSNBC.com. "I wrote it for the liberal guy who just can't see this movie, because they know that reads as socially uncool."
White's theory on straight-male queasiness centers on self-identification. "These characters are too close to being regular guys," he said. "That's part of the freakout."
Timothy Shary also noticed that. He's director of the Screen Studies Program at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., and examines masculinity in movies.
"This is a threat to most men because it opens up the possibility that two men who are friendly may become affectionate," Shary said. "That's something men just do not want to consider."
Countless movies feature characters who marry (or are married to) someone but linger evermore over feelings for another -- think "Casablanca."
"But this is about two men who are attracted to each other and keep that connection. That's especially troubling for some men," Shary said, adding, "but that's what makes this a truly revolutionary film."
George Weinberg said this aversion is "definitely homophobia." He is the New York City psychologist and researcher who invented that term in the 1960s, and broke ground with his 1972 book, "Society and the Healthy Homosexual."
"This is the idea of one man's adoration for another," Weinberg said. "A love affair more deep and lasting and romantic" than with their wives.
His advice for straights uneasy about "Brokeback" is to "first understand you have this problem. At least by acknowledging it, that's a start. It's like saying, `I have a fear of heights."'
Research into a physical source of these feelings is lacking.
"It does seem to be almost culturally universal that heterosexual men can have a deep repulsion to overt homosexuality," said Dean Hamer, scientist and author of "The Science of Desire: The Gay Gene and the Biology of Behavior."
"But there is no study I know of to ascertain whether this is a biologically based trait," Hamer said.
Simon LeVay agreed. He is a lecturer on neuroscience and author of "The Sexual Brain," a biological overview of sexuality.
"From a neurobiological basis, I just don't think this response has been researched at that level," LeVay said, "although it's something that should be."
Movie buff Hargreaves, who is straight and married, still isn't going to see "Brokeback Mountain." Not that there's anything wrong with that.
"To say that straight guys are missing out because they're unjustly turned off by the plot, well, there wasn't anything to turn them on in the first place," Hargreaves said. "At least `The English Patient' had a plane crash."
Jan. 5, 2006
(Dru Sefton can be contacted at dru.sefton@newhouse.com)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
You make a great point there. The word homophobe makes it sound as if I'm the one with the problem...and that's exactly the intent of it. Well they can just go blow themselves!
Maybe homoaverse is a better term than homophobic.
What straight guy wants to see a movie to get groped by some gay dude?
"Trust me, it is not a chick flick."
I have not seen it...
But lots of the reviews describe it as a chick flick/romance movie that just happens to have gay cowboys.... not my thing but then who am I to tell women what movies to watch?
George Weinberg said this aversion is "definitely homophobia." He is the New York City psychologist and researcher who invented that term in the 1960s, and broke ground with his 1972 book, "Society and the Healthy Homosexual."
***It is quite normal, natural and wholesome, if not a biological imperative, for heterosexuals to have an aversion to homosexuality. That aversion is not "homophobia" - it is normal heterosexual response. Most heterosexual parents have an extreme aversion to having their young children socialized by homosexual orientation in schools. That is normal and natural.
***Of course, I have an aversion to homophiliac "authorities" and researchers.
I don't know why, but this gave me my first really good laugh of the day. Thanks!
Ha! Sensitivity training! That's the one where I ate a whole bole of refried beans and made them pay for forcing me to listen to their drivel.
Heh. Bring in outsiders to run your show, and I'll bomb you out of existence. ;)
Juvenile? Oh yeah! But fun!!
Here's the official graphic.
Gets the point across, and saves you from getting posts pulled for profanity. You can also use this one:
Doh.. :D
Earth to Dave: people don't hate you for just existing. People hate you because you suck.
I don't do that. But your point is valid.
Oh puh-leez ...
And in response to the article, I "Just say 'NO!'" to the movie. Not even a trace of thanks.
No cheers, unfortunately.
The most homophobic people of all are homosexuals, else their lifestyle would not be so self-destructive.
All that I can tell you is that I haven't heard anyone say that they wanted to see this movie, male or female, but I haven't exactly taken a poll.
I'm so tired of being called a homophobe just because I think their lifestyle is deviant and I don't want it in my face. Why aren't those little tutu-wearing fairies called heterophobes?
*The cry of homosexual activism is against what they allege is the world's long history of "heterosexual dictatorship". (Heterosexual dictatorshop = biological and social survival imperatives.) Yes, "gay activism" is fiercely heterophobic! Throw that term back into their faces.
***As soon as you register your disgust at this aberrant behavior, you are labelled a "homophobe." This word is the biggest scam since snake-oil. ***
Better to be a homophobe than a hoplophobe!
Sheeppokes.
- That's baaaaaaaaaaad!
"Bareback Mountain:" Straight to LOGO Cable. Anybody have LOGO on their Cable system? It seems the gays now have their own cable channel.
It's NOT a chick flick. Your circle of women friends must all be raging liberals.
I was hoping somebody would post that pic of the guy from CHiPs. His name excapes me. Eric Estrada maybe? I would think this would be the correct time to use it.
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