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.
Sure the do. Lots of cattle ranchers also have sheep. A coyboy is simple a person who does his work on horseback. this gay cowboy stuff really bothers people's stereotype of a cowboy, perhaps that's one of the goals of this movie's producer. The gay brigades want to tear down all things normal, and force their sickness in our faces 24-7 Like this gay "cowboy": http://www.cowboyfrank.net/
Rump wranglers actually
"Nope. Cowboys."
Nope. Shepherds dressed up like the Village People. Dressing like a cowboy doesn't make you a cowboy.
They misspelled "geigh"!
That's all that really matters! :)
This is just the way that Hollywood is going to rationalize why this movie is going to be a big flop! They made fun of George Bush by calling him a cowboy & now this movie is attacking the institution of the American Cowboy.
I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but I've noticed that ESPECIALLY since Bush won this second term, since that last election, television & movies have been 100's of times worse than they were before (and that's saying alot!!!).
I think this is their way of punishing "Red Staters", their way of saying - take this!
Yeah, their spin will be that Brokeback Mountain flopped because Red State Americans are homophobic. They're going to keep foisting this crap on all of us whether we want it or not.
"Some"
Yeah. Sure. "Some".
A psychologist who coined the word "homophobic" said the revulsion is precisely that.
I don't know, there's just something about the smell and sight of blood feces on my manhood, or just the smell of another man, which I almost always find nauseating. I am also nauseated by the scent of about half or more of the women around me as well.
Intimacy with another human being is something that's not easy to achieve, and that kind of intimacy with another man is just not normal. What else can you say?
"Somewhere, over the rainbow..."
Concentrate gets the zot.
Damn, PUNK, that's one helluva set of links you got on your page!
Our choices are--
Misohomosexualist Mishomosexualist Homosexmisia
...or some variation thereof. None of them are 'smooth-sounding', if you get my drift--they sound choppy and made-up. I'm partial to misohomosexualist, but if you come up with something that sounds better, let me know.
"Fabulous thread, darlings!"
It's a chick flick, of course guys hate it. Movies about forbidden love and crying audience members are for girls, doesn't matter the gender of the forbidden lovers those movies are for girls. Guys don't like forbidden love movies, we like movies where things blow up.
I have an aversion to it allright. I don't get off seeing two guys going for a roll in the hay. I don't call it love, I call it sodomy.
Sorry I find women attractive. Not guys.
I know a few, including me, that would not view it if someone gave them a DVD for free.
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