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.
Well, this straight guy just says "No!" (I won't say "Thanks.")
So those that have no interest in seeing a movie are homophobic? That has to be the longest conclusion jump in decades. I guess all those years in school should have been spend on studying instead of training for the long distance conclusion jumping team. Not liking or excepting something gay is a far cry from being phobic about it.
How many were fathers with sons, I wonder? Years ago any preaching advancing a homosexual agenda would have resulted in a much more personal (and painful) message.
Sheeppokes.
The answers are as complex as the plot.
Setting aside the whole "abomination to God" thing for a second, the reason that hetro men don't want to see this crap is that it sickens them. Why? Becasuse sex is like food. Someone may choose to eat live worms from a bowl, but it makes me want to puke if I have to watch them eat it.
Its really that simple.
:)
As Rushbo said, obviously what Hollywood needs to do, is to just make more movies with lesbian and gay themes (sarcasm was on ... )
Um, Mr. Shary, are you aware that "Casablanca" was about a woman torn between her love for two men, one her husband, the other her former lover? There's no way to analogize that scenario to two homosexuals.
That's Barbra Streisand! Many normal guys can enjoy Bridges just as they can enjoy Saving Private Ryan.
The "ick" factor comes from the fact that it's two guys "in love".Normal guys have as little desire to watch two guys in "love" as they do to watch two dogs in love.
It's a normal reaction for normal guys.
I would see it. I'm not sure how much I'd charge to induce me to see it. But there is an amount of money you could pay me that would get me to go see it. I can tell you one thing: not cheap.
"Homophobe" means a fear of them.
I don't fear them at all; I just don't like them.
What is it about a man's butt that turns homos on? Is it the aroma?
I'll never see this movie, and will look askance at any man who does.
So the good doctor is saying that fearing homosexuality is just as healthy as fearing dangerous, precarious heights? OK, I'll buy that.
Of course if a person fails to see it the critics will call "us" homophobic.
Hey bonehead critics - A romantic movie between to sheepherders in love is just not what I'm looking to spend my money on. That does not make me homophobic.
Since I didn't go to the movies and see the other 95% of the trash that was put out this year it would be hard to total in the "phobic" list. Monkey-phobic, remake phobic, vacation movie phobic, etc, etc.
Trash is Trash.
Roger that, but I prefer to be called rainbow challenged.
As I like to tell people when accused of being "homophobic". A phobia is a fear. I'm not scared, I'm disgusted. There is a difference.
It depends on whether or not they're hot.
I'll stick with Shane, where the hero was attracted to the sodbuster's wife not the sodbuster, thanks.
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