Brokeback Mountain: My $0.02

So we watched Brokeback Mountain the other day. Fortunately, in case you were concerned, watching it will not make you gay. At least not within 5 days anyway.

In my honest, heterosexual opinion, the movie is overrated. By the time I had developed any sympathy whatsoever for the characters, the credits were rolling. The one high point was the theme - Wings by Gustavo Santaolalla, very low key, yet moving. The general premise of the movie was also solid but I would have preferred a little more action (but NOT of THAT kind).

So I got to wondering why the movie did so well... thoughts:

1. Acting was decent, but the pace was sooo slow I could have left the room, filed my teeth into little teddy bear shapes, returned and not missed much of the plot. So it wasn't that.

2. Amazing scenery in Wyoming. Lovely mountains, greenery, flowing water (i.e. streams and rivers). But you can get that stuff in most nature documentaries, or in photographs, or you could visit. So it wasn't that either.

3. Great soundtrack. No. Apart from Wings, nothing really jumped out as an outstanding composition.

I think the only people you'll find raving about the movie are gay people, because, lets face it, they're more marginalized than even African-Americans. There's finally a movie "about them." Can't blame them for being excited.

So why has this movie grossed $83 million to date and is still playing in some theaters across the United States despite being out (Haha - the gay movie came out**) for over 17 weeks ? It's really quite simple. The Right-Wing Christian fundamentalists don't want us to watch it. The bible thumpers provided a media blitz the movie makers could only have dreamed of. Human beings will always espouse certain childish traits. And one of those is doing the things people tell us we shouldn't.

Scenario A:
Brokeback Mountain is released. Homosexuals everywhere are thrilled. A little buzz, a little fizz. 3 weeks later it's over. No one cares. Yeah yeah, a movie about a couple of guys who like guys - not interested.

Scenario 2:
Brokeback Mountain is released. Homosexuals everywhere are thrilled. A little buzz, a little fizz. 3 weeks later - Stuffy, righteous old people all over the place trying to stop people from watching the movie. Some theaters not showing it. People calling it degenerate, evil, sinful etc etc. Holy Crap! I'm there!

Seriously, I wouldn't have cared to watch it if there hadn't been such an outcry. Yeah, yeah Oscar winners blah blah. I've skipped crappy Oscar winning movies before. I'm sure gays everywhere are thanking the Christian right for bringing the movie to a position of such prominence. Hell, they got me to watch it. And while it will never be my favorite movie, I did gain a further appreciation of how difficult it must be to know that the core of your emotional being is something that present day society will not accept.

So thank you Pat Robertson. Thank you Jerry Falwell. Thank you to all the idiots who try to keep us from broadening our horizons and being sympathetic to our brothers and sisters, even if we may not agree with their beliefs and lifestyles. Keep telling us what not to do. And we'll keep throwing your hatred right back at you.

I seem to be all sorts of angry at Falwell and Robertson... I will explore these feelings in a later post. (I hope this post happens... none of my promised posts ever come to fruition.)

**For those unfamiliar with homosexual terminology (I happen to be familiar because I was a resident assistant in a university residence hall for three years - a heterosexual resident assistant with a couple of gay residents, just for the record), "coming out" is the phrase that refers to the time a person openly admits to his or her homosexuality. Like a coming out of a closet... Now go back and read my joke. And you'll see how funny/clever/witty it was.