Youngblood at the Movies

So here I am once again ready to talk to you on the subject of movies. What’s today’s flick you ask? Well, it’s none other than the critically acclaimed, however controversial picture, Brokeback Mountain. I saw it last week at Rainbow Cinemas. Even though it is on DVD already, there something about two men fighting their homosexual urges that can only be gotten across on the big screen. So, how about we talk about this thing.

First off, I am going to blast the Academy for giving Ang Lee the best director Oscar. Some parts of the movie were really good, but others felt like a 4th year film student did them. As far as I’m concerned he only got the award because he never got one for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. It seems like they’re doing a whole lot of that these days, but that’s a topic for another time. However, the Academy did do some good by awarding the writers an Oscar. I thought the greatness of the whole picture lied in the writing. And I guess it kind of deserved its award for the music…I guess….

Now, onto the piece itself: Brokeback Mountain has been covered in controversy since it was first announced to be made a motion picture. Prior to being put up on the big screen it was just a plain old simple book (no plug-ins, no batteries to charge), written by E. Annie Proulx. When people heard that there was going to be a movie made about a couple of gay cowboys either one of four things happened: (note: these are my personal observations)

1. They were offended and wanted to put a stop to it immediately
2. They weren’t offended by the movie but were deeply opposed to it
3. They laughed at the novelty of the gay cowboys and started making jokes
4. They just didn’t care and saw it as any other movie

Let’s look at each one

1. You know, some people get far too bent out of shape over a simple fucking “talkie”. I don’t recall any big hubbub about the book when it came out. I guess it’s just because the movie reached a larger audience and perhaps convinced some confused cowboys to hop over to the other side of the fence.
   
   I think the other thing is, that cowboys are most thought of from being from one of America’s favorite eras, the Wild West. Ah yes, the good ole West Wild, where rough and tumble cowboys shot outlaws, boozed it up, and screwed hookers in shady bars. Now that I actually think about it, has that changed all that much?…Anyway, I think people were feeling a little threatened that their “manliest” eras was in danger of becoming feminized or homo-ed up(for choice of a worse word).
   
   
2. From what I’ve seen, a large number of men stayed away from it because they were afraid that watching two guys kiss onscreen would cause an unexpected shift in their underpants, if you know what I mean.
   
   
3. This one kind of gets to me because the film hasn’t been taken seriously by a lot of people. Many people just look at the novelty of the idea of the gay cowboys and laugh and totally write off the movie. I think it was really well done. The relationship of the gay cowboys weren’t even the focal point of the whole story. To me the real story lied in the cowboy’s relationships with their separate families and how each man dealt with their hidden homosexual urges. There was more to the movie than most people think and it’s a shame that they will only see it as some kind of joke or novelty.However, whether you like this movie or not, you have to admit that it is a testament to how quickly pop culture comes into our language. Since the movie came out, rather than people calling each other gay, now you hear a lot of “Hey don’t you be going brokeback on me now!”

4. I think this one kind of speaks for itself. This is the category I fell into. At first I saw it as any other movie, I really didn’t care what it was about and if I ever saw it. I think one of the real deciding factors in my going to see Brokeback Mountain was the $4 admission price.

So, all in all I thought it was a pretty dam good picture. While it didn’t deserve a certain award, it did deserve another immensely. So, to end my little chat here, I will award it a ranking of $$$$ out of 5.

Youngblood