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Bare Back Mountain, analysis of gender minstrelsy
In fact, “Brokeback Mountain” is like Vaudeville where whites wore black face. Hollywood makes gays “acceptable” to the mainstream by ensuring only heterosexual actors play gay characters.
Sex, drugs and disco is no where to be found in the 1960's pastoral setting of “Brokeback Mountain”, Hollywood's latest depiction of homosexuality. While good to see Hollywood depicting gay men as something other than drug using, panty wearing, promiscuous party-boys; exploration of self-loathing men who happen to have sex with other men is not the gay positive image I would qualify as "progressive," "groundbreaking," or any of the other number of ways in which this movie has been packaged as a revolution for gays. Written by two straight women, Brokeback is really more of a Feminist deconstruction of the male ego than gay men or gay life.
What explain the "intimacy" between the two main characters, Ennis and Jack, is the silence that surrounds both the landscape. This movie indirectly posits the idea that both of these men's emotional and conversational distance (and by extension, their homosexuality) were created by a bad relationship with their parents. Fermented by continued lifelong isolation and finally wanting for that one person, often assumed to be a woman, more devoted to her man than her career and who can touch the damaged portion of his ego. Both these men live their lives broken and bare.
The way the sexual relationship starts between the men is jerky, unrealistic and borders on rape. It furthers stereotypes of the unbridled sexual aggression of men, that homosexuality at it's core is sex, and that the act of anal sex is THE behavior of homosexuality. We see this in Ennis flipping his wife over and having her anally in the one sex scene we see them complete. Gay sex is seen at first to have nothing to do with intimacy with other men, which may or may not come later and is secondary to sex itself. Also this movie ignores the reality that gay identity was fast becoming a part of the public awareness at that point in American history... after all, this movie mirrors the time frame from Stonewall, to the first American gay rights political movement, and ends at the start of the AIDS era. All of this seems to be a world away, however, and is one of many reasons why you cannot really call this a gay movie at all. So, what makes this movie gay?
Jack "Twist" is the more risky of the two, dreaming of a “radical” life lived with another man, essentially as a married heterosexual couple, while Ennis, which sounds conveniently close to anus, sees his urges as primarily physical manifestations in the absence of anything else in his life. This is a classic white heterosexual feminist slash fantasy in which Heath Ledger, an avowed heterosexual makes the iconic emotionally unavailable man available to you, the assumed female audience member who becomes the voyeur to a man's hidden emotional life as the invisible third partner in this pseudo-gay relationship.
The fact that it was another man who touched Ennis’ gut wrenching isolation is treated as incidental, and at one point, he even blames Jack for having “those feelings.” Jack is ultimately punished for his desires with a brutal gay bashing that ends with his death. Ennis, who is more interested in upholding the traditions of his now broken family life above his own “selfish” sexual desires, is rewarded by continued life, and the ultimate prize of a daughter who intends to marry a man.
Gays are yet again being fooled by the “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” sensibility that ANY depiction of a gay is good, regardless of context, realism or semantics. And this movie very much was Queer Guys for the Straight Gal, basically an echo of the minstrel show that instead of liberating the black performers’ who participated, it reinforced the stereotypes whites felt about them. In fact, “Brokeback Mountain” is like Vaudeville where whites wore black face. Hollywood makes gays “acceptable” to the mainstream by ensuring only heterosexual actors play gay characters. Brokeback Mountain would've been better if Danny Pinatauro or Jonathan Taylor Thomas, male actors who have had virtually no career since coming out, had played these men struggling with sexual identity. Their real life experiences would have added a dimension to the acting that heterosexuals just cannot understand and I felt was lacking, but most audiences read as a realistic portrayal of the “traditional” male ego where you don’t show emotions. What we see in Brokeback Mountain is a condensing liberal version of the same fear and digust that killed another gay man from Wyoming named Matthew Shepard.
What explain the "intimacy" between the two main characters, Ennis and Jack, is the silence that surrounds both the landscape. This movie indirectly posits the idea that both of these men's emotional and conversational distance (and by extension, their homosexuality) were created by a bad relationship with their parents. Fermented by continued lifelong isolation and finally wanting for that one person, often assumed to be a woman, more devoted to her man than her career and who can touch the damaged portion of his ego. Both these men live their lives broken and bare.
The way the sexual relationship starts between the men is jerky, unrealistic and borders on rape. It furthers stereotypes of the unbridled sexual aggression of men, that homosexuality at it's core is sex, and that the act of anal sex is THE behavior of homosexuality. We see this in Ennis flipping his wife over and having her anally in the one sex scene we see them complete. Gay sex is seen at first to have nothing to do with intimacy with other men, which may or may not come later and is secondary to sex itself. Also this movie ignores the reality that gay identity was fast becoming a part of the public awareness at that point in American history... after all, this movie mirrors the time frame from Stonewall, to the first American gay rights political movement, and ends at the start of the AIDS era. All of this seems to be a world away, however, and is one of many reasons why you cannot really call this a gay movie at all. So, what makes this movie gay?
Jack "Twist" is the more risky of the two, dreaming of a “radical” life lived with another man, essentially as a married heterosexual couple, while Ennis, which sounds conveniently close to anus, sees his urges as primarily physical manifestations in the absence of anything else in his life. This is a classic white heterosexual feminist slash fantasy in which Heath Ledger, an avowed heterosexual makes the iconic emotionally unavailable man available to you, the assumed female audience member who becomes the voyeur to a man's hidden emotional life as the invisible third partner in this pseudo-gay relationship.
The fact that it was another man who touched Ennis’ gut wrenching isolation is treated as incidental, and at one point, he even blames Jack for having “those feelings.” Jack is ultimately punished for his desires with a brutal gay bashing that ends with his death. Ennis, who is more interested in upholding the traditions of his now broken family life above his own “selfish” sexual desires, is rewarded by continued life, and the ultimate prize of a daughter who intends to marry a man.
Gays are yet again being fooled by the “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” sensibility that ANY depiction of a gay is good, regardless of context, realism or semantics. And this movie very much was Queer Guys for the Straight Gal, basically an echo of the minstrel show that instead of liberating the black performers’ who participated, it reinforced the stereotypes whites felt about them. In fact, “Brokeback Mountain” is like Vaudeville where whites wore black face. Hollywood makes gays “acceptable” to the mainstream by ensuring only heterosexual actors play gay characters. Brokeback Mountain would've been better if Danny Pinatauro or Jonathan Taylor Thomas, male actors who have had virtually no career since coming out, had played these men struggling with sexual identity. Their real life experiences would have added a dimension to the acting that heterosexuals just cannot understand and I felt was lacking, but most audiences read as a realistic portrayal of the “traditional” male ego where you don’t show emotions. What we see in Brokeback Mountain is a condensing liberal version of the same fear and digust that killed another gay man from Wyoming named Matthew Shepard.
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I have to agree totally on this article. It was sort of my first instinct when I saw the movie in person with my boyfriend. Personally, I believe making these two actors play gay is almost pukeish. One could argue I guess that its beyond natural. How would you feel as a Gay actor kissing a woman, even though you know it doesn't feel right. Are we to assume then that a Gay audience believes then that we become a straight man played by a convincing Gay actor? Come on. There is a confusing paradox going on here.
I would hope Annie Proulx does not believe it takes a Straight set of male actors to convince straight America that indeed Gay folks feel discriminated against. Sometimes, I wish we would all decide one way or another to either get along or just decided to say "Fuck it. Screw it. Or Piss on it"
For me personally, Im here and now saying this. Im not living my life beyond 30 trying to help everyone understand how I live. Its not my job to do so. If I come across those very kind souls who know me as a human, and not as a Gay, those few are remembered in my life forever.
I thank the Stars for those people who accept me as me. Lord knows, it hasnt been those I grew up with. Its been my Angels, wherever I have worked or lived who helped not loose my mind or sanity in this looney world.
Though, I do understand where Mr. Ang Lee was trying to go by making this movie. And I do thank you Mr. Lee, it took alot of guts to make it. I thank you...
Happy New Years 2006 to all. :)
Brian Kortmeyer
Palm Springs, CA
I would hope Annie Proulx does not believe it takes a Straight set of male actors to convince straight America that indeed Gay folks feel discriminated against. Sometimes, I wish we would all decide one way or another to either get along or just decided to say "Fuck it. Screw it. Or Piss on it"
For me personally, Im here and now saying this. Im not living my life beyond 30 trying to help everyone understand how I live. Its not my job to do so. If I come across those very kind souls who know me as a human, and not as a Gay, those few are remembered in my life forever.
I thank the Stars for those people who accept me as me. Lord knows, it hasnt been those I grew up with. Its been my Angels, wherever I have worked or lived who helped not loose my mind or sanity in this looney world.
Though, I do understand where Mr. Ang Lee was trying to go by making this movie. And I do thank you Mr. Lee, it took alot of guts to make it. I thank you...
Happy New Years 2006 to all. :)
Brian Kortmeyer
Palm Springs, CA
This film was made to stand alone. A truthful depiction of homosexual men who feel isolated because of what they have been raised to believe, going against what they are naturally drawn to. We are being just as narrow minded as conservative christians when we make statements equaling only a gay person can truly express homosexuality, or it should have spoke more to safe sex, Epidemics, and drug use which were all realities, but far fetched in this story. I believe a story should stand on it's own merit. This film speaks much more strongly for the ideal that the only difference between heterosexual and homosexual is truly minor and inconsequential in the larger picture. The statements, confusions and experiences are very realistic for men who struggled with their identity. it also paints a picture for the ideal that sexuality is not Black and White. I'm a person of color and for you to call this a minstrel show is out of line. Minstrel shows were used to perpetuate ignorance and humiliate an entire race. There is no malice in this film, and it clearly presents a moment in time for these specific 2 characters which honestly rings universal. I would prefer a film that in it's premise included Everyone who has ever been in love as opposed to one that clearly states only one category may feel a certain way.
I believe the casting was excellent. The 2 actors you mentioned( one of which i did not even realize was out ) would have been poor choices. It would be hard to re-cast this film. period. straight or gay. These characters were two straight male characters learning how important love was, even in the body of the same sex. A gay actor would have to delve into expressing being attracted to a woman as much as a straight man would have to, in being attracted to a man.
Acting is acting. The fact that this film does not have an agenda makes it all the more pleasurable to accept as the heart-wrenching experience it is.
I believe the casting was excellent. The 2 actors you mentioned( one of which i did not even realize was out ) would have been poor choices. It would be hard to re-cast this film. period. straight or gay. These characters were two straight male characters learning how important love was, even in the body of the same sex. A gay actor would have to delve into expressing being attracted to a woman as much as a straight man would have to, in being attracted to a man.
Acting is acting. The fact that this film does not have an agenda makes it all the more pleasurable to accept as the heart-wrenching experience it is.
In short, this reviewer believes the perfect should be the enemy of the good.
A similarly moronic review appeared in Salon by one StephanieZ. This kind of über-gay mentality will set back (arguably *has*) set back "the movement" by a generation by its insistence on political correctness of the worst sort.
The story is set in 1963. That how things were, and outside these two reviewers' fantasies and ghettoes, still are to some extent. The characters, especially Ennis, were repressed beyond what we can believe today, and that repression often exploded into violence. To call the first sex scene "rape" is completely to misunderstand the signals that have passed between the characters prior, and to misunderstand even more completely the tipping of Ennis' repression into lust.
As for using straight actors, get a grip on yourself. This movie, for better or worse, is marketed to women. Those women want recognizable actors they find "hot", and very much heterosexual. A movie that gets people talking, one that recognizably shows gay people in love (just like the viewer), and that appeals to BROAD audience will much more good for us all.
In short, the perfect--a world in which gay people are just people and actors can be gay without losing their audience--is being made the enemy of the good--a traditional film that will change the minds of at least some people.
A similarly moronic review appeared in Salon by one StephanieZ. This kind of über-gay mentality will set back (arguably *has*) set back "the movement" by a generation by its insistence on political correctness of the worst sort.
The story is set in 1963. That how things were, and outside these two reviewers' fantasies and ghettoes, still are to some extent. The characters, especially Ennis, were repressed beyond what we can believe today, and that repression often exploded into violence. To call the first sex scene "rape" is completely to misunderstand the signals that have passed between the characters prior, and to misunderstand even more completely the tipping of Ennis' repression into lust.
As for using straight actors, get a grip on yourself. This movie, for better or worse, is marketed to women. Those women want recognizable actors they find "hot", and very much heterosexual. A movie that gets people talking, one that recognizably shows gay people in love (just like the viewer), and that appeals to BROAD audience will much more good for us all.
In short, the perfect--a world in which gay people are just people and actors can be gay without losing their audience--is being made the enemy of the good--a traditional film that will change the minds of at least some people.
Everyone gets to have an opinion. I have no problem with that. Not everyone has to love “Brokeback Mountain.” That would be a scary world indeed.
I do feel that some people go to see the film looking for their agenda, and not the story presented. That’s what I think about this review, which frankly, I find to be a bit shallow.
I myself feared that this film was going to portray a homosexual story in a way that harkened back to the bad old days, where gay men were doomed to misery, and possibly suicide.
However, that’s not what I found. It’s a complex, rich presentation of how bigotry and fear taint and destroy the lives of those affected by it.
This story presents my life to no small degree, and if your mind is so closed you can’t see that some people have to endure situations like these, and if your heart is so closed that you cannot love these characters, only your predisposed conceptions, then I feel sorry for you.
I do feel that some people go to see the film looking for their agenda, and not the story presented. That’s what I think about this review, which frankly, I find to be a bit shallow.
I myself feared that this film was going to portray a homosexual story in a way that harkened back to the bad old days, where gay men were doomed to misery, and possibly suicide.
However, that’s not what I found. It’s a complex, rich presentation of how bigotry and fear taint and destroy the lives of those affected by it.
This story presents my life to no small degree, and if your mind is so closed you can’t see that some people have to endure situations like these, and if your heart is so closed that you cannot love these characters, only your predisposed conceptions, then I feel sorry for you.
True life story of growing up gay on Brokeback mountain
COWBOY Chuck Browning is the epitome of all- American macho - a rugged rodeo star with a long history in ranching.
But a few days ago, watching Brokeback Mountain - a controversial Oscar-tipped film about a gay romance between a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy - he wept.
For Chuck went through the same struggle as the movie's characters when he realised it was the cowboys, not the cowgirls, he was attracted to.
The critically-acclaimed film, which opens nationwide next weekend and has been a surprise hit in the States, brought back memories of gay-bashing.
So strong was the homophobia that it cast a shadow over Chuck's upbringing on a Wyoming ranch.
"I thought it was an incredibly beautiful movie and very realistic," says Chuck. "And because it was set in the time and place where I grew up, there was a lot of things I could relate to. I knew I was different as a child, I just didn't know why.
"There were no gay role models in Wyoming back then."
Chuck runs his own ranch - the Five B - in Arizona with his long-term 32-year-old partner, Jay Barker.
Each year they compete in events held by the International Gay Rodeo Association, which Chuck has won 13 times. But the 43-year-old - who had childhood picnics on Casper Mountain where the Brokeback characters, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, work - remembers when it was not so easy to be gay in the heartlands of America.
He says: "I spent my summers helping my uncle on his beef ranch. Men were men and women were women and that's just the way life was. I never thought it could be any different.
"It was only when I moved to Montana to start university that I began experimenting. I worked with a lifeguard there who was openly gay but I still couldn't empathise much. He was very camp and I am definitely not.
"Looking back at the cowboy lifestyle of men spending day after day doing hard physical work together, I can see how it is kind of a gay lifestyle. But people would never have dared admit to it.
"When I was growing up gay bashing went on which is some of the reason I never came out while I lived there."
In his early 20s Chuck went to live in Phoenix, Arizona, where he hoped to find acceptance of his sexuality.
"When I moved to the city it was a great revelation to me that there were other people out there who felt the same way I did," he recalls.
"Being gay wasn't a shock to my city friends. They were very supportive and accepting. It gave me the courage to come out to my family." Chuck told his mother Kay he was homosexual over a hotel breakfast when she came to visit. It was a dark time for him. He was grieving the loss of his first serious partner, Ken, who had died of an Aidsrelated condition.
"Mum was relieved that I confided in her," he says. "I told her Ken had been more than a friend and she was completely accepting.
"At the same time, she knew times might be hard for me. Few parents actually want their children to be gay because of the discrimination they have to endure. And mum was aware there were difficulties I'd have to face in life."
His dad had a tough time accepting the news. Chuck says: "My father didn't really understand. I think he still feels uncomfortable I'm gay."
For Chuck the most moving aspect of Brokeback Mountain is that the story on which the movie is based may have led to a real murder.
In 1997 a magazine carried a tale by Annie Proulx about two gay cowboys from Wyoming.
An instant success, Brokeback Mountain won awards and was famous across America. But not everyone was happy. "A lot of people were angry about the story," says Chuck. "They felt it stereotyped cowboys from Wyoming as gay."
Homophobic violence escalated. A character in the piece is tortured to death. Tragically the same happened in real life.
On October 7, 1998, student Matthew Shepard was lured from a bar by two men who said they were gay.
They drove the 21-year-old to a remote spot outside Laramie, Wyoming, tied him to a fence and pistol-whipped him before leaving him to die.
"It was a brutal killing," shudders Chuck. "It forced a change in attitudes.
"It was no longer OK to hate someone just because they were gay - even the most macho cowboys felt that."
However, fear and hatred of homosexuals remain. Many Christian groups have urged members not to see the film.
Chuck admits: "It is still a difficult subject for a lot of people.
"Of course there will always be the odd incident, which is sad. But for the most part the worldwide MTV generation has finally made it to Wyoming.
"Now Casper has an openly gay mayor, which just goes to show how times have changed."
True life story of growing up gay on Brokeback mountain
Mirror.co.uk, UK
it's just a movie...relax!
I agree with a previous commentor on Brad's trenchant review of Brokeback Mountain. It does appear he mistakenly brought his own agenda to the film and wanted it to fit HIS world.
The world of Brokeback is the world I came out in, 1963!
Gay men as we understand ourselves today barely ixisted -- and I take GAY to ALWAYS mean a person who is OUT to his friends, family, and employer and certainly to himself!!!!!
In the millieu and social/cultural environment of '63 Wyoming, that was almost impossible, and for poor uneducated wouldbe cowboys/manual laborers, suicidal.
Annie Proulx's incredible short story was a real revelation and the film, true to it's source has the potential to change a HELL OF A LOT OF MINDS. Thank heavens for Ang Lee and his marvelous writers and cast. They deserve our thanks for now and far into the future.
The world of Brokeback is the world I came out in, 1963!
Gay men as we understand ourselves today barely ixisted -- and I take GAY to ALWAYS mean a person who is OUT to his friends, family, and employer and certainly to himself!!!!!
In the millieu and social/cultural environment of '63 Wyoming, that was almost impossible, and for poor uneducated wouldbe cowboys/manual laborers, suicidal.
Annie Proulx's incredible short story was a real revelation and the film, true to it's source has the potential to change a HELL OF A LOT OF MINDS. Thank heavens for Ang Lee and his marvelous writers and cast. They deserve our thanks for now and far into the future.
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