Saturday, January 21, 2006 Comments (2)
Coming Out of the Closet
I'm coming out of the closet - I didn't like Brokeback Mountain. Now, before you get your panties in a wad and start sending me hate mail, just read on.
As a general rule, when movies are overly and outrageously hyped-up, I don't enjoy them. Some examples are King Kong and Million Dollar Baby, and the list could grow to gigantic proportions. I suppose the reason I didn't enjoy Brokeback Mountain could be of similar kind, but I don't really think so.
Everywhere I go, people are discussing Brokeback Mountain. I imagine that's to be expected merely because people have an odd curiousity about homosexuality, or anything that they're not necessarily familiar with. For an example, I volunteer at an AIDS/HIV clinic, and someone recently asked me if I have ever seen anyone with AIDS. The fact that the question is rather ridiculous is beside the point. However, they were driven by curiousity to the point where they wanted to visit the clinic themselves! Idiotic, yes? But, unusal? No.
After leaving the theater last weekend, I had resigned myself to going home and pecking away on Amazon to give my review of the film. But first, I wanted to read the reviews that other folks had written. All in all, I was quite surprised to find a few folks who shared my sentiments about the movie. Not that I assumed my ideas were necessarily unique or extraordinary (the chances of that are awfully slim considering the sheer popularity of the movie), but I got the feeling that it was almost wrong to admit to disliking Brokeback Mountain. Here's a couple of reviews that echo my thoughts about the film:
Utterly objectionable - and not for the reasons you'd think. Vito Russo's classic The Celluloid Closet exhaustively details how Hollywood films time and again deliver the same message about the fate of anyone who engages in "the love that dares not speak (or in the case of Ennis Del Mar, mumble) its name." The heterosexual norm can only be maintained if gay lovers either die or end up miserable and alone. Sound familiar? Brokeback Mountain is hardly any different than outdated films and books such as The Children's Hour, The Victim, The Well of Loneliness or even Cruising -all of which scholars agree remain interesting primarily as documents of society's antiquated and harmful views of homosexuality. Then there's the gay "esthetic" of the movie: a cinematic rendering of the pathetic "straight-acting, no fats, no femmes" personal ad, with more than a touch of sanitized Advocate Men fantasy fiction thrown in for good measure. I thought the real low point came about 3/4s the way through the movie when Jack, rebuffed by Ennis, goes to a third-world, film-noirish Mexico to seek out furtive, shadowy sex on what seems to be a leftover set from Touch of Evil. The year is roughly 1978. Yes, the height of the disco era. I guess a weekend in L.A. or Dallas would have out of the question for him. At this point the movie has its heels so firmly planted in the recidivistic 1950s celluloid closet of its own making, there's simply no hope. The movie does raise some interesting questions however: Were there any gay people involved in the scripting or making of this film? Were there really no gay actors available to play these parts? (Doth I protest too much? Ask yourself this question: how would the public react to a movie about two inner city black girls that was written by Ben Stein and acted by Paris Hilton and Gwyneth Paltrow....) Leaving us finally to deal with message of the movie's sub-plot: closeted gay fathers - in their quests to remain eternal Peter Pans - pose a threat to the institutions of family and marriage. I can't imagine a message we need less right now in America! The hype machines have been in overdrive about how this is a "mainstream" gay film where "A-list" heterosexual actors, writers, authors, etc. are "unafraid" to openly address gay issues. Doesn't that sound suspiciously like kind of self-interested condescension that led recording artists in the `50s with nothing of their own to say to cover the hits of Ray Charles and Little Richard to "sanitize" them for white ears?
- D. Scott
After all the hype about this movie I guess I set my expectations too high. I was expecting "an epic love story" like the trailers and reviews tout it to be. I don't remember anywhere in the entire film the word "love" being mentioned. Ennis and Jack certainly never said it... to each other or to their wives or their kids. I was expecting to watch these two guys unexpectedly fall madly, head over heels, kick up your boots, thank your lucky stars in love with each other. What I ended up watching was two drunks get it on `cuz they were horny and didn't have anything else to do between shootin' coyotes and tacklin' sheep. Then they spend the rest of their miserable lives cheating on their wives, abandoning their kids, and arguing about why they should or shouldn't make a life together. Undoubtedly the sense of longing to be together was conveyed, but for what? Love? Sorry, none to be had here.The only redeeming quality of this film is that the scenery is stunning; however, the acting was average. I never felt emotionally attached to anyone except Michelle Williams's character, Alma. My personal opinion is, if you think you might be gay; don't expect getting married to a woman to fix it. You simply ruin your life, her life and the lives any kids that are created in the process. I left the theater with an extreme sense of emptiness.
I had hoped that somewhere in this wretched mess that someone would end up with a scrap of happiness. However, the best they could do was to have Alma Jr. to get her daddy to come to her wedding. So much for resolution.
I was told by a friend, "Life doesn't always have a happy ending..." I'm a gay man in the 21st century; if I want to experience life, I don't think I Ang Lee's help to do it.
Needless to say, I didn't write my own review. My writing is exceptionally poor and Mr. Scott & Mr. Mosher conveyed my feelings in better, albeit lengthy, ways than I ever could.
Comments
What is it with women and Opera?
Heh, I don't know. It could be worse, though - I don't watch her everyday or anything, I just think she's pretty awesome.
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