Brokeback Mountain

[cine]

b/c i genrally like people....

right, exactly, straight people. it's fine. really. you're in good company. only stupid people agree with gays and lesbians and their disgusting, filthy lifestyles.

[Pubrick]

take the time to look at the many pages we've all wasted arguing over something homophobic or otherwise misguided neon has said.

see what i mean.

[NEON MERCURY]

b/c i genrally like people....

right, exactly, straight people. it's fine. really. you're in good company. only stupid people agree with gays and lesbians and their disgusting, filthy lifestyles.

...and you guys thought i am hard-headed????

what does it take for you guys to understand?...evidently, i have to take it veeeeery slow for ya'll...

i have nothing against gay people as a whole...here i'll give you an example:

let's say i am walking out to my car after work...and i some gay dude asks me for help jump starting his car..what would i do?

a.)  tell him to "fuck off faggot"
b.)  say "sure" and help out in any way possible
c.)  procede to perform fellatio on him

...if you answered "b", then you are correct,if you answered otherwise..then you are an idiot..and still dont understand my position..

but i have my own theory..i think once somebody mentions that hey dont agree w/the gay lifestyle..you guys immediately think of that person as a homophobe..and that is sad...wake the fuck up...

take the time to look at the many pages we've all wasted arguing over something homophobic or otherwise misguided neon has said.

see what i mean.

well, if people here can comprehend ..then we wouldn't be wasting time/pages/life...i'm just defending my position.

[cine]

sorry, i don't agree with a neo-conservative's lifestyle. 

[Pubrick]

i don't think anyone seriously cares this much at this point. now let's laugh more at this heading..

http://imdb.com/news/wenn/2006-03-29/

that top headline just made me laugh. a lot.

and share some love in the Xixax Womb.. but not the creepy Notes From Sexual Intercourse thread. *shudders*

[NEON MERCURY]

sorry, i don't agree with a neo-conservative's lifestyle. 

a-hah!,    ...touche

i guess that ends it...sorry, for wasting anyone's time...

[neon]-----> <--------[xixax]

[pete]

uh, did anyone notice that "gay honor" has changed to "glaad" honor?  maybe someone's answered this already.  I dunno, I'm drifting in and out of fever.

[bonanzataz]

uh, did anyone notice that "gay honor" has changed to "glaad" honor?  maybe someone's answered this already.  I dunno, I'm drifting in and out of fever.

shit, pete. you're right. some fag must've complained and now it's not funny anymore.

[godardian]

Great Gay Honor awaits the next person who posts something here that is actually about the movie Brokeback Mountain....

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

Brokeback Mountain wasn't just the setup of a gay joke, it was a movie too?

[godardian]

1. There is an absolutely appalling "remix EP" of Gustavo Santaolalla's Brokeback Mountain theme on iTunes. Long disco versions. Who allowed this? It's terrible aesthetically and kind of an affront. Stupid remixers can't leave anything alone. It's sheer camp in a way the movie thankfully comes nowhere close to being.

2. In the film, did you interpret Jack's death to be certainly at the hands of murderous gay-bashers, or was that conjecture in Ennis's devastated imagination? I thought it was supposed to be maybe what happened, maybe not, and after reading the story, it still doesn't seem like it was definitely true, though the thought on Ennis's part is still there. I guess part of what made it so heartbreaking for me is that he would never even have any way to know what the real circumstances were--but this was me assuming that the flashes of murder were in Ennis's head and not meant to be taken as a direct representation of "actual" events in the film...?

[grand theft sparrow]

2. In the film, did you interpret Jack's death to be certainly at the hands of murderous gay-bashers, or was that conjecture in Ennis's devastated imagination? I thought it was supposed to be maybe what happened, maybe not, and after reading the story, it still doesn't seem like it was definitely true, though the thought on Ennis's part is still there. I guess part of what made it so heartbreaking for me is that he would never even have any way to know what the real circumstances were--but this was me assuming that the flashes of murder were in Ennis's head and not meant to be taken as a direct representation of "actual" events in the film...?

I agree with you.  What we saw was a visual representation of Ennis' guilt.  Some part of Ennis was never OK with his relationship with Jack, largely because of that experience as a child that is mirrored in what we see "happen" to Jack.  But I think that Jack died exactly as his wife said.  What we see is both Ennis taking the blame for Jack's death ("he'd still be alive if he never met me") and seeing Jack's death as his (Ennis') punishment for being gay, as it is a worse fate than being killed for being gay.

godardian, is that written into the screenplay?

[godardian]

godardian, is that written into the screenplay?

Yes...I suppose I could have just looked there in the first place. It is meant to be ambiguous, but more about Ennis. Here it is:

"EXT: RIVERTON, WYOMING: PAY TELEPHONE: DAY: CONTINUOUS: 1982:

WE'VE left LUREEN, and the screen holds only on ENNIS.

ENNIS can't answer right away. He wonders, suddenly, if it was the tire iron:

SHARP CUT TO

ENIIS'S POV: MIDDLE OF NOWHERE: DUSK: CONTINUOUS: 1982:

A FLASH--JUST A SECOND OR TWO--ENNIS and WE SEE, in the evening shadows, a MAN [my note: not necessarily Jack] being beaten unmercifully by THREE ASSAILANTS, one of whom uses a tire iron.

SHARP CUT BACK TO

EXT: RIVERTON, WYOMING: PAY TELEPHONE: DAY: CONTINUOUS: 1982:

The huge sadness of the northern plains rolls down upon ENNIS. He doesn't know which way it was, the tire iron--or a real accident, blood choking down JACK's throat and nobody to turn him over" (87-88).

[MacGuffin]

Wal-Mart Won't Quit "Brokeback"

Brokeback Mountain just rode into Red State terrority.

Wal-Mart has begun selling the DVD of Ang Lee's gay cowboy flick this week, despite vehement protests from the ultraconservative American Family Association.

The world's largest retailer announced it will not only carry the Academy Award-winning film in all 3,900 U.S. locations, but the chain will also prominently display posters of Brokeback stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in its storefronts.

Such a decision has prompted the Tupelo, Mississippi-based AFA to launch a campaign accusing Wal-Mart of backing a pro-gay agenda. The organization posted a message on its Website asking "concerned Christians to let their local Wal-Mart managers know how they feel and that they are not pleased over the chain's decision to promote and carry the pro-homosexual movie."

"It wasn't even a blockbuster movie, so if Wal-Mart isn't trying to push an agenda, why would they put it at the front door?" Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the association, told the Los Angeles Times.

Apparently Sharp didn't get the memo that Brokeback was the most critically lauded film of 2005, won three Oscars, lassoed $83 million at the box office and became a cultural touchstone

"Wal-Mart is trying to help normalize homosexuality in society," Sharp said. "But how many copies are they going to have to sell to recruit the losses of customers who they've offended and will no longer shop at Wal-Mart?"

But Wal-Mart rejects that characterization. A rep for the company argued that stocking Brokeback is good business.

"Wal-Mart provides movie selections in our stores and online, recognizing that a broad segment of our customer base wants to buy the latest titles," company spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart said in a statement. "We serve a broad customer base and therefore offer an expansive assortment of movie titles to meet the needs of the diverse consumers that shop our stores."

The American Family Association, which claims a membership of 3 million and is one of the leading conservative Christian watchdogs, has a history of pressuring Wal-Mart.

And the retail chain has often been more than accommodating, refusing to carry funnyman George Carlin's bestseller When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops? and canceling orders of Daily Show host Jon Stewart's America because both included supposedly offensive images that weren't in line with the chain's family-friendly policies. Wal-Mart has also pulled numerous magazines from its racks deemed too racy by the AFA and doesn't stock CDs and videogames that feature "mature" content.

Last month, the AFA issued an action alert against Ford, urging its members to boycott the car company because the car maker wanted to advertise in gay publications such as The Advocate.

Fighting against the American Family Association's anti-Brokeback initiative, the pro-gay Ultimate Brokeback Forum recently announced a Web-based campaign to place the Brokeback DVDs in 2,000 rural libraries in the U.S. and Canada, and has called on fans around the world to donate copies of the DVD to libraries in their area. Members of the online forum also ran an ad in the Mar. 10 edition of Daily Variety, hailing Brokeback as a work that's "transforming people's lives."

They can now add Wal-Mart to their thank-you list.

In keeping with its founder's vision of offering quality products at great prices, Wal-Mart--one of America's largest DVD retailers--is offering Brokeback at the bargain rate of $16.87.

[grand theft sparrow]

Members of the online forum also ran an ad in the Mar. 10 edition of Daily Variety, hailing Brokeback as a work that's "transforming people's lives."

I really wish I could believe that it's "transforming people's lives" in the way that some people think it is.  My mother, for example... she said her boyfriend's eyes were opened to racism because of... you know... The Film Whose Name We Dare Not Speak, but all she could say coming out of Brokeback was, "It wasn't so good.  If it was a man and a woman, it wouldn't be interesting at all."  Despite my trying to explain to her that a man and a woman wouldn't have the same problems, even if they were married to other people, and that she - regardless of her homophobic tendencies - should have been affected by the universal themes of love and loss, she still wouldn't get it.  It's not that she can't get it, she just won't get it.  She doesn't see it as a similar type of discrimination as racism.  Frustrating. 

So whenever I hear someone say, "It's so important," "It's changing the way people think," etc., I feel bad because I get this feeling that the only people getting it are the ones who already got it to begin with.