speaking as a straight married woman, I found the marriages in the film very believeable and essential to the film. Ennis is not only tragic because he is gay in a world full of hate for gays, he is also tragic because he is poor and rural with kids he can barely support. The marriages in this film add a dimension that shows how alienated both men were in the worlds they were forced to live in. It's a good blog you've got here (I've had you blogrolled for a while) I'm glad you are writing about this film. Keep blogging and keep the faith.
speaking as a straight married woman, I found the marriages in the film very believeable and essential to the film. Ennis is not only tragic because he is gay in a world full of hate for gays, he is also tragic because he is poor and rural with kids he can barely support. The marriages in this film add a dimension that shows how alienated both men were in the worlds they were forced to live in. It's a good blog you've got here (I've had you blogrolled for a while) I'm glad you are writing about this film. Keep blogging and keep the faith.
thank you...and as a general note, my onsite blogroll is waaaay behind, as i'm going to be switching away from blogger soon and have no desire to do that work twice. RSS reader, that's another matter. 
Anyhow. I should clarify to say that i thought the marriages were believable...but that in showing them as they were, they served primarily to define the men's alienation/tragedy and didn't equally substantiate the right of the women not to be trapped in silent destruction.
thank you...and as a general note, my onsite blogroll is waaaay behind, as i'm going to be switching away from blogger soon and have no desire to do that work twice. RSS reader, that's another matter.
Anyhow. I should clarify to say that i thought the marriages were believable...but that in showing them as they were, they served primarily to define the men's alienation/tragedy and didn't equally substantiate the right of the women not to be trapped in silent destruction.
I know what you mean wrt it'd be nice to have a mainstream gay love story that *didn't* end in tragedy.
Five Lesbian Brothers have a terrific piss-take on all the dirgelike movies with the Tragic Lesbean in them, from Madchen in Uniform to (gah) Children's Hour to "Well Of Loneliness" to all the lesbian pulp novels to whatever the fuck DH Lawrence? it was where the tree falls on 'er. "Brave Smiles: Another Lesbian Tragedy." it's like the Reduced Shakespeare version of all of those movies/books combined.
like, don't remember exact lines, but
"I'm so happy at last! I never thought I would be!"
"And I, darling, now that I've found you. Let me just step outside for a cigarette."
SCREECH SMASH
"omigod, she's been hit by a streetcar! she's *sob* d-d-d-DEADD..."
I know what you mean wrt it'd be nice to have a mainstream gay love story that *didn't* end in tragedy.
Five Lesbian Brothers have a terrific piss-take on all the dirgelike movies with the Tragic Lesbean in them, from Madchen in Uniform to (gah) Children's Hour to "Well Of Loneliness" to all the lesbian pulp novels to whatever the fuck DH Lawrence? it was where the tree falls on 'er. "Brave Smiles: Another Lesbian Tragedy." it's like the Reduced Shakespeare version of all of those movies/books combined.
like, don't remember exact lines, but
"I'm so happy at last! I never thought I would be!"
"And I, darling, now that I've found you. Let me just step outside for a cigarette."
SCREECH SMASH
"omigod, she's been hit by a streetcar! she's *sob* d-d-d-DEADD..."
oo sc, lemme know how difficult it is to make the switch from the ghastly blogger for a relative tech-novice. i want to do it, too. blogger is teh suck.
oo sc, lemme know how difficult it is to make the switch from the ghastly blogger for a relative tech-novice. i want to do it, too. blogger is teh suck.
per Brokeback, though:
i actually agree that the women were more complex and sympathetic than that, esp. Ennis' wife.
per Brokeback, though:
i actually agree that the women were more complex and sympathetic than that, esp. Ennis' wife.
the switch should be pretty easy...as in, vegan kid is awesome and is helping me out. but more details to follow.
the switch should be pretty easy...as in, vegan kid is awesome and is helping me out. but more details to follow.
Can't we grow old once, or even just kiss in the last scene?
Aw.
Can't we grow old once, or even just kiss in the last scene?
Aw.
I'm so glad you brought this up, Sly Civilian. I think it's a good movie and had this queer girl rooting for Jack and Ennis to get together and stay together, even though the word DOOMED is telegraphed very clearly over every other scene. The short story by Annie Proulx is also quite moving. But the movie is not without its flaws.
One could say this story is about two men who fall in love but battle with external AND internalized homophobia. Yet we don't get the standard Hollywood meet-cute, dating/courting or anything that shows much of an emotional bond between Jack and Ennis. What we get are 'a couple of high-altitude f*cks once or twice a year'. Maybe that's directly related to the people involved in the relationship. Ennis is such a closed (as in withdrawn, uncommunicative) man, that he probably couldn't have a successful, loving, intimate relationship with anyone.
I was wondering the other day what separates Brokeback Mountain from some of the dreary, doomed lesbian love stories that have made their way to film (e.g., Lost and Delirious and several others that I don't remember the names of). Yeah, one big difference is that BM is about gay men. It was also not an indie movie like most gay films are - there was a world-famous director at the helm and two popular straight actors on the screen.
I guess I'm wondering if BM will prove to be the watershed moment in gay cinema that we've been waiting for buy convincing movie studios that there's a large audience willing to watch GLBT stories or if it will be seen as a period piece that just happened to be about gay men and dismissed as a fluke hit.
I'm so glad you brought this up, Sly Civilian. I think it's a good movie and had this queer girl rooting for Jack and Ennis to get together and stay together, even though the word DOOMED is telegraphed very clearly over every other scene. The short story by Annie Proulx is also quite moving. But the movie is not without its flaws.
One could say this story is about two men who fall in love but battle with external AND internalized homophobia. Yet we don't get the standard Hollywood meet-cute, dating/courting or anything that shows much of an emotional bond between Jack and Ennis. What we get are 'a couple of high-altitude f*cks once or twice a year'. Maybe that's directly related to the people involved in the relationship. Ennis is such a closed (as in withdrawn, uncommunicative) man, that he probably couldn't have a successful, loving, intimate relationship with anyone.
I was wondering the other day what separates Brokeback Mountain from some of the dreary, doomed lesbian love stories that have made their way to film (e.g., Lost and Delirious and several others that I don't remember the names of). Yeah, one big difference is that BM is about gay men. It was also not an indie movie like most gay films are - there was a world-famous director at the helm and two popular straight actors on the screen.
I guess I'm wondering if BM will prove to be the watershed moment in gay cinema that we've been waiting for buy convincing movie studios that there's a large audience willing to watch GLBT stories or if it will be seen as a period piece that just happened to be about gay men and dismissed as a fluke hit.
Macarena- As a participant in a relatively new relationship, i'm apparently given to saying very sappy things from time to time...
Didi- I hope that i made it clear that i actually did like the movie, but that one result of being engaged by the story is that i was actually paying attention enough to notice this stuff.
I don't know that it will get to claim watershed status...it's been very interesting and a little bit odd to see the way in which "playing gay" has been marketable and a sign of real authenticity for the actors, especially Ledger who was considered a bit of a cinimatic lightweight. I mean, "A Knight's Tale"...
Macarena- As a participant in a relatively new relationship, i'm apparently given to saying very sappy things from time to time...
Didi- I hope that i made it clear that i actually did like the movie, but that one result of being engaged by the story is that i was actually paying attention enough to notice this stuff.
I don't know that it will get to claim watershed status...it's been very interesting and a little bit odd to see the way in which "playing gay" has been marketable and a sign of real authenticity for the actors, especially Ledger who was considered a bit of a cinimatic lightweight. I mean, "A Knight's Tale"...
No, I understand that you enjoyed the movie while realizing it wasn't perfect. (Sorry if my babbling implied anything different or if I just plain misunderstood your post.) That's how I feel about the movie as well. It was very faithful to the short story which was wonderful. Proulx packed a lot into ten pages of text.
No, I understand that you enjoyed the movie while realizing it wasn't perfect. (Sorry if my babbling implied anything different or if I just plain misunderstood your post.) That's how I feel about the movie as well. It was very faithful to the short story which was wonderful. Proulx packed a lot into ten pages of text.
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