lobolance

Radical conservatives say *Brokeback Mountain* is promoting the "gay lifestyle" and corrupting an American icon.

A lot of gay folks express outrage that the movie is being accepted... because it is tragic, they believe.

It is true it is tragic, and it's true, as we know, that acceptance comes in waves; and tragedy follows a first appearance of minorities as murderers and crazy people. ;-) And there's humor following tragedy, and then something like acceptance. Circle out, circle in... all the cycles are happening at one time right now. So let's notice there are some signs of real acceptance out there too (as well as continued f'ing hate crimes... right here in San Jose on Christmas Eve). And yes there are joyful gay-themed movies, and I love them (saw *A Touch of Pink* last week and was delighted). Yet tragedy is a part of gay person's life, just as joy is, just as both of those are part of any human's life.

Still... the reason the movie is successful, IMO?
It's beautiful.
It deals with American icons... cowboys.
It deals with an American reality rarely seen... rural povety (it's in my family's past, I bet it's in yours, too).
It's a tragic romance.

And that last is the answer to both versions of outrage, I think. This is a basic human story, another type of *Romeo and Juliet* if you will, with the social restrictions writ much larger. And that's the core of why it's popular... most of us know what it's like to have to hide love (even, a nerd's love for a jock), let alone those of us with a "love that dare not speak its name". It's nothing special, it's everyone's experience. Which is what excellent storytelling is about.

For myself, there were uncomfortable moments. Because I recognized some of my own traits, particularly in Jack fucking Twist. And I recognized some of the traits of an ex in Ennis. It made me sad that we weren't more free of old social constraints (good ghod, the constraints are nothing as threatening those the characters in the film face, but some of the core is the same). But there it was... not a joyful recognition, a painful one, and for that, very human. What a thing for art to accomplish!

And the beauty was there too, in the movie characters attempt to love, as it was for the ex and I, as it is in all people who do the best they can at giving love a shot (however "inadequate" that shot may look from the outside, and regardless of how successful the shot is in the end). Heck, that loss is a core experience. And those are other parts of why the movie has gotten good reviews.

Let's not forget the author, E. Annie Proulx, not exactly known for pandering to anyone (and Larry McMurtry worked on the script). Though I haven't read the story the movie is based on (yet).

There is a lot of sorrow and beauty in the world.

... I can't believe how much I've posted of late.