Brokeback Mountain
**Do not read this is you are looking forward to seeing the movie. I am going to ruin the ending for you. You have been warned.
Ok - apparently I need to turn in my gay card. You know the one I'm talking about - the card that allows you to identify as a gay person. You get this card by loving all things gay....you are so happy that you dance around for days when they release a new "gay themed" movie, TV show or book.
Apparently I am not worthy of the gay card.
I did not enjoy Brokeback Mountain. I didn't even like it.
There. I said it. The truth is, once the credits rolled, my first thought was "Well..there's two hours of my life I'll never get back." I wanted to like it. I wanted to love it so much that I would run out and buy it as soon as possible. I really wanted to.
But it bored me to tears. Almost into a coma. It was drab, lacking in substance and tragic for no actual reason. I mean seriously - did they NEED to kill him off? What was the point? The lesson? That the one guy was right and it wasn't worth the risk? That in the end what makes you happy...what makes you.. well....YOU will get you beat to death? That you need to pretend you are not who you are in order to fit in and then, it STILL gets you killed?
And will someone please tell me why the "base camp" needed to be an hour (by horseback) away from the sheep they were there to protect?
I don't get it. I seriously do not get the point of the movie. The back cover states: "a movie that is destined to become one of the great classics of our time". WHAT? Why? What was so stellar about it?
Is it liked by the community at large because it has a gay theme? Is that the only reason? Seriously people...is that the only reason? If it is, that's truly sad. We have a right to movies and books and tv shows that are uplifting, positive, supportive. If we want to be seen to the masses as people who live lives that mirror the general population (kids, bills, jobs, hobbies, happiness, joy, strife, etc) shouldn't we demand such?
Do we not have the right to see our lives, our families mirrored in movies in a positive manner?
Dakota argues my points (which are hard to convey here since I have to keep leaving and returning to my writing) saying the film was set in 1963. True - at the beginning it was 1963 but the movie spanned into the 80's. Couldn't it have been hard at first but then as time marched on, turned more positive? This was not based on actual events - it was fabricated so why couldn't the outcome have been more uplifting, more positive.
Dakota again argues the point (she does that a lot....case in point why being an attorney is so fitting) about Matthew Sheppard. How he was indeed killed for being gay. Probably not coincidently, the setting for both the movie and Matthew horrible death was Wyoming.
Ok. I can see that. But still.
So what about the rest of you? Have you seen the movie? What is your take?
13 comments:
Ok I'll chime in here. I saw Brokeback and thought it was going to be a good movie.I was disappointed, I thought it was good in the fact of how they struggled and then it got boring after that.They could have gotten together and showed the struggles from that point of view.I think the one thing I dislike the most is the typical stereotype of its all about sex.Its not, look at all of us here who have families and struggle everyday to be a family because we don't have the same rights. How about a real movie that displays how we really live and struggle?
I found it to be an interesting movie, thought Heath wasnt worthy of the award.
It was a "yawn" movie. Not sure I liked it at all.
I skipped over the whole post and am trying not to peek at the comments. I have not yet seen the movie. I have it in my Netflix queue and the status is currently "long wait" but I'm not anxious to see it anymore, anyway. I'm only going to see it really to say I have.
My main point here is to suggest, as a redemption for a disappointing movie (okay I read the first line of your post...) if you haven't already seen it, Walk the Line. I'm pushing this movie on everyone. I LOVE this movie. Met and far exceeded my expectations. Plug. Plug.
~mel
Tracey,
Yes - but don't be too jealous. Miss K didn't go to sleep until 9pm. We popped in the movie and watched it.....she woke up just at the end of it so it was lucky we got to watch it uninterrupted. Normally we start to watch a show, have to stop it so I can nurse her back to sleep, start the show again, stop it and bring her out to the couch to nurse and snooze.
Most of the time I end up watching TV or whatever with a sleeping, nursing baby on me.
:)
Mel,
Good to know. I haven't been wanting to see that movie but maybe I'll give it a chance. I grew up surrounded by Johnny Cash as my dad is a HUGE fan so frankly, having burned out on him. I'm a bit of a non-fan but maybe I'll check it out.
Kerry, I agree! On all points.
Kiles, thanks for chimming in with your view point. I'm glad it wasn't just me. :)
I saw it in the theater and right now have it from Netflix and am going to watch it today.
I think I liked it, but maybe because it was a gay movie (like the gay card made me like it or something).
I agree that we should demand more. for instance- L-word. Just about everyone I know hates it, but we watch it because it is gay. What other options do we have to see ourselves on TV? But really, my life doesn't look like any of their lives. I know they have to make it more dramatic than regular life, or else it wouldn't be on tv, but couldn't they make at least ONE character normal? But I digress.
Like I said, I'm going to watch it again and then I'll be able to give a better opinion. And why *was* the base camp so far away??
Oh, and I have to add that going to see this movie on a Saturday night at a mostly straight theater was not the best experience. At least 4-5 people got up and left during the sex scene, and several (men) made jokes on the way out about "never going fishing again". Puh-lease! you knew what this movie was about when you bought your tickets. If you knew you'd be uncomfortable, why did you see it? It really put a damper on it for me and Michele.
I have to agree with Mel that Walk the Line is a great movie. Just sent that one back to netflix :)
i saw it in the theater...liked it...cant say i *loved* it...but i liked it...i will own it eventually...not because i will ever watch it again, but because i want it in my collection...lol...
peace...
I didn't finish it yesterday...fell asleep. But I do remember something that bothered me about it last time. The guys don't seem to age. When Enis is with his grown up daughter, he doesn't look much older than she does. Can't they have gotten a better make up person?
You know, I have to come out of the closet too and admit that I just didn't really get what all the hoopla was about.
I mean, okay, there were a few moments here and there that were really touching, or really verging on something hugely poignant, or really tragic and emotional freight trains, but the film itself just didn't flow for me. I actually got up 3 times to get a drink or go pee and didn't even bother to pause the thing.
I was sadly disappointed and really surprised with Ledger's less than stellar performance. He was sickenly reminescent of SlingBlade and I'm just so over that hackneyed impersonation that I could barely stand not to cover my ears every time he spoke.
Anyway, so glad to hear others didn't care for it either. Don't plan on owning this one just like I don't own a single other "pro-gay" video just because it's gay (at least I don't think I do).
I AM still optimistically looking forward to watching TransAmerica, though.
AH-HA! Casey, guess what I found??? You'll definitely love THIS version. :)
Brokeback Mountain
Jo Anna
Okay I finally watched the movie last night so I can read and add my comments. I wasn't impressed, but I didn't dislike it as much as I expected.
I totally understand WHY they lived their lives as the they did and I know it was (is still?) very typical of the person who knows he/she is inclined one way but doesn't feel he/she can live the way he wants. So he/she lives a lie and it ends up damaging everyone around them. Sad but true. I don't condone the lying and cheating at all, but I think the portrait was accurate.
What really bugged me were the nearly comatose performance by Heath Ledger (perhaps that was intentional) and the shirt at the end. Ennis takes the old, bloody shirt from that first little love battle out of the closet, blue shirt over white. Later, when we see it hanging in his own closet, it's white shirt over blue. That's the kind of thing that bugs the crap out of me.
I'm still pushing Walk the Line. LOVE that movie. Johnny Cash fan or not, "something for everyone." Just a good old-fashioned love story with a much better ending than Brokeback.
~mel
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