Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
TOTW 18/07: Do you think classic cowboy icons like the "Marlboro Man" were proto
injest:
--- Quote from: atz75 on December 10, 2007, 09:22:54 pm ---Well, I have to disagree with this. I think that these images are carefully cultivated... especially when you look at the Marlboro Man examples. They're not only carefully dressed... they're carefully posed in certain postures. Often with the head down, etc. I'm sure each of these ad shots took hours and hours to groom. And the ad campaign that went on for so long evolved and changed with the times. And, when you look at how perfect James Dean's hair is below his hat... you know that's not natural.
And, with film, the tradition and genre of the western has a complex history visually. I think it does a dis-service to the BBM filmmakers and to Heath as an actor to think that there was no thought given to precedents and certain traditions.
To me the interesting thing is how to think about the iconic images (like the Marlboro Man and James Dean) as deliberate acts of constructing a certain image of masculinity. And, then to think about how Ennis's character is conceived of either fitting directly in with the conventions of those images or de-stabilizing those conventions some how. Or how Ennis possibly uses the image of an iconic cowboy as a mask to hide behind.
--- End quote ---
Del's point was that Marlboro man imitated the way men dressed in real life out west. and that is the simple truth...whether or not BBM conciously decided to imitate Marlboro or the original that the ad people copied is open to debate. I don't see how you could differentiate between copying the original or copying the copy.
I take pics at the rodeos and at reining competitions and team pennings...places where men that wear Carharts and western hats everyday as their clothes (not costumes) and they all hold their heads and themselves very similarly to how Ennis did. They all use that brim the way Ennis did to hide expression or avoid eye contact. Yes, the Marlboro man ads are carefully staged and costumed....to look like ranchers and cowboys...
injest:
oh and the perfect hair thing?? wear a cowboy hat everyday for six months or so and see if your hair doesn't start having just the 'right' wave here and curl there...
LauraGigs:
I think it's kind of a strange question: the Marlboro Man and the character of Ennis were each meant to look like ranchers, so they would inevitably resemble each other, right??
EDIT: ^Sorry, I must have been in a snarky mood when I wrote that. What I meant to say is that I understand the points made here about art imitating life, and copying the original/copying the copy. In other words, when you have a common point of origin for a character (such as the American cowboy), all imitators will have certain traits in common without necessarily having influenced each other.
(I would also point out that Billy Crudup and Joaquin Phoenix were each considered for the part of Ennis, and Ledger was initially considered for the part of Jack. So I might hesitate to conclude that there was a strong physical James Dean/Ennis connection in the minds of the filmmakers, at least in the early stages.)
Anyway, it has been written that if there is any iconic cowboy imagery that directly affected the creation of Ennis' exterior, it would be this, from Richard Avedon's In the American West :
LauraGigs:
In fact, Annie Proulx wrote a short article about this photo series in the Guardian : http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1648674,00.html
retropian:
This is Richard Wheatcroft. His portrait was taken by Richard Avedon in June 1981 for his series of portraits "In the American West."
Look at his expression and attire, I see Ennis.
Edit: Oop's I didn't see Lauragigs post! She beat me to it!
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