The true reason

[Meryl]

I find it funny that the critic said the hunky guys were "talking about their feelings."  If they had actually done that, the movie might have had a different ending! 

[serious crayons]

I find it funny that the critic said the hunky guys were "talking about their feelings."  If they had actually done that, the movie might have had a different ending! 

Good point. A better way to put it might have been "expressing their feelings." Speaking of which, I've posted this before, but if anyone's interested here's an excellent essay by Meghan Daum in the LA Times discussing that very issue: that women like this movie because, for once, men show emotion.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-daum7jan07,0,3054088.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

[nakymaton]

Hmmmm. I would say it's more like "men having very strong feelings but not being overly dramatic about them."

And as for the "women between ages <nn> and <nn> who like to watch hunky young actors smooch"... ummm, I know a number of people who fit that description who saw BBM, thought it was a good movie, cried, and moved on to other interests. Some of them saw BBM more than once. Some of them discussed it quite a bit for a month or two. But it didn't push their buttons as much as it pushed mine.

[serious crayons]

But mention Brokeback and get shocked silence, quizzical stares and “Why did you go see that? Do you know someone who’s gay?”

Wow. They think you have to know a gay person just to go SEE the movie? Though the answer would be, "Of course, and you probably do, too."

By the way, the <nns> were 25 and 50.

That would include me. But from what I've seen on this board, he could have stretched the range quite a bit at either end.

[nakymaton]

Okay, maybe not Titanic. If you want a mainstream obsession--Star Trek. You can speak languages that didn’t exist 40 years ago, name your pet mosquito James Tiberius and quibble over the number of wrinkles someone put into his/her face makeup. The “normal” world will hardly notice.

Have you ever watched Trekkies? Out of the entire fannish contingent, the only people who were embarrassed to show their faces and voices were the women who read and wrote slash fan fiction.

For what it's worth.

[dly64]

By the way, the <nns> were 25 and 50.

Okay ... I fit into that demographic as well. But, Katherine is right .... it could have strecthed much further (in both directions).

[ednbarby]

“Though what 'Brokeback Mountain' amounts to, in effect, is female-targeted emotional pornography...”

I'm sorry (not really, actually), but what a dumbass.  Is he talking about Brokeback Mountain or Under the Tuscan Sun?  Good grief.

[serious crayons]

I'm sorry (not really, actually), but what a dumbass.  Is he talking about Brokeback Mountain or Under the Tuscan Sun?  Good grief.

Barb, it's a she: Meghan Daum, an essayist and lately, apparently, a columnist for the LA Times (this appeared on their op-ed page). She's writing from her own perspective. That is, that's how she responded to it (though I think she's being a tiny bit tongue-in-cheek in that quote).

Daum -- who is a good writer, BTW; I've got a collection of her essays -- focuses on how women appreciate the movie's emotional aspects, doesn't talk much about its other qualities. But to give her the benefit of the doubt, she seems to have liked the movie a lot and that probably wasn't the only reason why. See the link above, if you're interested in reading the whole piece.

You're right, that probably is an accurate description of Under the Tuscan Sun. Didn't work for me, though. Where were the hot young actors smooching? 

[Momof2]

I definitely do not consider BBM porn.  Obviously he has not seen any good porn.  I do know gay people but I do not think that is why this movie haunts me.  It touched me as a human not necessarily as a woman.  I would have liked to have seen a lot more of the two hunky actors smooching.  Maybe our hearts and minds would not be so obsessed with Jack and Ennis.  Who cares what he thinks. 

[nakymaton]

“Though what 'Brokeback Mountain' amounts to, in effect, is female-targeted emotional pornography...”

Maybe she should have called it "emotional erotica."