Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Dealing With the Brokeback Non-Believers
Phillip Dampier:
--- Quote from: John Passaniti on March 01, 2006, 10:59:29 am ---Does the following sound familiar?
"It is my feeling that a story is not finished until it is read,
and that the reader finishes it through his or her life
experience, prejudices, world view and thoughts." -- Annie Proulx
Why assume that just because your friend is gay and in a relationship that he would "get" any of the themes in the film? Being gay (and even being in a relationship) doesn't automatically grant the individual depth or empathy, and it doesn't free the individual from having an agenda.
--- End quote ---
In order to finish the story, you actually have to understand it. When a conclusion is based on factually inaccurate information, it's not much different that the people who are "finishing the story" by never seeing the film in the first place. I don't mind if people bring different conclusions to the table, but let's at least make sure they are based on actual things in the film.
"The film was great up until Tom Cruise went to Ennis' trailer and told him his path to happiness would be to fight the alien invaders and then join the Church of Scientology." :-\ At times, taken to comedic extreme, that was what I was feeling I was hearing.
I have no doubt there will be a lot of people who will finish the story in their own lives when they slip the DVD into the rental return slot at Blockbuster. But I don't have to be happy knowing these people.
Impish:
--- Quote from: Phillip on February 28, 2006, 10:41:45 am --- He didn't actually go and see it in a theater, he saw it from one of those copies that suddenly and mysteriously appeared on his computer.
--- End quote ---
This makes me very suspicious. I don't think he did see BBM after all. He's just repeating tidbits he's heard from people....
Sounds to me like a gay friend of mine who is afraid of seeing BBM because he's been burned so many times before with gay-themed films. He's tired of it, and nothing I say will convince him to try one more time.
Aussie Chris:
--- Quote from: Phillip on March 01, 2006, 11:15:54 am ---I have no doubt there will be a lot of people who will finish the story in their own lives when they slip the DVD into the rental return slot at Blockbuster. But I don't have to be happy knowing these people.
--- End quote ---
Testify! *Claps and dances another jig*
Ok, ok, I'll be serious. :D The thing that just blows me away with this film is that people and groups, who are so desperately wanting to criticise BBM, are limited to vague or skewed interpretations that leave you wondering if they were watching the same film as everyone else. I'm not going to quote or link to a particular sectarian religion (who we all know is terrified that one small slip in their demonising might actually bring the whole thing crashing down) have trouble casting aspurtions beyond a principled, albeit paraphrased, "as good a film as BBM is, we cannot condone it because it goes against our beliefs - and don't forget they were adulterers".
But back to Dealing with the BB Non-Believers. Well one thing that I have tried to keep in mind is there have been many films in my life that trusted friends have loved and I haven't, even if we both like the genre, and I haven't really been able to explain why. Maybe it was the timing, or my frame of mind, but there would be something about some films that I would find irritating, or worse, uninteresting. Rarely has there been a time when I could change my view of a film after this first conclusion, with the Princess Bride coming to mind as an example of an inital dislike turning to later enjoyment.
So I try to keep a balanced mind and accept that maybe this was their turn to see a film that I adore, but they cannot see why we love it? Maybe it's the simple fact that we love it SOOOOoooo much that is confounding the non-believers. It becomes a principle that they cannot allow them to appreciate it because in a way they feel like they no longer have a choice, since "giving in to absolute pleasure" would somehow also be admitting defeat or sound like they're jumping on the band wagon.
One thing though, I think that anyone that says they watched in on their PC does not quality IMO as having a valid opinion. If that was ok then next we'll start listening to people saying the scenery wasn't that good when they only viewed the film using their mobile phone!
Phillip Dampier:
--- Quote from: Impish on March 01, 2006, 06:39:42 pm ---
--- Quote from: Phillip on February 28, 2006, 10:41:45 am --- He didn't actually go and see it in a theater, he saw it from one of those copies that suddenly and mysteriously appeared on his computer.
--- End quote ---
This makes me very suspicious. I don't think he did see BBM after all. He's just repeating tidbits he's heard from people....
Sounds to me like a gay friend of mine who is afraid of seeing BBM because he's been burned so many times before with gay-themed films. He's tired of it, and nothing I say will convince him to try one more time.
--- End quote ---
I suspect he saw it. Whether he paid attention to it is another thing. He wouldn't lie to me about it. I am considering showing him the film scene by scene and then stopping it, discussing it, and then hitting the play button again. :)
Let's face it, there has been some real junk out there in gay cinema. A lot of it is overwrought soap opera low budget romance flicks with cliche dialogue. No thanks. The worst gay film I have seen was this awfully acted, videotaped film about a bunch of people who head to Hawaii to grieve over the loss of a close friend to AIDS who sit around a fire and... I don't know what word is right here... vent/lament/expose. It was unwatchable to me in part because of what I felt was terrible acting. The filmmakers never bothered to make sure viewers were invested emotionally in the characters either. For me, it was as easy to hit the off switch as it would be to flip a channel during a daytime chat show.
I am generally cynical about gay-targeted movies because there have been a lot of bad ones. But this one goes so far beyond any movie involving gay people, it's not even in the same league. It's like comparing Freddie Got Fingered to Gandhi.
Oh wait, that's probably not the analogy I wanted to make... :o
Well, yes it is, but for the right reasons!
twistedude:
Bob's perfect answer:
Last December, when nobody knew that everyone was going to see BBM, I recommended it to my sister, and added "and pleasse tell *** (sophisticated gay friend of hers) to see it, and I'd like to talk to him about it afterwards."
Sister: "Why on earth would *** be interested in a movie about gay cowboys?"
Just told Bob last night,. he said:
"Because he is a gay cowboy himself."
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