If society progresses more toward inclusion, then the film may be viewed as a somewhat soapy melodrama.
But to answer the question: I think critics and historians will continue to view BBM at the groundbreaking film that it is.
I think critics and historians will continue to view BBM at the groundbreaking film that it is.I have to agree. It think this will be looked back upon as one of the greates films of our time ecspecially in the gay community.
Yes, I think will definitely be the case regardless of what happens politically and socially in the real world. I really do think it will continue to stand up to many/most of the classic tragic romances in cinematic history.
I agree, Amanda. A tragedy it is, a "somewhat soapy melodrama" it isn't.
Isn't a wealth of opinions a great treasure to have?Yep, I think there'd be a whole lot less posts if everyone had the same opinion! LOL
Perhaps it's the fact that I can't sit through it again. I figure if I find it tedious at this point, what will it be like when I am approcahing 80?You need to watch it with someone! ;D
You need to watch it with someone! ;D
Perhaps it's the fact that I can't sit through it again. I figure if I find it tedious at this point, what will it be like when I am approcahing 80?
What difference would that make? I have watched it with many someone'sYou need to watch it with a special someone! :)
You need to watch it with a special someone! :)
it's value as a catalyst for change.It sure as hell changed me!
I think there are cinematic endeavors that did a better job at exposing the horrors of homophobia. I don't think that was ever the intent of the filmmakers on BBM anyway.
We could look to a couple of other examples, one being Boys in the Band, which was released in 1970. Kerry has posted much about this film. It was ground breaking in a number of ways as its intent, as I see it, was to portray homosexuals in a positive light.
You're kidding. ... Right? ???
I think Torch Song Trilogy really shows the homophobia gay people face.
No not at all. I didn't see and don't see it as a socially relevent film. It is a wonderfull piece of art, and as close to a perfectly crafted as a film can be, but if they meant for this film to act as a catalyst for change, it had to have been directed toward gay people and not toward those we wish to change.
Wow. You got a point their Scott.
I guess if we are gone change the world, we gotta start with ourselves, huh?
I think Torch Song Trilogy really shows the homophobia gay people face.
Give the man a cupie doll and a kiss on the cheek ;D
I agree, and I recall Proulx saying her story was about the effects of rural homophobia, which is how it effected me. So many of these stories have involved queerfolks in the big city. I think that is one way Brokeback will be remembered: it showed rural homophobia, the story being published a year before the death of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming.Wow! I had no idea it was a year before that.
Wow! I had no idea it was a year before that.
Boy, if that didn't drive the point home I don't know what would.
That poor sweet boy! :'(
Proulx herself was called to be on the jury for the trial of his murderers. She didn't have to serve.
Proulx herself was called to be on the jury for the trial of his murderers. She didn't have to serve.
No not at all. I didn't see and don't see it as a socially relevent film.
It is a wonderfull piece of art, and as close to a perfectly crafted as a film can be, but if they meant for this film to act as a catalyst for change, it had to have been directed toward gay people and not toward those we wish to change.
I think, and I'll have to check when I get home to be sure, but I think it is in the Story to Screenplay book she speaks about it.
Man I been at this so long it is starting to get fuzzy.
So you're saying this film is socially irrelevant?
You don't think it can--and does--do both? There seems to be anecdotal evidence that it does.
Nope, not in the STS book. Must have been somewhere else.
No. I am saying that I personally don't think this film advanced the fight for gay rights in my life. In fact, based on the jokes and ribbing I have heard since its release, quite the opposite.
Again, in my personal experience, it did very little to shed light on the struggles and horrors that I have faced as a gay man. No one has come up to me and said, "Was it like that for you?" They have however said, "You gonna become a cowboy now?"
This film will always be important to me for the humanist teachings it portrays: for the lessons about personal accountability, and ownership of ones life and life choices, but, it is not important to me for the boost it gave to my fight for equal rights under the law.
In MAKING LOVE, you have a successful doctor with a nice wife, who seems to have it all, but leaves her for a MAN! Even then, it's more of a coming out story then a gay love story. However, given how Hollywood used to portray gays as being swishy and holding marginal jobs, MAKING LOVE was an icebreaker. Unfortunately, it was still a mediocre film and didn't garner much attn at the boxoffice. Many did watch it on HBO or SHOWTIME from what I remember.
Okay here is an article in the Village Voice that mentions it:
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0548,winter,70454,20.html
However it would be good to have some other confirmation of it, I will work on it some more this evening.
Wow. You got a point their Scott.
I guess if we are gone change the world, we gotta start with ourselves, huh?
DO hope there is never a remake. Sometimes a classic is best left untouched. By 2035 Hollywood will start looking at successful films in the first decade of the 21rst century and wonder if BBM would be an excellent candidate for a remake.
I agree. I don't see BBM as a film about homophobia unless we mean homophobia against oneself. If you think about it, the only shows of outside homophobia are when Ennis talks about the rancher that was killed with the tire iron that his father showed him and his vision of how Jack was killed. The rest of the movie rests on Ennis' own fear of how others will see him if they knew. Granted, more than likely, others would not approve, but that is never actually shown. There are indications of homophobia, but the other characters never come out and say things against homosexuality. Even Alma's "Jack Nasty" doesn't show much more than jealousy. She could have said a lot worse about Jack and Ennis. That's my thoughts anyway.
I think you pretty well zeroed in on it there Jack. I can really see where most of that struggle took place in Ennis' head.
"I wish," Proulx said. "But one year after the story was published, Matthew Shepard was killed less than [48 kilometres] from where I live. I was called to be on the jury for one of the killers."[/i]
Does the homophobia need to be verbalized for it to exist?? No doubt there were and still are alot of unspoken rules. Jack and Ennis are both closeted. What would have happend if they has lived together or at least been more open about their relationship. Would Ennis have been allowed to see his daughters if he was living with a man? Would they have been harassed by their neighbors. Would someone have gone out one night and shot their livestock if they did have a cattle and calf operation. No doubt they could have faced social ostracizing or worse. Best bet would have been to move to Denver... That wasn't going to happen.
Ennis and Jack lived in very ignorant times. No doubt they had their share of internalized homophobia as they both can't deal with the queer label.
It may become a ground-making film, but it will remain anti-gay!! In more than one way!
More and more will see it as an anti-gay movie... unfortunately or fortunately.
I believe that it could and must be replaced by a better one still, and be pro-gay much more if it is a gay one now!!
The democratic countries (such as the USA, Canada, England and France, among others) are fast becoming un-democratic and will be ANTI-GAY unfortunately because of letting islamic so-called religion(s) con and rule us and destroy us (murder not only gays neither who will line up); I fear and see now!! Therefore, this BM movie will be NOT shown anymore in such islamic countries as will be the USA, Canada, England, and France!!
What do you think?
Hugs!
I honestly can't think of one thing that makes Brokeback Mountain anti-gay, Artiste. I really can't. ???
30 years from now....What a great perspective! I never thought of it like that!
It will be interesting to see what Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger will say about the film as the years pass.
I must admit that I'm NOT against a remake (or two or three or four) down the centuries... This story ranks among the finest and most important ever written. If Romeo and Juliet get endlessly pawed over, why not Brokeback Mountain? A new generation of actors. Different nuances emphasized from the book. And why not a great stage play that school drama departments can mount... endlessly bringing the story to life?
"As long as we can ride it..."
In the Mood for Love?? Is that same love between two men?No, that's a love story between a man and a woman.
30 years from now....
It will be interesting to see what Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger will say about the film as the years pass.
I must admit that I'm NOT against a remake (or two or three or four) down the centuries... This story ranks among the finest and most important ever written. If Romeo and Juliet get endlessly pawed over, why not Brokeback Mountain? A new generation of actors. Different nuances emphasized from the book. And why not a great stage play that school drama departments can mount... endlessly bringing the story to life?
"As long as we can ride it..."
That would be awesome.
Thanks jstephens9!
I like very much your statement and views!
Belong too much pro-violence in the Brokeback Mountain movie as I see it, what I found mainly disconcerning (is that the word or is it discrediting?)... is that a great many ladies (and likely others too) see it MAINLY as these 2 men being BAD because they married ladies!! ??
What do you think of that? And you all?
Hugs!!
............ It would be wonderful to know that it becomes celebrated that two people can love each other without it mattering what gender they happen to be. There are way too many problems in the world for people to spend useful their time on rather than condemning and making jokes of people for love.