BetterMost, Wyoming & Brokeback Mountain Forum
Our BetterMost Community => Chez Tremblay => Topic started by: ednbarby on October 18, 2006, 12:05:12 pm
-
This is the "Movie Mom's Review" in Yahoo! Movies. The B+ (hunh???) rating aside, I think it's a beautifully written piece for the most part. My question is do you agree with her assessment that we didn't get to see enough of Jack's home life and relationships aside from his with Ennis? I disagree, but I think it's an interesting point of view and one I've not seen any other reviewer make before. I also like that she picks up on some of the most important aspects of the movie in her section on what parents watching with kids might want to talk with them about afterwards (was she a high school literature teacher in a past life, I wonder?).
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808403312/parentsguide (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808403312/parentsguide)
Director Ang Lee is a master of repressed love whether between young Taiwanese men in The Wedding Banquet, Jane Austen's class-conscious Brits in Sense & Sensibility, duty-bound warriors in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or even monsters and scientists in The Hulk. Lee's delicate touch and poetic cinematography take Annie Proulx's 30-page story about cowboys who fall into a crevasse of tragic forbidden love, and expands it into a hauntingly bittersweet two-hour-plus visual feast of lingering melancholy and fragile snapshots of happiness against the lonely backdrop of despair.
As in the short story, the main character, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger in a pitch perfect spot-on performance) scrounges up work one summer by herding sheep for a dismissive rancher (Randy Quaid) up at the spectacular vistas of Brokeback Mountain. He is sent out to this task with another poor cowboy, the aspiring rodeo competitor Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) whose easy companionship is a salve for orphaned Ennis' isolation. When they unexpectedly become much more than friends, they build the foundations of a life-long love that will haunt and change them both forever.
The film lingers over that first summer in 1963 and their passionate reunion four years later, then it speeds by 20 years of their respective life signposts including marriages, children, divorce, jobs, in-laws, relationships; ordinary lives punctuated by their semi-annual weeklong "fishing" trips into the mountains.
Ennis is dragged down by duty as he attempts to make ends meet and to keep together the pretense of a marriage and then of a bachelorhood. In near total emotional isolation, he keeps a white-knuckled lock on his feelings, which bubble up in tenderness towards his daughters and threaten to erupt in violence against anyone else.
Jack, meanwhile, is the more needy heart, stumbling into a marriage to a cowboy princess with a wealthy father. It takes him from the adrenaline highs of rodeo-riding to the confining job of a combine salesman. It is he who cannot comprehend Ennis' inability to see a world where they could be together. Where Ennis gives all he can, Jack wants so much more. The results tear them up inside and the bitterness ripples through both their lives to a final, moving conclusion.
While groundbreaking and beautiful, this movie falters a step when its slow and deliberate pace nevertheless fails to take the audience into an admittedly very private love beyond their time together on the mountain. Jack is a complicated character and, with the exception of the scene where he confronts his father-in-law, his character development later in the film seems uneven and his hold on Ennis less tenable, perhaps because Lee leaves so much to be said in the silences. We see him going to Mexico to cruise for sex, but we do not see him unguarded with his parents, Ennis or even with wife Lureen (Anne Hathaway) to give us the understanding that we get from Ennis' scenes with his wife (Michelle Williams) and their daughters.
The depth of all the characters, it should be said, is one of the movie's many strengths: there is not a person here who does not easily deserve his or her story to be told, especially Lureen (Anne Hathaway), Alma (Michelle Williams), Mrs. Twist (Roberta Maxwell) and Alma Junior (Kate Mara).
And another strength is the simplicity and strong symbolism of the way the story is told. Up on Brokeback Mountain, Jack and Ennis make the rules. At first they do what the rancher told them, camping out near the sheep in violation of the law. But then they understand that they may not own the place or the sheep, but they are in charge and can decide what is right for them -- until they have to come down from the mountain and abide by the rules of society. The story-telling is so plain and straightforward that, like the characters' feelings for one another, at first you do not realize how powerful it is. But by the conclusion, with its definitive, heart-wrenching portrayal of what will always be divided and what can never be, audiences will realize that the story has entered its souls. This movie benefits from world-class talent as Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Larry McMurtry, keeps the cowboy feel authentic while adapting the screenplay from fellow Pulitzer-winner Proulx's short story, all under the direction of Oscar winner Lee. With fine performances by all and an Oscar-worthy scope, "Brokeback Mountain" is a solid addition to the canon of tragic loves and it is an immensely moving portrait of joy begetting sadness, pain and fleetingly a small and fragile ray of hope.
Parents should know that the movie deals with mature issues, including bigotry, homosexuality, and adultery. There is nudity, sex between committed couples, adultery, references to prostitution. Characters use frequent profanity, they drink and smoke, in one scene they use drugs. Characters drink to excess, they get violent, and they brawl. There is the frequent threat of brutality and a brief scene of a bloody murder. A character gives an explicit account of torture and murder. There are angry and violent fight scenes between couples.
Families who see this movie should talk about the hope and despair that follow in the wake of a life-changing encounter. When Ennis describes how this one relationship had made him who he was, how might he imagine that he would have been different if he had never gone up on to Brokeback Mountain? In the scene in the trailer with "Junior", how is Ennis different and what might this foretell about his future? Why is the question Ennis asks her so important? Do you think Ennis and Jack's story would change today versus when the story is taking place?
Visual cues in this movie are very important and families might talk about these subtle touches, such as the way Ennis' life shrinks as seen by ever smaller interior spaces, about the smiles -few and far between-and who they are between, and about eye contact, which Ennis in his isolation uses sparingly and Jack in his recklessness uses often.
Families looking for more of Lee's elegant storytelling and atmospheric beauty will enjoy his early Taiwanese movies, especially Eat Drink Man Woman and the aforementioned Wedding Banquet. For those looking for more big sky, cowboy stories, McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a splendid read and the miniseries is very well done.
A partial list of other films on the theme of socially unacceptable loves and the emotional wreckage that can ensue would include: the moving Boys Don't Cry, the multi-tissue infidelity study Breaking the Waves, the lifelong affair of Same Time Next Year, or the inter-racial/homosexual loves in Far from Heaven. All of these movies have mature themes and are not for the very young or more sensitive viewers.
-
Jack is a complicated character and, with the exception of the scene where he confronts his father-in-law, his character development later in the film seems uneven and his hold on Ennis less tenable, perhaps because Lee leaves so much to be said in the silences. We see him going to Mexico to cruise for sex, but we do not see him unguarded with his parents, Ennis or even with wife Lureen (Anne Hathaway) to give us the understanding that we get from Ennis' scenes with his wife (Michelle Williams) and their daughters.
I suppose I would have liked to see more, much much more, of both Jack's and Ennis's lives. Certainly Jack with his parents, Jack and Lureen with their friends (for I cannot imagine that they did not have some sort of regular social life, with their affluence and position in the local community)....... I also would have liked to see more of Ennis with his family. That is, his brother and sister and their spouses and offspring and so forth... I imagine they must have kept in some kind of contact. I'd certainly have liked to see more of Jack and Lureen too. But I do think we do get to witness quite a lot of their married life, - the development in their relationship over the years and their relationship with their son is illustrated well through the scenes we do get to see, IMO.
But however much I'd personally have loved to see hours upon untold hours of Ennis and Jack with others, and certainly with each other, I completely trust Ang Lee. I trust him in that I bellieve he's showing us the events that are required and important in making Ennis and Jack the people they are, the events, small and large, that form and develop them and their relationship and their lives, the events that serve to characterize the trend in their development as human beings over the years..... the events that complete them as real people. Which also means leaving a fair amount of ambiguity in, never making grand sweeping one-dimansional statements about them through the scenes we get to see - because that is not how real persons are....
Sometimes these are seemingly insignificant events, sometimes it's no more than a glance or a single word, or a shimmering teardrop....... but still I completely believe that they are the scenes we do *need* to form a deep and real understanding of the characters Ennis and Jack; - while more conventionally "big events" like for instance Jack's and Lureen's wedding, the actual birth of both the guys' children, family get-togethers, etc. etc. are by and large passed by. We know they happened, we can infer they didn't mean as much as the big and small scenes we do get to see. The emotional impact is not based on the outward-seeming significance.
Parents should know that the movie deals with mature issues, including bigotry, homosexuality, and adultery. There is nudity, sex between committed couples, adultery, references to prostitution. Characters use frequent profanity, they drink and smoke, in one scene they use drugs. Characters drink to excess, they get violent, and they brawl. There is the frequent threat of brutality and a brief scene of a bloody murder. A character gives an explicit account of torture and murder. There are angry and violent fight scenes between couples.
I think BBM is unique in that it conveys a sense of tranquility, of deep calm, to me - despite (or maybe because of) the strong sense of loss, grief and tragedy that slowly emerges over its narrative. It's strange to see such a summary as the quote above. I can connect each statement she makes with a scene in the film, but still the sum total of that paragraph gives the exact opposite impression of how the film comes across to me......
-
I think BBM is unique in that it conveys a sense of tranquility, of deep calm, to me - despite (or maybe because of) the strong sense of loss, grief and tragedy that slowly emerges over its narrative. It's strange to see such a summary as the quote above. I can connect each statement she makes with a scene in the film, but still the sum total of that paragraph gives the exact opposite impression of how the film comes across to me......
I see what you mean Mika. There is a sense of tranquility, but for me, i can only make that statement so many months into my BBM obsession. It's a kind of unevitable acceptance of the film's loss and tragedy, as if i have somehow stopped grieving over it (if that's a word i can use) and am ready to move on.
Don't get me wrong, i'm sure that when i see the movie again, i'll cry my heart out and feel very bad for Ennis and Jack all over. To me, the calm and tranquility refers to the movie's ultimate line that 'love is a force of nature' and that because of what we know happened to Jack and Ennis, love should not be denied. If only, if only...
As the reviewer said, this story has definitely entered my soul.
I've said it before, but i'll say it again, i love reading your posts Mika, so thoughtful and indepth. Thank you! :)
-
Thank you right back at ya! :-*
I think I've always felt the film to posess a deep tranquility and calm that has nothing directly to do with the emotional impact it leaves - well, rather it helps enhance that impact. All extraneous stuff has been kept at bay - everything that could distract from getting to the core of the story and the characters has been removed. There's no visual noise, no artificial and unneccessary hustle and bustle. The slow pace, especially of the first part of the film, the beautiful open landscapes, the calm blue/green/brownish colour palette, the few and far-between spoken words, the silences....... There's a deliberate seeming peacefulness there that lets the viewer experience the impact of the story and all the overwhelmingly strong sub-surface turmoil, and be moved by that, heart and soul, with 100% of his/her attention.
I was reminded of that all anew when I recently watched the IMO very disappointing "Devil wears Prada". (Poor Anne Hathaway returning to the cinderella shoes of her past, though looking great while doing so). That film had so much visual noise, such a continuous barrage of impressions on the eyes and ears, such an unrelenting pace of more...more...more....... such an exaggerated rush to everything and everyone, that anything important that was supposed to push through to your heart and mind (had it been there) was immediately lost in the avalanche. And I was thinking after seeing that how very many films are just like that - and how very different and less courageous that approach is, compared to BBM's.
-
I think that review is 100% accurate. I think alot of us do crave more backstory on Jacks life. Mid way thru the film it does deviate to depict mostly Ennis's life. Too bad we could get more on the other characters, but then the movie would have been too long for a normal time slot. But never too long for us Brokies right? ;D
-
I think that review is 100% accurate. I think alot of do crave more backstory on Jacks life. Mid way thru the film it does deviate to depict mostly Ennis's life. Too bad we could get more on the other characters, but then the movie would have been too long for a normal time slot. But never too long for us Brokies right? ;D
I crave it, too. Like Mikaela said, I also trust Ang Lee. And I agree with you both - it would have been too long if they showed that much more of Jack's life. I also think there's an aspect of wanting to show it primarily from Ennis' point of view. Ennis is the first to arrive in the first scene, and Ennis is the last to remain in the last scene. There's symmetry there, and as such, he would be the pivotal character.
It's probably been talked about in other threads here, but you know what "missing" scene I crave even more than the time between leaving the apartment and arriving at the Siesta Motel and the time Jack goes up to Lightning Flat to "see the folks for a few days" after the last time they're together? I *crave* the scene in whatever diner or restaurant they stop at to have breakfast the morning after the reunion.
I often imagine how they'd be, sitting across a table in a booth from one another. I see Jack nudging Ennis' boot with one of his and giving him a knowing smile, Ennis smiling back before he thinks "better" of it, then pulling his foot away as the waitress approaches. I see the delicate thread that exists between them as two people who love each other as they order, stir their coffee (or drink it black as the case may be - I picture Jack being partial to lots o' sugar like I am, and I see Ennis giving him one of his little closed-lip smiles and shaking his head at the sight of just how much he pours into it and Jack saying, "What? Ain't you ever seen someone put sugar in their coffee before?" and Ennis saying, "Yeah. But not that much."), and eat their food. Hell, maybe I oughtta write a fanfic. Oh wait - I guess I just kinda did.
-
Thanks Barb, it IS a good review - and I'm grateful to find this Movie Mom site I didn't know about. She doesn't give very many high grades. A B+ from her really means something.
I like this paragraph:
"Visual cues in this movie are very important and families might talk about these subtle touches, such as the way Ennis' life shrinks as seen by ever smaller interior spaces, about the smiles -few and far between-and who they are between, and about eye contact, which Ennis in his isolation uses sparingly and Jack in his recklessness uses often."
-
"Visual cues in this movie are very important and families might talk about these subtle touches, such as the way Ennis' life shrinks as seen by ever smaller interior spaces, about the smiles -few and far between-and who they are between, and about eye contact, which Ennis in his isolation uses sparingly and Jack in his recklessness uses often."
I liked that, too. It immediately brought to mind the way Jack's eyes bore into Ennis', and then into his lips, in the second tent scene, while Ennis does everything he can not to look Jack in the eye.
In fact, I can't get that image out of my head since first reading that this morning. Can't say as I mind, though.
-
Beautiful review! Thanks for posting it, Barb. Here is a sentence I particularly loved:
But by the conclusion, with its definitive, heart-wrenching portrayal of what will always be divided and what can never be, audiences will realize that the story has entered its souls.
She's probably a little optimistic to think that "audiences will realize" this, as if everybody will, when in fact we know there are plenty of dumbass mules out there who don't realize that. But Movie Mom seems to be at least a semi-Brokie (a full-fledged Brokie would have given it an A+ but, as Elle points out, Movie Mom must be a tough grader).
And I like how she provides good study-guide questions for families to discuss afterward. But she forgets to warn that if they really want answers they'll have to spend hours a day for months and months on message boards ... and even then they still won't be sure!
-
That's a very thoughtful and well written review. Yes, I bought the SHORT story after seeing the film to see if there were more about Jack Twist's home life, work life (well he spends alot of time away trying to drum up business for his wife's company) or relationship with his wife. It's a pity the short story was so short.
I use to think Cassie was a waste as they could have devoted more film time to the characters that had already been introduced. I know, she serves a purpose, but...
No, there is no parallel confrontation between Lureen and Jack as with Alma and Ennis. She just represses though she does throws out a few hints, i.e. don't seem fair you driving all that way to go fishing (who is this guy you go away with from time to time that I've never met)... and why do husbands never like to dance with their wives Jack. I suppose that will have to do. Still think Lureen was an assertive person and would have finally asked "what's the deal."
I'm glad we did get to meet Jack's parents at the end. It gave more depth to the character, to see what sort of homelife (bleak) he must have had. So I'm grateful for that.
It would have been nice to have had more scenes of Jack being a good dad. All the moreso to make a striking contrast between Jack and his dad. Some evidence is given in that Jack rides the combine with his son in the driver's seat, or telling Lureen to call the school about Bobby's academic problems. I'm guess I'm thinking of my own childhood experiences of my dad teaching me how to ride a horse.
Perhaps a scene on the phone with Lureen tactfully confiding to Lashawn her husband's lack of "interest" and if that nomal after you have been married for several years... Of course, Lashawn (blabbermouth) would be the last person Lureen would have confided in, but we see no other friends that she and Jack had, Randall aside.
After Thanksgiving, we never hear again from L.D. THe short story says he passes on and I suppose we are left with that. I still wondered if Jack and L.D's relationship (did L.D. have more respect for his son in law) changed after the whole Thanksgiving blow-up. Did it worsen or did Jack earn a small amount of respect from his father in law?
We all want more scenes of Jack and Ennis together, like what occurred between tent scene #2 and the dozey embrace. Oh and the time that Jack and Ennis were at Don Wroe's cabin and killed an elk. Oh, that could have been a grand flashback. ;-)
Alot of questions are left unanswered. I guess it makes for a more "haunting" film.
--------------------------
Don't know what was going on behind the scenes, if "other parties" felt they were "pushing the envelope" with the rather tame same-sex scenes and expressions of tenderness they already did have.
Maybe they felt that was sufficient. And maybe showing too much more of Lureen and Jack life together would have changed the dynamics (away from Jack and Ennis) of the film and you'd have a Douglas Sirk weepie.
-
great little reveiw and great insights here. Not got time to write more but thanks for posting Barb!
-
Just saw this review & loved it. Unlike many, I did not need nor want more of Jack or Ennis' life outside that which was depicted. I knew all I needed about Jack's life from his words, how frequently he brought up aspects of his relationship w/ his father & the portrayals of his parents (so much revealed!). Also w/ Ennis - what more would you need to know about his father? And his brother & sister? The just sort of drug him along until they could escape into marriage.
The only thing I wanted more of was Jack & Ennis - not w/ words. Just with small looks & gentle touches. Just the everyday peace & happiness that two people in love feel.
-
Just saw this review & loved it. Unlike many, I did not need nor want more of Jack or Ennis' life outside that which was depicted. I knew all I needed about Jack's life from his words, how frequently he brought up aspects of his relationship w/ his father & the portrayals of his parents (so much revealed!). Also w/ Ennis - what more would you need to know about his father? And his brother & sister? The just sort of drug him along until they could escape into marriage.
The only thing I wanted more of was Jack & Ennis - not w/ words. Just with small looks & gentle touches. Just the everyday peace & happiness that two people in love feel.
I agree completely. I think more Jack minus Ennis and Ennis minus Jack would have been too much. I knew all I needed to know about both of them from what they said and did as it was, too. Any more would have been pandering. And I'm with you on more of them together. If anything, I would have liked to see just a couple more scenes of them just enjoying each other's company. But whatever wasn't shown I have lots of fun making up (and embellishing) in my mind, so it's all good.
Speaking of character development, my one co-worker *finally* watched the DVD I lent her back in April. And made my blood boil by declaring she liked "Crash" better (I said, "Funny - I don't recall asking you to compare it to that one."). She went on to say she thought it did a better job of characterization (!!!) - for instance, with Matt Dillon's character. I said, "Oh really? And what was his character's name?" She goes, "I don't remember." I go "Can you remember *any* of the characters' names?" She goes, "Well, that doesn't matter." I go, "OK - let's see. What do we know about Matt Dillon's character besides that he doesn't appear to have a name? That he's a racist, that he is kind to his sick father, and that he's capable of heroism in a crisis. What else do we know?" She goes, "OK, I see what you're getting at..." I went on, "Meanwhile, I can rattle off 10 things right off the top of my head about Ennis Del Mar that I knew after just one viewing: One. His parents ran their own car off the road and were killed when he was a kid and he was raised from then on by his older sister and brother. Two. He only got one year of high school in. Three. His father thought rodeo cowboys were fuck-ups. Four. His parents left him and his siblings 24 dollars in a coffee can. Five. He's one hell of a sharp-shooter. Six. He can read horses extremely well, but he can't read people for shit. Seven. He loves baked beans. Eight. His folks was Methodists. Nine. He doesn't mind being alone at night in the wilderness in a pup tent. Ten. He drinks beer when he wents to smooth out the edges but keeps his wits about him, and he drinks whiskey when he wants to get drunk. And that I got from the first half of the movie." She goes, "Oh, it doesn't matter. I still liked Crash better. This one was too ambiguous." I resisted saying, "Yeah, because you like your movies to spoon-feed you what you're supposed to think and feel and to tie everything up into nice, neat little packages at the end."
Geez. God forbid some people watch a movie that actually asks them to *think*. Idiot Americans.
-
This is a surprisingly insightful review. Really very good. I think we get a sufficient view of Jack's home life post mortem, during Ennis's visit to Jack's bedroom and in the kitchen scene with his parents. Tells us all we need to know.
-
Geez. God forbid some people watch a movie that actually asks them to *think*.
And without car chases to keep them awake! No wonder Bush was elected - twice!!! ???
Anyway - Barb, I printed the review & took it to work for two moms of younger children - (the review & web-site gave me another opening - I'd been sprinkling in talk about Brokeback since last December). Tomorrow one will be getting my lending copy to view!
-
... Director Ang Lee is a master of repressed love whether between young Taiwanese men in The Wedding Banquet...
hrm, she didn't see the Movie, I think. Nit-picky I know, but I don't know why it bugged me that she inaccurately described the film. The Wedding Banquet was not about repression and was not between young Taiwanese men. The men, one Taiwanese American and the other caucasian, were not repressing their love.
this movie falters a step when its slow and deliberate pace nevertheless fails to take the audience into an admittedly very private love beyond their time together on the mountain. Jack is a complicated character and, with the exception of the scene where he confronts his father-in-law, his character development later in the film seems uneven and his hold on Ennis less tenable, perhaps because Lee leaves so much to be said in the silences.
I don't quite agree with her here. I wonder if her desire to see more of Jack's personal life comes from a desire (resulting from infatuation?) to find more connection with his character (like so many of us, think of all the fan fics we've generated), rather than a real need to understand more about him. I'm not sure that seeing more of his life would give us more insight into his character. Look at all the people here who say they totally see themselves in Jack. It's illustrate how well the character is defined by the writers, director and actors (I give both Jake and Heath credit because there's no Jack without Ennis).
Visual cues in this movie are very important and families might talk about these subtle touches, such as the way Ennis' life shrinks as seen by ever smaller interior spaces, about the smiles -few and far between-and who they are between, and about eye contact, which Ennis in his isolation uses sparingly and Jack in his recklessness uses often.
ooh! that gave me goose bumps. very astute observations. I thought we've exhausted every detail, but the contrast between uses of smiles and eye contact between the two men is brilliant.
-
Beautiful review! Thanks for posting it, Barb. Here is a sentence I particularly loved:
She's probably a little optimistic to think that "audiences will realize" this, as if everybody will, when in fact we know there are plenty of dumbass mules out there who don't realize that. But Movie Mom seems to be at least a semi-Brokie (a full-fledged Brokie would have given it an A+ but, as Elle points out, Movie Mom must be a tough grader).
I wonder if she grades by not only how good a film is, but how family friendly it is as well. While this is one of the best films of our generation, let's face it, it's not easy for families to watch together. A discussion about the film would be really difficult. The film is difficult enough for an adult to come to terms with, let alone an adult who then has to conduct a discussion with their teens and even preteens.
-
I wonder if she grades by not only how good a film is, but how family friendly it is as well. While this is one of the best films of our generation, let's face it, it's not easy for families to watch together. A discussion about the film would be really difficult. The film is difficult enough for an adult to come to terms with, let alone an adult who then has to conduct a discussion with their teens and even preteens.
Very true. My 10-year-old son came home from school a few weeks ago just as I was finishing watching the movie. He was mildly curious about it, but I ushered him out of the room, simply because I didn't want him seeing only the last scene without seeing everything else. After it ended, though, I offered him the opportunity to watch the whole thing (sans sex scenes, of either kind). He declined. When my 12-year-old son got home an hour later, I repeated the offer to him. He declined also.
I was simultaneously frustrated, relieved and unsurprised. Frustrated because I wish everybody would see it, and I think for my sons it could have been educational. They're pretty mature film-viewers and I think it's possible they'd "get" it. Relieved because if they didn't get it -- and as we know, many people don't -- it might do more harm than good.
Unsurprised because even under ideal conditions they don't really like romances (how many 10- and 12-year-old boys do?). But the circumstances surrounding this movie are far from ideal. My sons are very pop-culture-conscious, so they've heard all the jokes. And I'm sure they've heard things from their peers that have made them ... well, hopefully not homophobic, but probably uncomfortable or ambivalent about the subject of homosexuality. They don't say so to me, but I sense it's there. Of course I do what I can to counteract this by expressing my own views. But as with so many things in which I disagree with their peers or pop culture -- video games, heavy metal music, Cheetos, Adam Sandler -- my opinion only goes so far. I think watching BBM would make them nervous, in much the same way it makes so many straight men nervous. In their case it's more understandable, as they are just starting to understand sex of any kind and are never eager to grapple with sensitive aspects of the subject in the presence of their mom.
So I didn't push it. About all I can do is be clear about my own views without becoming so overbearing that it backfires. And exposing them when possible to entertainment that touches on homosexuality in a casual, normalizing way, without generating much tension or controversy. Luckily, there are more opportunities for that than when I was a kid. So I'm hoping -- expecting, actually, because they are smart kids -- that as they get older everything will work out all right.
So anyway. My long way of saying, yes, I agree Nipith, not every family would have an easy time watching and/or discussing Brokeback Mountain. Though it would be great if they could.