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Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond => Brokeback Mountain Open Forum => All Things Brokeback: Books, Interviews and More => Topic started by: Front-Ranger on August 13, 2018, 11:15:36 am

Title: Ang Lee Interviewed on NPR
Post by: Front-Ranger on August 13, 2018, 11:15:36 am

In this 2005 interview with Alex Chadwick, Ang Lee explains the differences in kissing among heterosexuals vs. homosexuals. Do  you agree?

https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=5066480 (https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=5066480)

Title: Re: Ang Lee Interviewed on NPR
Post by: Kananaskis on August 14, 2018, 09:23:59 pm

I’m certainly not speaking from experience, but rather voicing an observation of mine. I found Brokeback somewhat groundbreaking in terms of its depiction of the intimacies of a gay relationship. And what comes across as dissimilar to a straight relationship is the unabashed straightforwardness, teetering on the brink of aggression, as far as the passionate, mainly physical side of their relationship is concerned. What instantly springs to mind is the TS1 and the reunion scene, with special emphasis given to the latter. Driven by their yearning for one another’s touch they unrestrainedly engage in an extremely powerful kiss, likes of which I doubt I’ve seen in any other movie (granted, I’m not a huge fan of melodramas), let alone real life.

But then I’m not sure if the case here isn’t simply the overpowering longing that accounts for the boys’ behavior, rather than the unequivocal differentiation between a heterosexual relationship and a homosexual relationship. After all, it’s been four fuckin years, and I’m pretty sure most people would act out their feelings not unlike Jack and Ennis, despite their loved one’s sex.

It is the ferocity of their relationship, especially in the beginning, that makes it so unique for me, though. Their fight on the last day on Brokeback perfectly illustrates that. It made me wonder if men in gay relationships really tear into each other from time to time, either to resolve a conflict or to “reclaim your dominance”. (Ennis’s punch, though could be interpreted as an act of helplessness, is a good example of such a motive.) If they do, then this is definitely something off limits (I wish I could say “nonexistent”) in a straight relationship.