Howdy folks,
I'm Paul. I'm 39, work at home, I'm gay, and until 2 weeks ago, single.
I first heard of Brokeback Mountain about a year ago in a blurb in an article about Anne Hathaway in Entertainment Weekly. I went out and bought "Close Range" and read the whole collection of short stories which were really great. Of course the most moving to me was BBM. As I was starting to read the story my best friend called from California, I told him I was reading a short story and half jokingly read the first page to him and by mutual agreement I kept on reading it to him. About an hour later I finished. We were both in shock. I knew I had just read one of the best stories in my life. About 6 months later, that same friend called up and mentioned that a photographer he knew was coming to Connecticut and was looking for a place to do a shoot. I offered my place and he ended up coming over a week later. After his shoot we were talking and he noticed my copy of "Close Range" and asked how I liked it. I told him it was reaaly excellent and then I told him about reading BBM over the phone to my buddy. The photographer then said that Annie was his neighbor and a good friend of many years and that he was going to tell her about it and she'd get a kick out of this. I only half believed him.
A month later my best friend and I both recieved limited edition hard cover versions of "Close Range" with specially comissioned water color illustrations. Mine was signed: "To Paul, from Annie Prouxl".
Could have knocked me over with a feather.
Anyhow, I was really anxious to view the film, and as opening day neared it looked like Conncecticut wouldn't get it until mid January, but low and behold, it opened on December 23rd. On Christmas Eve, my mother and I went to the 4:00 PM showing and I haven't been the same since.
Back in those early days
, it was such a wonderful mass audience experience. People were reverential and knew they were seeing something special. I left the theater that first time, feeling like I had been hollowed out. Exactly as if someone close to me had just died. It was really amazing that a film could do this to me.
Over the next few days I pretty much decided to change my life. I'd been slowly, and progressively, isolating myself for over a decade, for several reasons, and had this sudden knowledge that I could very easily end up like Ennis. Alone. Probably being the same age as he was at the end of the film added some extra impetus.
I almost immediately began socializing with friends and family more, and where before I might politley decline going to the mall with my sister, or going out to lunch with my best bud, now I began accepting these invitations. I had also been planning on getting back into dating maybe this summer or something, well, that timetable has been ripped up and thrown out. If you read "davidinhartford"'s intoductory post, you'll see what happened.
Briefly though, I was a regular at the IMDb BBM board and the Tremblay board, and David ended up asking if I wanted to see BBM together and I accepted. That was 2 weeks and 7 dates ago.
It's scary, nice, nerve wracking, but life affirming!
I want to also thank Phiilip for inviting us here, and hope to connect with all of you.
Paul