So I'm wondering, has this experience changed your appreciation and/or understanding of other art -- or perhaps affected the way you are creative in your own life?
[...]
How has your outlook changed? I don't mean, how has BBM ruined you for all other movies. I mean, what do you look for in movies now that you might not have noticed or thought about before?
For example, I have tried to glean ideas from Annie Proulx's writing [...] Maybe I would know to use "sweet, salty stink" rather than "sweet, salty fragrance" now.
And seeing how incredibly complex and subtle and beautifully designed the movie is, I look for those nuances in other art now.
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I had talked about the art of the movie with Lynne some time back. When I look at creative works, I try to discern whatever underlying philosophy permeates them. For example, in books by Thomas Hardy, characterized by literary naturalism, I see the influence of Arthur Schopenhauer. Existentialism is what suffuses Brokeback Mountain. That, as I see it, is the artistic genre of the movie.
Existential elements are usually associated with literature, a medium that allows them to be laid out effectively. The philosophy itself had only a short heyday right after World War II, then was displaced by other philosophies. One of them was and remains postmodernism.
While existentialism translated well into literature, it didn't translate well into film. This is what makes Brokeback Mountain so unusual. Postmodernism does translate well into film, but it can mask a lot of mediocrity. A recent production, a perfect example of postmodernism, won an Academy Award for best picture. I can't quite recall its name anymore, but the film was just pure Trash.
Recently, I noticed existential elements finding their way into music, as in the case of some songs by Franz Ferdinand. I've wondered now if existentialism is making something of mini-comeback. More to the point, I've seriously begun to wonder if postmodernism in art is on the wane. As a result, I try harder to see if I detect more of a direction away from postmodernism with each new artistic work I come across. After so long a reign, is postmodernism starting to give way to something else -- maybe not existentialism, but perhaps something entirely new and unexpected?
Just as a footnote, I would have chosen "stench" instead of "stink" if I wanted to avoid the word "fragrance," but Annie Proulx indeed would likely have preferred "stink." Either way, the word "fragrance" has a uniquely rich quality about it when sounded out, so I like to use it whenever it seems to fit. The choice depends on the kind of writing being done. The current trend is toward more trenchant prose. I like that because it's often more effective at conveying a thought or painting a mental image. But if the trend in other arts begins a shift toward something new, and Brokeback Mountain is a harbinger of that, I wonder if that shift also has implications for the art of literature.
