Our BetterMost Community > Chez Tremblay
Am I the only person...
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 08, 2006, 10:02:30 am ---I've somewhat reluctantly had to give up assigning any significance to the "rehearsed" element in Lureen's conversation with Ennis. I've seen it pointed out that she is, after all, Jack's widow and undoubtedly has had to tell that tale many, many times, regardless of whether her story is the truth or a lie. Now here comes Ennis's phone call, presumably a couple of months after the fact, and she has to tell the story all over again.
--- End quote ---
Jeff, I could agree with this! Yay! It's so refreshing when we agree. (Actually, that's probably more or less what I meant -- not that she's deliberately telling a lie, necessarily, but that one way or another her speech has been delivered many times.)
I can see why your friend's email would be so discouraging. And I guess a lot depends on how important you feel it is to bring him over to our side. But it's really hard for me to believe that anyone (who's not homophobic) can't be blown away by the movie -- from a "literary" perspective, if nothing else -- once they see what it contains. One of my friends liked it OK but complained that it was "too slow," and that there were "no sparks" between Jack and Ennis prior to TS1. Well, to me those were both clear indications that she just wasn't noticing subtleties. She is a journalist, and journalists tend to look for meaning on the surface. But once I pointed out a few of the nuances (well, and mentioned that I'd seen it seven times and haunted the imdb message board), she started to get it.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 08, 2006, 12:20:16 pm ---I can see why your friend's email would be so discouraging. And I guess a lot depends on how important you feel it is to bring him over to our side. But it's really hard for me to believe that anyone (who's not homophobic) can't be blown away by the movie -- from a "literary" perspective, if nothing else -- once they see what it contains.
--- End quote ---
Katherine,
That pretty well puts the situation in a nutshell. What's so disheartening, and I guess, why, at bottom, I have not responded, is the sense that I have that if my old classmate, a middle-aged, urban, urbane, well-read gay male with two graduate degrees, doesn't "get" Brokeback Mountain, nothing I could possibly say to him is going to make a difference, so why spend my precious and valuable time beating my head against a wall? If he doesn't "get it," it's his loss. I suppose I could simply say something to the effect that I found the film richly complex, deeply nuanced, and heartbreakingly beautiful, and I'm sorry he doesn't see it that way.
Jeff
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 08, 2006, 01:16:17 pm ---Katherine,
That pretty well puts the situation in a nutshell. What's so disheartening, and I guess, why, at bottom, I have not responded, is the sense that I have that if my old classmate, a middle-aged, urban, urbane, well-read gay male with two graduate degrees, doesn't "get" Brokeback Mountain, nothing I could possibly say to him is going to make a difference, so why spend my precious and valuable time beating my head against a wall? If he doesn't "get it," it's his loss. I suppose I could simply say something to the effect that I found the film richly complex, deeply nuanced, and heartbreakingly beautiful, and I'm sorry he doesn't see it that way.
Jeff
--- End quote ---
Give him specifics! Talk about the metaphors and subtleties and ambiguities! Tell him it is so complex and well-crafted that after all these months there are still people arguing over the meaning of individual lines! ;)
Maybe it's just my usual optimism, but I can't see how anyone like the guy you describe, once presented with the fact that everything in the movie has some deeper meaning, from shirt colors to water to buckets to paper bags, could fail to appreciate it as a masterpiece at least in a literary sense. I don't analyze other movies to the extent I have this one, but doesn't that alone make Brokeback pretty unusual?
But you're right, it's his loss. And depending on the nature of your friendship, you might not want to take the time.
ednbarby:
--- Quote from: henrypie on May 08, 2006, 11:19:38 am ---Hey Barb,
I'll give you ONE MILLION DOLLARS if you let me watch Brokeback Mountain with your husband. Just one night. Then everything goes back to the way it was before.... or does it?
Heh heh.
--- End quote ---
Sorry, Mr. Redford. No sale. ;)
starboardlight:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 08, 2006, 01:26:18 pm ---Give him specifics! Talk about the metaphors and subtleties and ambiguities! Tell him it is so complex and well-crafted that after all these months there are still people arguing over the meaning of individual lines! ;)
Maybe it's just my usual optimism, but I can't see how anyone like the guy you describe, once presented with the fact that everything in the movie has some deeper meaning, from shirt colors to water to buckets to paper bags, could fail to appreciate it as a masterpiece at least in a literary sense. I don't analyze other movies to the extent I have this one, but doesn't that alone make Brokeback pretty unusual?
But you're right, it's his loss. And depending on the nature of your friendship, you might not want to take the time.
--- End quote ---
on one hand, i think talking in details about those nuances might sell someone over to the idea that this film is a masterpiece. but on the other, what was most impressive to me was that emotional devastation that I got from the film, even before I got around to analyzing all the details. that's something that if they didn't get from it, they never will, I suspect. so for me, I just don't bother trying to win them over. if people want to discuss, I'll tell them about all the things that I love, but I don't invest in trying to convince any one.
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