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What does being a Brokie mean to you?

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moremojo:
I am a Brokie, and to me that essentially means I was moved and touched by the film Brokeback Mountain to such a strong degree that 1) it has become one of my very favorite films; 2) indeed, it has become my single favorite film; and 3) it has actually transcended its status as a work of art and entertainment to become a part of my life and being. I have never been emotionally impacted by a film like I was with this one; Ennis and Jack became part of my waking life, and my dream life as well...for quite a while, I could think of little else other than these two remarkable characters and their beautiful, soul-searing love. Though I don't believe I have yet experienced true love, I have an intimation of what it looks and feels like by the example of these two immortal cowboys.

The film and story have brought me closer to my local roots, made me more appreciative of the country, its people and culture. A son of the city, and one who was largely ignorant and disdainful of country and Western music and the culture which nurtured it, I was propelled by this beautiful movie to approach this part of my local heritage with fresh, unbiased eyes and ears. I have found in country and Western music a wholesome, earthy strength and vitality which nourishes my heart and calms my spirit. I feel at home in a way I never did before when I now pass out of the city and traverse the farm and ranch land which now seems the very soul of my native state. I have been humbled to reflect in my newly affirmed insight that it is not in the refinement of their manners, speech, or education by which a person's beauty may be measured, but in the goodness of their heart, and their capacity to love. I look to the western horizon and think of loves found, lost, and treasured through bittersweet memory. And I owe this all to to the visionary instinct of one Annie Proulx who mused and dreamed on the hidden life of a lonely, longing Wyoming ranch hand eyeing the boys across the bar one fateful night.

Meryl:
Beautifully said, Scott.  You're one of our treasures, bud.  :-*

Ellemeno:
Like Meryl's sig line says right above me, "Ich bin eine Brokie." 

The word is short, uncomplicated and Anglo-Saxon.  But unlike for some here, for me, it's mostly private.  I don't tend to proselytize these days about almost anything, maybe because my energy is too finite, and it has to last me each day.  Sure am glad some of you do though, for me. 

Shakesthecoffecan:
First I have to go back to January 2007, me and Lynne and Wayne and RouxB and Wulf in a cabin in West Virginia, in the middle of the night, blood alcohol content already waaaaaay too high, and we pondered just this thing, but I rememory it being along the lines of what are we supposed to do.

The general consensus was that whenever two or more gather in their names, anyone in earshot should know why. As testament to the power of this story. The next morning when we were leaving we signed the cabin guest book and wrote that we had come together and become friends because of Brokeback Mountain, and if the reader had not seen it they should. I have tried to live up to that "Council of Oakwood" agreement. I think I have been more or less successful.

But to the heart of the matter I see it this way (with thanks to Moremojo, whose posts helped me realize this): Each of us, that first time we saw the movie, sitting in the dark, fell in love with Jack and Ennis. We became a silent third party to their affair, we invested in it emotionally, and in that short time, we lost Jack. He was taken from us, and we were unable to console Ennis, so we had to console ourselves.

What has grown from that for me, is a kinship, with the Shepards, the Byrds, the Bousmans, the families the world over who have lost loved ones at the hands of hate. We are called to stand and testify thru our word and our deed to this pain. We are called to represent this story to the world.

The story, I feel is a living force. Annie Proulx herself spoke in her essay that Jack and Ennis became very real to her, something that had never happened to her before. Other writers confirmed for her that this does happen. She, probably the most unlikely of all, labored for months to bring into the world a story that in the beginning she herself could not comprehend. I think about the pain, the agony and emotion that we have all been thru as a group, and I think of this one lone woman who gave birth to Jack and Ennis, how for so long she was all alone with them and what that must have been like.

So for me to be a Brokie is to stand and testify:
 
*that people of the same sex can love one another.

*that wrongs, no matter how old, should be righted, if at all possible.

*that those who are struggling, should be helped.

*that evil, must in every instance be confronted, with love. 

optom3:
I know I am a relative newcommer here,but still consider myself a Brokie,in the sense,watch and re watch the fillm..pause it,rewind it,analyse every nuance and gesture/Watch with and without subtitles to see if I have missed anything.
Read and re read the story and script.sometimes whilst simultaneously watching the film,Listen endlessly to the sountrack and feel deprived if I do not have a BBM moment a day.

I do not feel chosen, bit I do feel there was something beyond what I can understand which caused me to watch it for the 1st time,inspite of owning it for months.That something was I feel telling me I needed to heal.But to do that I had to recognise the wounds were still there,with only the flimsiest veneer covering them.

But far more than that,it has brought me to this site,when I was so lost and confused by the overwhelming emotions I was experiencing.The film seemed to have taken on a life of its own,my life .That was something I had never experienced before,and having had some problems of a psychological nature before,I really felt perhaps it was all starting again.

Becomming a brookie became all pervasive,but then I met the truly good people here.The film had indeed reopened old wounds and I was again beginning to have problems.The difference was,no one here laughed,Nearly everyone had experienced some sort of epiphany brought on by the film.
Many appeared to be some way down the road to resolving those issues.So that gave me hope.I realised very soon that I could post here and not be judged.It has become my therapy and allowed me to face fears I have never had the courage to do before.

People here have opened my mind .and let me not only feel ,but believe that it is O.K to feel the pain and sob.I don't need to hide it all away in some hidden part of my mind.By having the freedom to do this I have slowly started to address some long neglected issues,which in turn means that at long last I have started to heal.
 It therefore starts and ends with the film,but sandwiched in between, is this wonderful place called Better Most, and its many kind souls.

So Being a Brookie to me means being a human who was deeply affected by the film on one or several levels,but who then found help, comfort and something akin to a brotherhood/sisterhood,of kindred spirits here on this site.Sorry if that sounds a bit wet,but it is how I feel.

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