Why are we like this?

[Penthesilea]

Why are we like this? Well, this message board is fuel for our passions, and keeps them burning brightly. That's why we are like this! IMHO anyway.

I think Front-Ranger has a very interesting theory here. Yes, BM (and other boards) is fuel to our passions. It's a kind of mutual enhancement: the board fuels our passion and we (with our passion) fuel this board.


I asked on another thread, what we/I would have done without this possibility of exchange with others.

I think I would have felt like a weirdo if I had the impression, I'm the only person in the world who was affected by this movie so much that I can't stop thinking about it.
But would this obsession have lasted three months? Or would I have given up after several weeks, moved on and would have forgotten about this movie?

My friend and only fellow Brokie I know in person can't speak English. So she has no access to message boards (no German boards). However, she is still as infected by Brokeback fever as I am. Tomorrow it will be exactly three months that we saw it first. And although we assured each other that our third viewing in theatre would be our last, it was her who suggested to go to theatre for a forth time (I didn't dare). Four times might seem not much for some of you, but you have to add our multiple viewings on DVD. We both own the DVD and still go to cinema to see BBM.

Bottom line is: although I think Front-Ranger's theory is partly right, it cannot explain the phenomenon altogether. It cannot explain why it is this movie for us. And why other viewers are not as affected by it as we are. I was never interested in researching information about other movies on internet to this extend and I never had any interest to join a message board about a movie.
And there was definetly no other movie (or book for that matter) for me where the characters felt so real.

[serious crayons]

I think I would have felt like a weirdo if I had the impression, I'm the only person in the world who was affected by this movie so much that I can't stop thinking about it.
But would this obsession have lasted three months? Or would I have given up after several weeks, moved on and would have forgotten about this movie?

Happy three-month anniversary, Penth!

I agree with your points: 1) I would have gone crazy if I didn't have access to this board (and before that, imdb) to indicate there are others in the world who feel not just kind of like I do, but exactly like I do 2) it's possible that, without the board, which has become like a whole 'nother obsession in itself -- I would have returned to normal after, say, two months rather than still obsessed after five 3) that still doesn't really explain why I am obsessed with a movie in the first place.

Characters real? I just finished posting on another thread that there is a dimension of reality in which Jack and Ennis go about their lives, outside of what happened to be captured on film. And though I don't really believe this, at the same time I really kind of do! Sometimes, for example, I get into discussions here about characters' motivations or intentions that I think may go beyond what even Annie, Diana and Larry, Ang, Heath or Jake intended to indicate. So it's not like I'm wondering, "What did the fillmmakers mean to show when Ennis did such and such?" I'm wondering, "What did Ennis mean when he did such and such?"

Now that is something I can't remember ever doing with any other movie or even book.

[ednbarby]

Now that is something I can't remember ever doing with any other movie or even book.

Me, neither.

(And I ain't jokin'.)

[Brown Eyes]

Well, since Ang Lee went so far as to thank Jack and Ennis during his Oscar speech, it seems like at least he has some of the same feelings that we do about these characters sort of having a presence beyond the scope of the film (if that makes any sense). 

I don't think it's too wierd to extrapolate about characters and their motivations and what they might do in different circumstances.  But, I'm fixating on the idea of out-takes and random production stills, etc. in a way that I never did for any other movie.  Because those extra little things (like the bizarre extra footage that found its way into the trailer of all things) really do make it seem like Jack and Ennis were busy doing things that Ang wouldn't let us see!

[wolf]

those extra little things (like the bizarre extra footage that found its way into the trailer of all things) really do make it seem like Jack and Ennis were busy doing things that Ang wouldn't let us see!

 

W

[serious crayons]

I don't think it's too wierd to extrapolate about characters and their motivations and what they might do in different circumstances.

No. After all, authors and filmmakers and actors do that all the time when they try to figure out what a particular character would be likely to do under particular circumstances, and then write or film or act accordingly. But what this feels like is not "What WOULD Ennis do?" but "What DID Ennis do?" Or, more often, "What was he thinking when he did or said something or other?" as if he (and all the other characters) had not only other activities but whole interior lives beyond the reach of film.

If it's not weird generally, it sure is unusual for me.

But then, these characters seem to have affected everybody involved in an unusual way, even Annie Proulx!

[David In Indy]

As a gay man (does it matter? I don't know why I felt I needed to say that), this film impacted me more than any other film I have ever watched. I am reeling.

I identify so closely with Ennis I feel like I've met my doppelganger. It reached into my heart and squeezed until it burst. I stuff feelings just like Ennis does. It's like Annie Proulx snuck into my head while I was sleeping and willed Ennis into existence.

There's more - a lot more - but I'm at work, so I'll need to elaborate a little later.

I agree with you Gregg. It has reached deep into  my heart too. I can  just relate to it so much. I think about it all the time. God... I am watching it right now.... again!

[belbbmfan]

It cannot explain why it is this movie for us. And why other viewers are not as affected by it as we are. I was never interested in researching information about other movies on internet to this extend and I never had any interest to join a message board about a movie.
And there was definetly no other movie (or book for that matter) for me where the characters felt so real.

and

No. After all, authors and filmmakers and actors do that all the time when they try to figure out what a particular character would be likely to do under particular circumstances, and then write or film or act accordingly. But what this feels like is not "What WOULD Ennis do?" but "What DID Ennis do?" Or, more often, "What was he thinking when he did or said something or other?" as if he (and all the other characters) had not only other activities but whole interior lives beyond the reach of film.

If it's not weird generally, it sure is unusual for me.

But then, these characters seem to have affected everybody involved in an unusual way, even Annie Proulx!

Whaw. I've just finished reading some of the posts here and I'm speechless. Literally, I wish I could be so eloquent about 'why we are like this'. So I'll use someone else's words instead. I read an interesting article today on ccn about how the romance seems to have gone in Hollywood. In it the director of Love Story said:""When you feel two people in love, you share that emotion, that's why you will keep coming back to see it," "It's an emotion we're all acquainted with. We're not acquainted with a ship about to sink and everybody running to lifeboats.(my note: he's referring to Titanic) We're all into feeling for people, and I think that's what gets us."



Here's the link to the article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/06/20/film.romance.reut/index.html

[dly64]

All I know is that this film has completely consumed me. It is hard to focus on anything else!

Part of it for me is that this story rings true. It does not use cliches. It is not mean spirited. It shows all aspects of a relationship: passion, love, disappointment, pain, etc. Annie Proulx also made these characters in her story so alive and Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana were able to translate that into an incredible screenplay. Jack and Ennis seem real to me. Each time I watch BBM (which has been too many times to count) I always find myself routing for them, even though I already know the tragic ending.

This story never get stale. I never get bored watching it.

Lastly, I have to admit the obvious, the screen chemistry between Jake and Heath is great! 

[Ellemeno]

I am only three posts into reading this thread, but want to put in my initial two cents.  I first heard about BBM back in October, by following one of my favorite posters at IMDb through his posting history, to some IMDb forum called "Brokeback Mountain."  Weird name.  I started reading his posts, then all posts.  I had never heard of (I confess) Ang Lee.  I had barely heard of (and discounted as shallow, too-young) Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.  Randy Quaid was really the only person in the cast or crew that I was familiar with.  And Larry McMurtry had done Lonesome Dove, which I adored (and if you're looking to cast your BBM-oriented net wider, read, then watch Lonesome Dove.  Not only is it excellent and about two long term cowboy buddies who go through a range of emotions between each other, but it's satisfyingly lengthy, no short story.)  I had vaguely heard of Annie Proulx.

Just reading the IMDb board got me hooked, two months before the movie came out.  I downloaded the short story, put it in my Palm, and wound up reading and rereading it continuously, every moment I could.  Stayed awake late rereading, couldn't stop.  Started posting.   More soon.