One man went through the same kind of hell experienced by the characters of Brokeback Mountain. He hopes the film resonates with everyone who sees it.His first marriage failed after several years, and he found himself turning to drinking and drugs. A second marriage failed as well. Then came the love of his life -- another man. "We both left our wives for each other," he says. That troubled eight-year relationship ended with his partner's death in 1997.
Before "Brokeback" came to his hometown, Gilbert drove more than 80 miles to Ann Arbor to see the film. He missed the first show by 15 minutes, waited in his truck for the next one, and drove back at midnight, emotionally drained.
"I really felt like I had lived through the experiences they were showing onscreen," he said. The similarities to his own life were striking: his early efforts to deny his gay orientation, his failed marriages to women, the desolation he felt when his male lover died.
Gilbert hopes that any Oscars "Brokeback" wins will bring home to straight Americans -- for instance, his fellow church members -- that gay people "can share the same love that a heterosexual couple can."
http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-0602150219feb15,0,4633094.story?coll=mmx-movies_heds
