Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > All Things Brokeback: Books, Interviews and More
Special BBM issue of 'Film Quarterly'
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on June 18, 2007, 10:44:25 pm ---The article that was the most disturbing to me was the one that described the industry that was created to cater to older women wanting subject matter about gay men...that was pretty disgusting!!
--- End quote ---
That does sound kinda disgusting. However, I have to admit, and no offense intended, I have often puzzled over the appeal of this film and this story to straight women, regardless of age (beyond the obvious points that Brokeback Mountain is an astonishing feat of cinematic art and of short-story writing). ???
moremojo:
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on June 19, 2007, 08:48:15 am ---Think of all we've written here analyzing the subtexts and symbols and mirrors and bookends, etc., that FQ didn't really touch on. They should have gotten one of us to write something!
--- End quote ---
We Brokies are surely creating one of the most extensive and insightful exegeses of any film ever. This one site alone provides a powerful antithesis to much of the shallow pap found in that issue of Film Quarterly, and other culturally/economically sanctioned critical fora.
One thing I've come to feel about Brokeback Mountain is that its importance transcends normal critical discourse. I don't believe I've ever encountered a story/film with so much power to change people's lives for the better. I think this work's main and most enduring impact exists on a spiritual level even more than an aesthetic or cultural one.
serious crayons:
Another thing that bothered me was that in some pieces I sensed a bit of an us vs. them -- i.e., gay vs. straight -- tone. For example, and I wish I had the magazine in front of me but I'm going from month-old memory, there was a mention of the Variety ad and the members of the DCF raising money for it that implied it was an action taken entirely by gay people. Excuse me, but I contributed to that ad, and I know I'm not the only straight person who did. >:( That approach seems unnecessarily divisive and suggests the writer didn't fully understand how and why viewers were affected by the movie.
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on June 19, 2007, 09:13:14 am ---I have often puzzled over the appeal of this film and this story to straight women, regardless of age (beyond the obvious points that Brokeback Mountain is an astonishing feat of cinematic art and of short-story writing). ???
--- End quote ---
If you're talking about the erotic aspects as apart from all the other great qualities, I think you can chalk that up as one of the many mysteries of human sexuality. One look at the fanfic forum tells you there are a lot of straight women who find the situation appealing.
I myself am not a big frequenter of the fanfic forum, but I can tell you that it's very compelling to see people of any gender combination expressing love and passion as authentically and movingly as Jack and Ennis do. That in this case they happen to be played by two hot actors doesn't hurt, either. ;)
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on June 19, 2007, 09:13:14 am ---I have to admit, and no offense intended, I have often puzzled over the appeal of this film and this story to straight women, regardless of age (beyond the obvious points that Brokeback Mountain is an astonishing feat of cinematic art and of short-story writing). ???
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on June 19, 2007, 10:50:38 am ---If you're talking about the erotic aspects as apart from all the other great qualities, I think you can chalk that up as one of the many mysteries of human sexuality. One look at the fanfic forum tells you there are a lot of straight women who find the situation appealing.
I myself am not a big frequenter of the fanfic forum, but I can tell you that it's very compelling to see people of any gender combination expressing love and passion as authentically and movingly as Jack and Ennis do. That in this case they happen to be played by two hot actors doesn't hurt, either. ;)
--- End quote ---
Well, yes, that was more-or-less what I've wondered about. I've wondered, too, if in trying to understand I was over-thinking or over-analyzing, and if it isn't simply the flip side of the stereotypical straight male fascination with "girl-on-girl action." Haven't wanted to go there, though, because it seemed, well, stereotypical, condescending, and possibly even insulting to women. :-\
moremojo:
I don't have the magazine in front of me, and I too am working from months-long memory, but I recall that one article addressing the feminine response to the film invoking the long-established phenomenon in East Asian countries of male homoerotic art and literature being created for and being consumed by adolescent girls and women. The author, I recall, was suggesting that Lee was consciously working from that angle in crafting his interpretation of the story. On the face of it, I didn't find anything in the article offensive; certainly, it has long been recognized that the majority of consumers of homoerotic manga (Japanese comics) are girls and women.
This is an interesting field of exploration, and potentially quite valuable in regard to Brokeback Mountain (the film), as long as the author's arguments are seen as speculative rather than authoritative.
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