Special BBM issue of 'Film Quarterly'

[serious crayons]

Some Canadians on imdb were complaining about missing pages, too. I don't know exactly what city they were in, possibly Toronto. Maybe it's just one bad batch? 

[Front-Ranger]

I recently had the chance to read this thanks to Ellemeno who brought me a copy at the BBQ (thank you so much, Clarissa!) and I found the articles thought-provoking but also sometimes maddening, puzzling, and upsetting. I would like to discuss them if anyone's interested.

[Oregondoggie]

I recently had the chance to read this thanks to Ellemeno who brought me a copy at the BBQ (thank you so much, Clarissa!) and I found the articles thought-provoking but also sometimes maddening, puzzling, and upsetting. I would like to discuss them if anyone's interested.

Although Jack Schilling (brokeback_1) feels that this magazine gives Brokeback Mountain official canonical status, I recall with distaste that a couple of the articles were "just plain crap"...Joshua Clover and Christopher Nealon comparing BBM to a Madonna video and "Marlboro" type cowboys.  Statements by D.A. Miller that "erotic disappointment may well be the only genuine homosexual response to BBM  --and hence the only genuine basis for a political crticque of the film."  BULL.  These articles are an academic sop to the members of the Academy who got properly nipped by the Dave Cullen site ad in Variety last year.

I hope someone calmer and more articulate than myself can deconstruct these patronizing pieces of deconstruction.  Better yet, let Film Quarterly discover that careless articles have consequences...

[Front-Ranger]

That article about the Madonna video was pretty tacky...but there was one thing that I found very interesting. The author talked about how the images in the video were "flattened" and it reminded me of the phrase in the story, during the prologue, about how Ennis "let a panel of the dream slide forward." As well as the many other "flat" references.

Not to apologize for the magazine's authors, but maybe those articles were written when people were still amazed over the phenomenon of the movie and were trying to explain it.

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!!

[serious crayons]

My biggest objection was that the articles focused too much on the film as a political and cultural breakthrough and not enough about the film's artistry. Not that the political/cultural stuff isn't important, but it's only one piece of what makes BBM a masterpiece.

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!
 

[Jeff Wrangler]

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!!

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]

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!

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.

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). 

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]

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). 

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. 

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.