What does being a Brokie mean to you?

[Brown Eyes]

I thought this might be an interesting question with the Brokie community reaching it's 2+ year anniversary and given all the reflection that's gone on in these recent, tragic and intense days following the loss of Heath.

So, the simple question is how do you define an identity as a Brokie? 

And, a few logical questions follow from this.

Do you consider yourself to be one (essentially, do you self-identify as a Brokie)?  And, would people on the pavement recognize you as a Brokie (i.e. do folks know you're a Brokie)?

Further, what do you make of the possibly-zillions of folks out there in the world who like and even love Brokeback Mountain, but who don't identify as Brokies... and who might not even be aware of the concept?
 


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I'll start with a few thoughts of my own.  This is not, by any means my full definition of what a Brokie is... but, again this is a start for this topic.

I absolutely consider myself to be a Brokie.  That said, almost no one in my real life would understand that I am one.

A few salient, defining features of being a Brokie (from my point of view) include:
-understanding/easily using Brokieisms. 
-willingly viewing BBM multiple times or feeling compelled to view it multiple times. 
-possessing a certain level of deep knowledge about both the film/story and the makers (actors, writers, director, etc.) of the film and story.
-feeling the need to discuss aspects of these interests with others on a continual basis


I'd be really curious to hear how others might reflect on this identity that's developed as a culture around Brokeback Mountain and how you see yourself fitting in to this culture.

[forsythia12]

well, i know i'm a brokie.  i haven't been on this forum in ages, and am considered 'new',  but i've been a brokie for a long time.
everyone i'm close to knows it.
i've introduced the movie to more people than i can count.
i refer back to it as an example with any topic i discuss with friends or family.
i think about it day and night
i watch it over and over again
sometimes i find it difficult to see jake as jake, and not jack, and same with heath before his passing.....i saw ennis.  the fact that he was with michelle added to this......ennis and alma. (no disrespect towards the actors and their real lives intended)
i'm a christian, and yet the movie has broadened my belief system in many ways (i started a new thread regarding this on "twist family bible study")
and......well,......it changed my life.
i love brokeback mountain.
i believe in it
i believed in the characters, the place, the story, and the love.
it's part of my daily life, and i'm glad i'm not alone in that.....(hence all the members of this board)
i don't know what makes a brokie, but i know i am one.

[Brown Eyes]

well, i know i'm a brokie.  i haven't been on this forum in ages, and am considered 'new',  but i've been a brokie for a long time.
everyone i'm close to knows it.
i've introduced the movie to more people than i can count.
i refer back to it as an example with any topic i discuss with friends or family.
i think about it day and night
i watch it over and over again
sometimes i find it difficult to see jake as jake, and not jack, and same with heath before his passing.....i saw ennis.  the fact that he was with michelle added to this......ennis and alma. (no disrespect towards the actors and their real lives intended)
i'm a christian, and yet the movie has broadened my belief system in many ways (i started a new thread regarding this on "twist family bible study")
and......well,......it changed my life.
i love brokeback mountain.
i believe in it
i believed in the characters, the place, the story, and the love.
it's part of my daily life, and i'm glad i'm not alone in that.....(hence all the members of this board)
i don't know what makes a brokie, but i know i am one.

Thanks for this awesome post Friend!

I think you hit the nail on the head about one probably-pretty-common theme for most Brokies... that Brokeback changed our lives.  I'm sure the change is different and unique to each Brokie. 

For me, it certainly changed my life.  That rings very true.

[serious crayons]

Hey Bud,

I just found this thread, having 10 seconds ago finished writing something OT on a different thread related to this very subject (in response to a post you wrote -- no coincidence, I assume  ). Anyway, I do have a few thoughts on this but it's really late and I'm going to take the night to collect them.

In the meantime, the one thing I'll say is that being a Brokie has always seemed a bit mystical to me -- like we were all chosen by some higher power, though believe me I usually don't think in those terms. To show you how much I don't think in those terms, I'll note that when I say "chosen," what comes to mind is not the Jews of the Old Testament as much as the characters in Stephen King's The Stand, who, when a bio-warfare experiment gone awry wipes out 99+ percent of the planet's population, remain immune and then all gather and telepathically gravitate toward Las Vegas for a final showdown between Good and Evil.

I haven't yet bought my ticket to Vegas. But I've always been struck by the fact that, aside from our fascination with BBM, there's no single quality that all Brokies have in common, and there's no single quality that separates us from many of the world's non-Brokies. And yet it's a very, very powerful identity. So to me, being a Brokie is mysterious and possibly even metaphysical.

[Katie77]

Great topic.....

The term "chosen" is one that I reflected on a long time ago....I had this thought, that in every theatre, at every viewing of Brokeback Mountain, there was this spritual being, who knew by the way we were reacting to the movie,who knew we would preserve the story of Brokeback, who knew that our life would be changed forever, who, then softly and unnoticed, tapped us on the shoulder, and said, "go forth, and be a Brokie".....

Something led us to the message board,to sites like Bettermost, or Yahoo.... for most of us it was the first time we had ever known there were message boards on movies, let alone join one. The need to congregate with other Brokies was insatiable, necessary and satisfying.

We wanted to spread the word to others, about this wonderful movie, and at times we were confronted with ridicule and nasty remarks  about that "gay cowboy movie",(usually from people who had not even seen the movie), but it didnt deter us, we kept on talking, we kept on even boring some of our family, we even thought we needed to "get over it" ourselves, but it had taken hold and we could not get it out of our system, even if we wanted to.

Finally, we accepted that we will be Brokies forever, unashemedly, and unconditionally.

I stand tall and proud that I am a Brokie.....

[MaineWriter]

I haven't yet bought my ticket to Vegas. But I've always been struck by the fact that, aside from our fascination with BBM, there's no single quality that all Brokies have in common, and there's no single quality that separates us from many of the world's non-Brokies. And yet it's a very, very powerful identity. So to me, being a Brokie is mysterious and possibly even metaphysical.

Or mystical.

I was struck by Heath's family referring to him as an "old soul." That tells me they had a deep understanding of why he was here on this earth and who he was.

It is very apparent to me that being a Brokie is about finding something new in myself, waking up parts of me I didn't know were there--beginning a new path in my life (which involved writing) and learning more about myself.

For me, it is less about others knowing that I am a Brokie and more about what being a Brokie means to me. That is what I reflect on on a daily basis.

L

[Artiste]

I'm puzzled as to the word: Brokie!!

Maybe I am like Annie was: Brokenback or should I use Brokeback??

Wonderful thread you started atz!!

And great comments everyone!! May it continue as Annie's story and the BM film: forever!!

Hugs!!

[Brown Eyes]

Hey Bud,

I just found this thread, having 10 seconds ago finished writing something OT on a different thread related to this very subject (in response to a post you wrote -- no coincidence, I assume  ). Anyway, I do have a few thoughts on this but it's really late and I'm going to take the night to collect them.

In the meantime, the one thing I'll say is that being a Brokie has always seemed a bit mystical to me -- like we were all chosen by some higher power, though believe me I usually don't think in those terms. To show you how much I don't think in those terms, I'll note that when I say "chosen," what comes to mind is not the Jews of the Old Testament as much as the characters in Stephen King's The Stand, who, when a bio-warfare experiment gone awry wipes out 99+ percent of the planet's population, remain immune and then all gather and telepathically gravitate toward Las Vegas for a final showdown between Good and Evil.

I haven't yet bought my ticket to Vegas. But I've always been struck by the fact that, aside from our fascination with BBM, there's no single quality that all Brokies have in common, and there's no single quality that separates us from many of the world's non-Brokies. And yet it's a very, very powerful identity. So to me, being a Brokie is mysterious and possibly even metaphysical.

Hey Friend,

Yes the emergence of this topic in one of the Heath-forum threads (as you deduced) definitely inspired me to bring this question out into it's own thread.  And, I know you and I have discussed this a lot before... especially the phenomenon of folks who both like BBM and aren't Brokies.
Such a puzzling phenomenon indeed.
 

Anyway... thanks for all these great replies.    I do know what you mean with the concept of "chosen" ... it's hard to describe, but I do know what you mean.  On one level it's about being amongst other folks who don't question (at all) all the quirky things that go along with being a Brokie.  Do you know what I mean?  Nobody here judges anyone else here for deciding to watch BBM 300 times within the space of one year... And no one questions the desire to take time off of work to drive out to the middle of nowhere to a place like Lightning Flat just because it's so evocative of BBM (just to cite random examples of things that don't phase anyone here at BetterMost... but would seem really alarming to a lot of non-Brokies out there on the pavement).

At this point, to me being a Brokie is also tied to this social community that's developed here at BetterMost (with the comfortable knowledge that our Brokie culture extends beyond the borders of BetterMost to the two other main forums, imdb, etc.).  While I'm not too active on any of the other forums, I find it hugely comforting to know that there are "more of us" out there.

So, I guess this is a question... how much is being a Brokie tied up with online activity?  I'm sure there are lots of folks who might-well be Brokies but who have never stumbled into the online world of Brokiedom.  It is interesting to realize that Brokieness is so bound up with online social networking.

[brokeplex]

Brokie: ?

To me it means that I was so deeply moved by the film, and the short story that I now look at my life from a different perspective.

It means that I know others both online and in real time who share this change of perspective.

It means that I am so interested in Brokie trivia that I will be journeying with a number of other men to WY this year to see the sites mentioned in the film and the ss, I also plan to take a long planned trip to Canada and will stop in outside Canmore to see the much photographed mountain.

The Brokie phenom has touched me deeply enough that I now relate some experiences in my life to the film, such as when I hear Geo. Straits "Amarillo by Morning" I now think of Jack Twist's rodeo career, that song has been around for about 20 years, but now when I hear it, it has an added poignancy.

Today D.L and I attended some events here in Ft Worth that are a part of the annual stockyard show, I kept seeing young men who reminded me of Jack. I just smiled to myself.

So, being a Brokie has enriched my life by changing my perceptions. What a wonderful gift from AP and Ang Lee! 

[Berit]

Yes, oh yes, I'm a Brokie all right.....soon of to bed but first.....When I first saw the movie I was litterly sweapt of my feet....and since then I have this feeling in me....as a powerplant or...I don't know how to express myself but BBM gave me a new input in life, it made me more aware of how fragile things are, things you often take for granted....

I belong in a community of others, like me touched by this beautiful story! For that I'm so happy!

Berit