"The Sports Guy" from ESPN - The Magazine on Brokeback Mountain

[mlewisusc]

JUST HAD to quote this after I read it.  Bill Simmons, the "Sports Guy" in ESPN - The Magazine wrote in his column about crying in basketball after Adam Morrison wept after losing the playoff game to UCLA several weeks ago.  He starts by "blaming" Clint Eastwood for crying at the end of Million Dollar Baby.  Mr. Simmons then goes on to say the following, which I though would be of great interest to all of you: "After all, if the toughest man in Hollywood could start to bawl on a 50-foot screen in front of millions of movie-goers, anything could happen.  We were headed for some sort of masculine anarchy.  Sure enough, 12 months later, two cowboys are finding forbidden love on Brokeback Mountain.  Now, that was a superb movie.  Even gets a little dusty near the end.  It's a love story about two people who belonged together, only society wouldn't allow it, so they suppressed their feelings and lived a charade . . . and I can't believe I'm writing any of this in a sports column.  Ten years ago, mainstream society wouldn't have been ready for Brokeback.  Now we are.  We've evolved."

I found this AMAZING!  What does everyone else think?

[amh]

That's great!  I'm not familiar with the writer, but I'm always thrilled to hear or read positive things about BBM from those you least expect it and where their words are likely to reach an audience that may have reservations about the film.

[littleguitar]

that's really interesting.... I like the idea of a "masculine anarchy" LOL, nice

Though it kind of reminds me of that famous "There's no crying in baseball!" line from a Legue of their Own 

[starboardlight]

it is amazing. the sports world is one of the last place in our society where people can be openly homophobic and sexist. I think it takes a lot for a sports writer to say something positive about the "gay cowboy" movie. I hate that he still refers to that, but baby steps I guess. I think it's great that he is attempting to give the movie some visibility to the film.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Wow. That's stunning! Thanks, Mark!

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

Yes, thank you so much for this--but for the semi (or totally) out of it, could you explain what seems to be intended as a positive observation:

"Now, that was a superb movie.  Even gets a little dusty near the end."

Dusty?  Clue in the clueless, I beg!


 
John

[TheStudDuck]

Dusty?  Clue in the clueless, I beg!

I can't say with any amount of certainty that I know this to be correct, but I can offer what my take was on it.  When I read it, I thought that he meant it stepped out of the genre of "love story" and became an actual "western" that guys can enjoy towards the end.  That's what it sounded like he was saying to me.

You know... it stopped being about two guys in love... and then it was about this ranch-hand who lives alone with his thoughts and doesn't say much and just keeps to himself.  Which is basically every western ever made.  Once Jack dies, the masculinity level increases amazingly, believe it or not.  I mean, there's no longer this man in love with a man cuddling... it just goes back to the roots of the classic westerns with a cowboy is heartbroken -- he's not outspoken about the reason, he's just heartbroken and you know it to be true.  And that's basically what I was thinking he was getting at.

Towards the end, it stops being a love story... and it really does become a western... or a guy movie.

[RouxB]

I interpreted "dusty" to mean emotional-teary.

[silkncense]

Another surprisingly positive review was from Howard Stern who stated everyone should see Brokeback Mtn & that it was one of the best films he'd ever seen!  You gotta love it.

[monimm18]

Wow, never knew who Bill Simons was until now, but hats off to him. To write that in ESPN,  a sports magazine... just think of the demographics for this publication. He must have really liked this film.
I am curious about the reaction to this... Keeping my fingers crossed that he's right - maybe we have evolved.