Brokeback Mountain

[Pene_Negro_Grande]

Definitely a sad movie but I thought it was well made and good....I am a straight guy and I saw it for what it was - a good movie about 2 people in love....I am glad they made it because I think it will hopefully open people eyes and understanding of others....I couldn't imagine living like that today....Like all my straight guy friends are overly affectionate and touchy feely with each other....Back then I am sure we how we hug and interact with each now would be perceived as gay....

 

[panthera]

Thanks Stronzo, kind words - even if I seldom live up to them. Enis was right, there are an awful lot of folks out there who are just waiting for an opportunity to hurt you.
Here in Munich, nearly all attacks on gay men come from young Turks who felt "provoked" by the gays kissing each other or holding hands in public. Where I grew up (border Northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming) there are a lot of young men who still feel the same way. Sad. Why such hatred?

 

[Webster]

I finally saw it this past weekend. No, not in the little redneck burg where I live. I was holding up pretty well until one particular scene: where Ennis finds his and Jack's blood-stained shirts hanging together on the same hanger in Jack's closet. That was when I lost it and started bawling like a baby. I was not alone: I heard sobs on every side of me. What angered me is not what might've been, but what couldn't have been because of the considerable consequences. We know that the explanation of Jack's death that his wife related to Ennis was not the real story: the scenario in Ennis's mind tells us that. And we know why Jack was killed. Ennis did have one saving grace: he didn't try to pretend that the love he and Jack felt for each other wasn't real. He couldn't ever really come to terms with his sexuality, but at least he recognised the affair for what it was. For both of them, it was about love and closeness, not about the sex. A couple of my gay friends really didn't like it: they say that it moved too slowly and it was too predictable. I, on the other hand, witnessed a powerful and moving film that deserves the accolades it's receiving. I would recommend it to all my friends. It's not a 'gay movie': it's a story of love and how it can affect one's life profoundly.

____________________________________________________
For everyone who hasn't seen the film, "That cat wasn't let out of the bag. It was YANKED out!" Ha

 

[Webster]

People are taught to hate..............

 

[B_Stronzo]

Thanks Stronzo, kind words - even if I seldom live up to them. Enis was right, there are an awful lot of folks out there who are just waiting for an opportunity to hurt you.
Here in Munich, nearly all attacks on gay men come from young Turks who felt "provoked" by the gays kissing each other or holding hands in public. Where I grew up (border Northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming) there are a lot of young men who still feel the same way. Sad. Why such hatred?

My pleasure panthera. I visit "Christian chat" often in Yahoo simply in an effort to know what the bastards are up to.

It's curious to me what you say here about the "young Turks". It's been brought to my attention in the Turkish culture that homosexuality (much as it is in the Indian culture) is practiced rampantly but simply not discussed. As long as the façade of heterosexuality is maintained there's simply no issue. In an Italian chatroom recently I was "hit up" by a Turkish lad of no more than 20. He asked me to view his cam, and though he knew I was male, knew nothing more about me than that I was an "American". He was very bright, educated and seemingly "enlightened" on nearly every front. Yet the other day the topic of homosexuality came up and he simply turned into a "hate machine".

I've never seen anything change the course of the conversation so quickly as this topic did and when I told him I was not 'having any' of his take on homosexuals he elevated the conversation to say "when my friends and I see fags in public we beat them up".

I was incredulous yet your information here supports it.

Perhaps the Avian Flu will get the little bastards... pity many are so attractive.

 

[B_Stronzo]

People are taught to hate..............

................. without question.

 

[GoneA]

IWe know that the explanation of Jack's death that his wife related to Ennis was not the real story: the scenario in Ennis's mind tells us that. And we know why Jack was killed.

see, at first that kind of threw me, then towards the end i realized what the director (ennis, actually) was trying to convey. that made it even sadder.

I was holding up pretty well until one particular scene: where Ennis finds his and Jack's blood-stained shirts hanging together on the same hanger in Jack's closet.

that part was so extremely powerful - emotionally powerful. although, for me one of the saddest parts, in retrospect (and this can only be in retrospect as it isn't sad when it's said), was when jack says to ennis: "you know, it could be like this, just like this always." it's sad because this is one of the greatest manifestations of jack's feelings toward ennis and hopes for their relationship - clearly this does not come to pass. after the movie, i kept replaying this line in my head - that line and many more.

 

[Lex]

The shirt scene becomes eveen more powerful when you understand the implications and eroticism of smell and scent among men and you read the story and know that by the time Ennis finds them, he can no longer smell Jack on the shirt. That scene killed me.

 

[GoneA]

The shirt scene becomes eveen more powerful when you understand the implications and eroticism of smell and scent among men and you read the story and know that by the time Ennis finds them, he can no longer smell Jack on the shirt. That scene killed me.

i really should not have read that...:frown1:

 

[B_Stronzo]

i really should not have read that...:frown1:

why?

 

[GoneA]

why?

....because that makes it even sadder. now i'm more depressed!

 

[B_hungrick]

My g/f mentioned something about this film that has stayed with me. She said that she's never seen a male actor in a movie be as vulnerable as Heath Ledger's "Ennis" was. I think she's right. I've seen guys show that kind of subtle emotion in person, but never for a camera. Ledger is so good you can hardly believe it. This guy is a great talent.

 

[GoneA]

i definitely agree. this is one of those movies that do not need a sequel or anything like that; but, i would like to see the story told from more of jack's point-of-view. ang lee did a flawless job at showing both sides of the story, but, it's clear that a lot of the movie was revealed through ennis's eyes - not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

[SurferGirlCA]

We know that the explanation of Jack's death that his wife related to Ennis was not the real story: the scenario in Ennis's mind tells us that. And we know why Jack was killed.

I didn't think that when I saw it, actually. I assumed the scene in Ennis's head was just a reflection of his own experience that being "queer" = violent death. Maybe someone who has read the story can tell us if Annie Proulx makes it clear there. I kinda like that Ang Lee left it open to interpretation.

 

[cspelts]

I was so excited to see this movie... I really needed the pace of the beginning to be slow to calm me down.. I believe the director did this methodically to allow you to concentrate on the intensity of the relationships.. awesome job!! the shirt scene was almost unbearable... i keep replaying that scene. the extreme sadness i felt makes me greatful to have my relationship that i am able to cherish every day. the love lost angle, the regret of what could never be.... i just wanted to scream.. bitches, it's 1963.. move to san francisco!! i saw this movie in wilmington, nc... still amazed as everyone else at the diversity of the audience.. this movie is still haunting me. going to see it again tonight..

 

[GoneA]

.. this movie is still haunting me. going to see it again tonight..

my goodness!! why would you do that to yourself. i saw it alone - i was bored. then my friends wanted to go see it together - NO WAY. seeing this movie once was more than enough.

outrageous.

 

[GoneA]

two parts in the movie that made me laugh were: the awkward moment when anne hathaway (can't remember her name) met jake for the first time, after she saw the, ughh, incident. it made for a nice chuckle

the other one: when ennis is complaing to jack about hiding who is his from the world, and jack suggest that he leaves Wyoming altogether and move to Texas. the two get into a little scuffle and jack says, "well, i'm sorry for thinking out loud." ennis, in turn says, "you're a real thinker, there."

it helped to show the "realness" of their relationship - and it was funny, nonetheless.

 

[cspelts]

my goodness!! why would you do that to yourself. i saw it alone - i was bored. then my friends wanted to go see it together - NO WAY. seeing this movie once was more than enough.

outrageous.

I enjoy the deep emotions it draws out of me.. makes me feel human in a cold self absorbed american society, plus i love to to connect with characters that i can relate to, i am from oklahoma and i understand the complexity of homophobia and the fear of expressing love to another man, and the complexity. it rings loud.. i will probably see this movie many times.. just i have watched steel magnolias, or beautiful thing, or the color purple. it touched me.. and i cherish that.

 

[GoneA]

I enjoy the deep emotions it draws out of me.. makes me feel human in a cold self absorbed american society, plus i love to to connect with characters that i can relate to, i am from oklahoma and i understand the complexity of homophobia and the fear of expressing love to another man, and the complexity. it rings loud.. i will probably see this movie many times.. just i have watched steel magnolias, or beautiful thing, or the color purple. it touched me.. and i cherish that.

well, once put in those terms, i definitely understand what you mean. the movie, for my part, is sort of tempting in a way. a little part of me wants to see it again, but then a big part of me is much to frightened, in a manner of speaking.

 

[headbang8]

A gay colleague and I talked about Brokeback Mountain yesterday, and he read the movie in a very interesting way.

He thought Ennis was straight. But so tragically starved of love as a child, that he was moved--overwhelmed, even--by the first person in his life to genuinely show him afferction.

Flash forward to the scene where Alma glimpses Jack and Ennis kissing. Was she threatened by the fact that her hussband was kissing another man, or by the self-evident passion that contrasted with the dreary domestic pact that passed for her own love?

Hmmm...