Brokeback Mountain

Anyone having a problem with the theme of this new movie?

Joe

Nope. Absolutely not. I'm glad to see a serious, well-crafted film featuring quality actors dealing with this subject matter. Love is love.

I agree with Bronze. I'm so diappointed, though, because it's only on limited release for a few weeks.

BronzeisGolden said:

Nope. Absolutely not. I'm glad to see a serious, well-crafted film featuring quality actors dealing with this subject matter. Love is love.

Click to expand...

ITA as well. I was in tears when I read the short story a couple years ago. I can't wait to see the movie.

DG

No force on earth...

i haven't seen it yet but a friend told me that one has to realize that the story takes place before 'gay lib' and she adds, the end is very sad, but not the usual type of sadness of of other 'gay' stories such as 'The Children's Hour'.

Joe

I have issues with how hollywood handles any politically swayed film...


I don't care for any movie be it straight, bi, trans, gay if it has sexual content over and beyond the romantic kiss at the end... and from all reports I've read there's supposedly more than just a quick kiss... so it's not for me...


I have my own political/religious/personal views on the subject, but that doesn't mean I'll swear off a movie because it doesn't agree with me... but there is a line

No problems at all. Love is love to me. I haven't seen it yet and will probably wait until it comes out on video, since the chances of it actually coming to a theater down here in Bible Belt hell are slim to none. I just added the soundtrack to my Amazon cart though.

Tonichelle said:

I have issues with how hollywood handles any politically swayed film...


I don't care for any movie be it straight, bi, trans, gay if it has sexual content over and beyond the romantic kiss at the end... and from all reports I've read there's supposedly more than just a quick kiss... so it's not for me...


I have my own political/religious/personal views on the subject, but that doesn't mean I'll swear off a movie because it doesn't agree with me... but there is a line

Click to expand...

Hi Toni. I agree with your point that movies these days ALL go too far with the graphic sexual content, regardless of gender or style. I personally prefer older films, where sex was more of a "hint" on film than a blatant reality.

I've always loved to read - it's funny that came up in a conversation this evening with Mr. Doggy. We were talking about growing up in very diciplined familes, where I think one of my biggest "rule infractions" by the age of 15, was reading books with a flashlight under the covers AFTER "lights out" time. (but believe me, my infractions got HUGE by the ages of 16, 17, and beyond!!)

Is anyone else like me WRT sexual content in writing v. visual? It might just be my genre, and the state of "censorship" as I was growing up. I have few or no problems with fairly graphic sexual detail in writing, regardless of gender combinations etc. I'm less crazy about seeing highly graphic portrayals on the big screen. (sometimes the imagination is better than the "in your face" portrayal IMO)

All that said, I LOVE watching movies after I've read the book. I enjoy that more, for some reason, than reading the book after I've seen the movie. In this case, it's a short story, and I'm trying to recall ever seeing a movie based on a short story that I read before seeing the movie. (I don't read many short stories) Can't think of one at the moment....

I've heard this movie is well done. Of course a "well done movie" is in the eye of the beholder just like a "well done figure skating program" LOL!

I do believe that love is love, and it's a rare find no matter where a person is inclined to look for it. And where love is found can be extremely surprising. I can empathize with how difficult it was (and probably still is, sadly) to fall in love with someone of the same gender, in the highly discriminatory, and "take the law into you own hands" environment that is the backdrop of this short story, in terms of time frame and setting.

But back to my original point - I don't need to see the intimate sex details on the big screen to appreciate the point - regardless of the point being made. "Less is often More" is one of my favorite sayings that some bright person came up with.

Well, I now challenge RGirl to a longer post than me on this subject!! (sorry if I bored everyone to tears with this or any other opinion!!)

NOT 2 cents - 2 dollars worth!
DG

Doggygirl - I haven't seen the film - yet. But if there is a sex scene in it, so what. Glad you used the word ALL in your response to Toni. But sex is not what the theme of the movie is all about. And besides there are sex scenes in all movies one way or another. How many scenes have you seen where the movie actually begins with a couple in bed not to mention the middle as well.

Toni - I hope your reliious beliefs also include killings in war and murder.

Joe

Joesitz said:

Doggygirl - I haven't seen the film - yet. But if there is a sex scene in it, so what. Glad you used the word ALL in your response to Toni. But sex is not what the theme of the movie is all about. And besides there are sex scenes in all movies one way or another. How many scenes have you seen where the movie actually begins with a couple in bed not to mention the middle as well.

Joe

Click to expand...

Hi Joe. I haven't seen the film yet either. Have you read the full short story as written? I want to provide a thoughtful response. My opinions about "over done" sex scenes (regardless of gender, marital status, situation, etc.) are NOT about this film, because I haven't even seen it, and neither have you as far as I can tell from your posts. My response was "in general" to Toni's point, which on a broad basis, I tend to agree with given what I know at this stage.

My question is - have you read the full text of the short story? If you have, we can discuss the short story.

My comments were largely about reading the short story that prompted this movie. I have many feelings about the story, having read it 2 years ago, and then having read it again in the midst of the movie press flurry. I was incredibly moved by this story. I belive there is basis in reality for this story that many people will connect with on diverse levels.

I know gay men who have felt "trapped" in situations, but I hadn't even considered what this situation might be like in a ranch / prairie/ most-extreme-good-old-boy-network/"cowboy" setting that I could imagine. This short story opened my eyes - and that was long before (to my knowledge) anyone was planning on making a movie out of this story.

I have an opinion in a general sense that showing me graphic sex doesn't contribute at all to my "understanding" of a movie or that movie's purpose, regardless of where the sex is placed on film. If graphic sex contributes to the overall theme and message, I've got no problem with that. Graphic screen sex for entertainment value (and I believe much of what we are presented is for entertainment, not for meaning or purpose) is just not something I appreciate in a movie. But I don't expect anyone else to agree with me there. To each his own.

In closing, I will say that I have no idea if "Sex is what the movie is about." I can categorically say that "Sex is not what the original short story was about." It is about love. It is about fear. It is about intolerance. It is about the damage done to families and possibly children during the denial process. It is about the possibility of a tire iron "solving a gay problem." It is about what might be lost in life when a loved one dies, and there are unresolved issues. It is certainly not, IMO, about sex.

And I hope the movie reviews are true - that it's NOT about sex. IMO, that would be a huge disservice to this story as originally written. ITA that if there is graphic sex in this movie, "so what." That's standard fare for movies these days. I hope it's a better quality portrayal of the short story that doesn't NEED graphic sex to make it's artistic (and other) points. Will report back when I see it, and I hope you will too.

DG

Call me old fashioned, but give me a good old Clint Eastwood or John Wayne Western anyday....this changes my whole cowboy image. Egads, Zane Grey where are you?

DG - I haven't seen the movie either and have not read the story. I found a little item on this movie sometime back.

I think the movie is about being oneself, and how 'mainstream' politics and religion want to prevent people from being themselves, and the ensuing consequensus.

It seems to me that the mainstream people, imo, are ok with men killing each other.

Joe

Having seen the movie, I can say that the sex is extremely quick and love is far and beyond the main theme. You see them cuddling many more times.

Joesitz said:

Toni - I hope your reliious beliefs also include killings in war and murder.

Joe

Click to expand...

Joe-That was a cheap shot.

CzarinaAnya said:

Joe-That was a cheap shot.

Click to expand...

Sorry about that Czarina. It's just that bring up a controversial topic without discussion and judge it without seeing it just provoked me to wonder if killing should also be excluded from the movies. If I offended anyone, I am sorry, but the killing of Mathew Shepherd(real life, not a story, same neck of the woods) still gets to me.

Joe

I cant wait to see it. It looks like a great love story from what I have seen in the trailors. I have NO problems with sex in movies... there could be more sex in movies and I would be ok with that. Sex is healthy, natural and normal. I can respect that other people do not share in my opinion, but its very hard for me to understand where they are coming from. I also HATE HATE HATE violence and agression in real life... I am very passive and will never own a gun. However, some of my favorite movies are incredibly violent: The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski... just to name a few. I like them because they are good movies, and they are just stories and the violence although shocking is part of the story in these movies. I dont like violence for violence's sake.

I really get the feeling that as other have stated this movie will not be about sex and sex alone... but about love and relationships and life and conflict. Heith and Jake are both great up and coming actors and I think its very ballsy of them to takle this mature subject matter.

I can't wait to see it, but I don't think there is a whole lot more than passionate kissing in this film. Interviewers keep asking Ledger and Gyllenhal about kissing each other, not about their sex scenes with one another.

Joe, I'd much prefer to watch sex than violence in films. It always amazes me when people criticize the sex and not the killings in our entertainment.

I plan to see this movie sometime.

Sex for sex sake isn't good film making - just as violence does not make a good movie. If it's done well within the context of the movie, I don't have issues.

Pretty Woman would seem bizarre if there weren't sex scenes between Gere and Roberts. Crash had a 'rape' scene that was very disturbing, but it was supposed to be disturbing as opposed to titillating. I'm trying to think of a movie (other than porn) where the love scenes were totally outside the boundaries of the movie.

I think that violence is much more overused in movies these days. I can think of many movies where the last action scene makes the movie about 10 minutes longer than it should have been.

From what I've heard, Brokeback Mountain is a beautiful story of love. I'll probably read it after I see the movie.

With movie prices so high, we usually only go to the movies to see big "blockbuster" type movies that lend themselves to the big screen,,,,,,,,"King Kong", "Star Wars", "Lord of the Rings", etc. I'll probably see this flick when it comes out on video or hits the cable circuit........42