real men

Last night I FINALLY saw Brokeback Mountain. What a great fucking movie. I read Annie Proulx's short story back in December and cried at the end. In the middle of jury duty. Tears, streaming down my face. The movie was just as moving, but I didn't cry this time. I did leave it feeling sad though. Heath Ledger definitely gave an amazing performance. I definitely think this movie deserves at least a nomination for Best Picture. All four of the lead actors were good and the story of lost love, unrequited love and hardship is a universal theme, whether you are a gay cowboy, or a grandmother.

I think that the thing that made me most sad about this movie is that, even though it ended in the 80s, you know that there are so many people living in small towns across this country pretending to be someone they aren't. I can't imagine never being able to express my love for someone, except for three or four times a year in the middle of the wilderness.

You have to wonder if some of the more rural parts of the country will ever be accepting of gays. At least to the point that young people won't be afraid to be themselves. I'm sure it will be somewhat similar to race relations, in so much that conditions will improve, but that hatred and bigotry will never completely disappear. It is lamentable how people find it so much easier to hate rather than to accept anything different.

I will definitely see this movie again. Hopefully, not at the Dupont Cinema though. The screen was small and the projector extremely noisy. Ang Lee uses, very effectively, a lot of silence in the movie, to force the focus completely onto the emotions of the characters. The loud projector ruined some of this effect for me though. All said, this is one of those movies where the emotion of it all will stay with me long after the last frame has faded.