After buying Brokeback Mountain and extolling its greatness to my predominantly conservative friends, I somehow found myself frequently required as a token female presence when my heterosexual male friends wanted to watch the film. This, despite my repeated insistence that, no, watching a movie will NOT turn you gay (although it may evoke some latent tendencies). I love the film, and so this obligation was never a particular hardship (although I did find it a bit annoying to be told that I couldn’t leave the room, even for a bathroom break, because WHO KNOWS, a gay orgy might spontaneously arise. Yes, pun intended, always).
A few months before I moved from Boise, my friend Brandon came over and suggested that we watch a movie. Having watched our limited collection innumerable times, I told him to choose. He picked Brokeback Mountain. I should note that while Brandon is a very sweet kid, he is also one of those swaggering, libido-driven, hyper-(pseudo-)masculine, homoeroticism-thinly-veiled-in-homophobia types who seem to thrive so well in Idaho deserts. Thus I was shocked at his choice, but made no objections to it. We watched the entire film with minimal awkwardness expressed on his part, and minimal tissues used on mine.
As the credits rolled, I took a few deep breaths and wiped away my tears.
Brandon, too, seemed to be wrapped up in silent awe.
“Well,” he sighed, pausing significantly. “That was gay.”
Yes. Yes I suppose it was.
6 Comments
Ha ha ha! That’s awesome!
I don’t get why guys get weirded out by that movie. It’s awesome, AND you get to see Anne Hathaway’s boobs! I mean come on!
I know, right? There’s more straight sex than gay sex in the movie! Plus, the movie is STUNNING in terms of story, cinematography, and acting.
Boys are silly.
I cannot talk about it around the people I know because they back away from me in fear that I’ve somehow become gay - the fact that I have listened at times to Queen, the Pet Shop Boys, George Michael seems somehow to be irrelevant.
Yes. The movie is *gay* but it’s also *straight*…as the T-Shirt reads “straight but not narrow”…: it’s about love, hardship, betrayal, and most of all regret. I’m amazed that none of that seems to penetrate that homophobic-exo-skeleton that a lot of boys have.
I always find irony in that the most homophobic testosterone filled groups on a college campus that called this movie gay hang out together 24×7 in a single house filled with drunk men sharing showers….. but that’s just me that finds that ironic, I suppose.
I hate that I had nothing fun to say. Oh well..
Go see… I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.. because the aforementioned frats assured me that it’s totally not gay.
Are Lesbians “gay” too? Seems boys like those movies… I’m confused….
ROFL. That’s funny.