Brokeback Mountain

I saw Brokeback Mountain tonight. I was a bit disappointed that it evidently WOULDN'T be coming to a theater near me, more specifically ANY major chain of theaters with nice surround sound and comfortable seats in the state of Utah. (I was not that surprised, but sadly disappointed indeed.) I am a bit spoiled with regards to my movie viewing environment. It was at the Broadway Centre Cinemas in Salt Lake, and there are quite a few showing times available, nine to be exact. All the other movies were only shown five times a day. So there. Anyhow. It was a wonderful film. I was a bit nervous that I'd get uncomfortable with the physical parts of this love story. For some reason there are no "Guys Gone Wild" infomercials on TV. I've seen a lot more girl-on-girl action (the appeal of which still mystifies me) than guy-on-guy, and I didn't know if I would be able understand it and relate to the intensity of their feelings. I decided that I'd better read the story by Annie Proulx first to figure out what this was all about. Most of the time the book is better than the movie, anyway. I LOVED the short story. It was very romantic and sad. Surprisingly enough, I found it quite erotic as well. As a female who is not so visually stimulated as my male counterparts are, I found the book much more stimulating than the movie. It was hard to really get into watching it when I couldn't figure out where, in my Fantasy Brain, I was supposed to put myself in the love scenes. That part was a little confusing for my Fantasy Brain. She doesn't really get a lot out of watching things, anyway. I will say that it was nice to see both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in tight jeans and at a few points buck nekked. Not bad. That Jack Twist has a great smile, he does. But, I digress... I loved this movie for the realness of the love story. It was so raw and heartbreaking. I think it is hard to appreciate a story like that unless you have lived through that kind of tragic, painful love. I went for the love story that I enjoyed in the book, but I also wanted to see if I could gain a better understanding of a homosexual relationship. No one's (healthy) relationship is solely based on sex, but that is the main context in which I've thought about gay relationships. That might sound stupid, but I don't really know that many gay people. The few gay relationships I've seen have seemed very loving and committed. The only difference between me and a lesbian, in my mind, has been that she is interested in other women sexually instead of other men. I realize this thinking is about as stupid as the idea that the only reason I am interested in men is for the sex. There is so much more to it than that. However, I have often wondered about the inner workings of a gay relationship, and why it has to be that way for gays. Why do gay people feel they can only find satisfaction with the same sex? I suppose I should ask myself why it has to be a man for me. I don't really know, but I do know that I've seen that concept explored time and again in film, whereas this is the first movie about homosexual relationships I've seen that was just about love. No one died of AIDS, no one pretended to be a boy to kiss the girl, no one got into hilarious comic situations by being flamboyant. It was just two guys who really loved each other, and all the rest of life that happens to all of us. Except that I'm not at risk for dying in a brutal beating because a bunch of angry lesbians took a tire iron to my face. I enjoyed Brokeback Mountain because it provided me with a better understanding of a world I don't really know and have a hard time understanding. If more people were able to see into this world and explore it, then I think there would be less dead people in ditches. I think I'll go see it again. Before the movie started, there was a man up in the front of the theater thanking everyone for coming and making an announcement about some local Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual organization. He was giving away tickets to some film festival and he said he'd give them to the first person who could bring up a safety pin. After a minute, someone did. Then, he had a book of some local writer's newspaper columns to give out and he said he'd give them to the first person who could show him a set of keys to a Dodge Neon. No one stood up, and he joked, "I know there are some gay men in the audience, there HAS to be a set of keys to a Neon out there somewhere." Then, he said that a set of truck keys would suffice, as well. Keys for a Toyota Pick-up, to be more precise. This way, he said, the lesbians wouldn't feel left out. HA! I didn't know I drove a lesbian car. I went up and got my free book. As I pulled onto the freeway heading home, I switched to the classic country music station. The song was "He Stopped Loving Her Today", by George Jones. A superb example of the beauty of country music. No one can sing about heartache like George Jones. I cried a little in the theater, but I really got choked up listening to that song. "He said, 'I'll love you till I die..'"