Cowboys in Love
At first, its premise was mocked. Then I heard cries of women saying, "It's about time they showed two attractive men together on screen." And then New York Times reviewer waxed poetic and stated the movie proved that, "One tender moment's reprieve from loneliness can illuminate a life." When was the last time a movie incited so much interest?
I decided after seeing the first preview that I would see Brokeback Mountain, so when I descended on Nueva York this past weekend, Jenny and Lucia decided to surprise me with tickets (as a birthday present) to a Saturday afternoon showing at one of the three theaters it was playing at in Manhattan.
The movie did not disappoint, on several levels. First, as someone who has been forced to watch testosterone-driven Westerns, I appreciated the total subversion of the genre. Heath Ledger plays a Marlboro Man to the hilt, complete with monosllyabic utterances and repressed emotions, the expansive scenery is shot in an open, Manifest Destiny style, and then two cowboys have sex. This is not a John Wayne movie.
Second, how can you not applaud making a gay love story the focal point of a mainstream Hollywood movie? Our 2pm showing was packed and the movie had the highest per-showing average ($100,000+ on each of the five theaters where it opened) of any adult drama EVER. Hollywood follows the money and it is exciting that there is money to be made. Third, the three of us were kicked out of the theater as we stayed in our seats for at least a half an hour after the movie had ended to discuss everything from cowboy culture to what people in the hinterlands are going to think of this movie.
As good as the movie was, I wish that the gay plotline could have been kept under wraps because instead of the shock that I have heard people experienced when reading Annie Proulx's short story, I overanalyzed every glance and every sentence in the first hour in an attempt to see them falling in love instead of just watching it happen naturally.
For your consideration, movies as think pieces.
I decided after seeing the first preview that I would see Brokeback Mountain, so when I descended on Nueva York this past weekend, Jenny and Lucia decided to surprise me with tickets (as a birthday present) to a Saturday afternoon showing at one of the three theaters it was playing at in Manhattan.
The movie did not disappoint, on several levels. First, as someone who has been forced to watch testosterone-driven Westerns, I appreciated the total subversion of the genre. Heath Ledger plays a Marlboro Man to the hilt, complete with monosllyabic utterances and repressed emotions, the expansive scenery is shot in an open, Manifest Destiny style, and then two cowboys have sex. This is not a John Wayne movie.
Second, how can you not applaud making a gay love story the focal point of a mainstream Hollywood movie? Our 2pm showing was packed and the movie had the highest per-showing average ($100,000+ on each of the five theaters where it opened) of any adult drama EVER. Hollywood follows the money and it is exciting that there is money to be made. Third, the three of us were kicked out of the theater as we stayed in our seats for at least a half an hour after the movie had ended to discuss everything from cowboy culture to what people in the hinterlands are going to think of this movie.
As good as the movie was, I wish that the gay plotline could have been kept under wraps because instead of the shock that I have heard people experienced when reading Annie Proulx's short story, I overanalyzed every glance and every sentence in the first hour in an attempt to see them falling in love instead of just watching it happen naturally.
For your consideration, movies as think pieces.
posted by Libberash at 10:51 AM
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