Toby’s mother called him the other day and said that along with Walk the Line she wanted him to take her to see Brokeback Mountain. We both made faces when we heard this. I to him. He to the phone. I don’t have a picture of the expression but I know it all too well. It’s the kind of expression you might give the waitress at your favorite restaurant right before you tell her the toilet is overflowing. It’s the expression you give a friend when he/she tells you they’re planning on getting Botox. It’s the kind of expression you give someone right before they’re about to discover something they might find unpleasant that you’ve already been made privy to. This expression is often coupled with the sound of exhaling through ones teeth.
Sentences that might go with said expression:
You don’t want to go in there. But it wasn’t me.
I think your girlfriend is in my bedroom with her pants down.
She does know those cowboys are gay, right?
We talked about this for a while. Toby decided that she probably has no idea that Brokeback Mountain is indeed an amazing love story between two cowboys. While I wouldn’t go as far as to call this movie a film about gay men, I think it’s pretty safe to say that most would. (Not that I’m saying I’m more sophisticated than other people. I’m not at all. I still smell my armpits in public. I’m just saying that, for me, the film was much, much more than what I would call a “gay cowboy” flick. It was a breathtaking love story.)
Maybe our parents are opening their minds! Maybe she does know?
No way. I bet they’re not advertising this film down south as a ‘gay cowboy flick.’
My first reaction was a positive one. I liked the idea that they weren’t selling the movie as a gay cowboy flick. As I mentioned above, I thought the movie was much, much more than that. This marketing attempt sort of touches on a bigger more noble idea: That we, as Americans, might be closer to overcoming bigotry and hatred. Their attempt at selling the movie without the obvious hype assumes that we’re all mature enough to see two men (or two women) together and not immediately consider their acts sinful or sick. Could it be possible? Could I one day live in a country where a same-sex love affair could be considered so normal, it’s not even noticed to talk about?
Immediately after having this somewhat orgasmic awakening, I decided that NOT giving people the idea that it’s a gay cowboy flick is horrible idea.
This is very bad. If they’re not letting people know what it’s about, what if a bunch of burly mean men head to the movies in hopes of seeing a cowboy flick, feel duped, and then head out and gay bash the first “gay” person they can find? This is how hate crimes happen.
On Saturday night, Toby Joe and I were watching SNL. During a commercial break, they showed an advertisement for Brokeback Mountain. And much to our surprise, there was NOTHING in that particular preview giving anyone an idea that the film features a love affair between two men. Not a drop. Instead, the advertisement made it seem like some sort of Garth Brooks video especially given the weight they put on the firework scene.
I’m not saying I think they should make it clear in every advertisement on T.V. But I am worried we’re not mature enough yet to let a bunch of potentially homophobic, unsupervised Americans into a theater and say “HEy Fellas, watch this.”
Mihow 
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