Brokeback Mountain

I finally saw Brokeback Mountain tonight. I've been eagar to see this movie for more than a year. As the abundance of nominations and healthy reviews show, the film is simply brilliant. Amazing scripting, directing, and acting. The story, of the triumphs and tradegy of a homosexual romance in a heterosexual world, has been long overdue in the format of a respected film that appeals to the mainstream movie-goer.

However, one critique not as often discussed in reviews is that of the narrow-focused press surrounding this film. This recent commentary, critical of the kudos given to Ledger and Gyllenhaal for playing gay characters, appeared in The Advocate.
Alan Ball's statement (as quoted in the below article) really sums it all up:
“I'm not a big subscriber to the idea that for a straight actor to play gay now is a huge act of bravery, but I do believe that for a straight actor to not want to play a character because he’s gay is a huge act of cowardice.”

Another good quote:

"And to all you straight actors who want pats on the back for playing gay: Until you’ve lived gay, until you’ve been denied a job because of it, or had to hide in a Hollywood closet; until you’ve had your jaw smashed or watched a generation of your friends die of a disease while government did nothing (like in the Reagan era), don’t speak to me of courage. "
It takes courage to be gay and out, not to play it."

Brokeback Mountain is a movie that has been a long time coming. It's about time a movie about a same-sex relationship got such respect and success in the eyes of the american public.

We've still got a long way to go.

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Read the entire article at:
http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail.asp?id=23334