Ad from Brokeback Mountain fans

[bbmykel]

Here is the text of an ad (unformatted)that a community of fans of the film are raising money to run in one of the Hollywood trade papers.

Text:

Thank you

Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana, James Schamus, Ang Lee, Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid, Scott Michael Campbell, David Harbour, Anna Faris, Linda Cardellini, Kate Mara, Roberta Maxwell, Peter McRobbie, Gustavo Santaolalla, Rodrigo Prieto
and the entire cast and crew

for transforming our lives through the
most honored and awarded film of the year

"Brokeback Mountain"


We agree with those who named
"Brokeback Mountain" the Best Picture of 2005:


British Academy of Film & Television Arts
Golden Globe Awards
Golden Satellite Awards
Independent Spirit Awards
Venice Film Festival
Boston Film Critics
Broadcast Film Critics Association
Cinephile Society
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics
Florida Film Critics
Internet Entertainment Writers Association
Iowa Film Critics
Las Vegas Film Critics
London Film Critics
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
New York Film Critics Circle
Online Film and Television Association
St. Louis Film Critics
San Francisco Film Critics
Southeastern Film Critics
Utah Film Critics
Vancouver Film Critics

Also
Producers Guild of America: Best Picture
Directors Guild of America: Best Director
Writers Guild of America: Best Adapted Screenplay



"I want to thank ... Ennis and Jack ... they taught all of us who made Brokeback Mountain so much
about not just all the gay men and women whose love is denied by society but, just as important,
the greatness of love itself." Ang Lee, Director



We will all live in a better world thanks to Brokeback Mountain.

<End Text>

For those that believe there is no issue or problem, then there is no need to respond to this message, thanks anyway.

For those that are upset and would like to join with these folks to make your voice heard, they are taking donations to pay for the ad here:
http://www.davecullen.com/brokebackmountain/adcampaign.html

Mike

[William769]

1. Great to hear!

[Democrats_win]

2. Very good! The subtleness of it especially. Didn't come out and say it.

Didn't say that the Academy was wrong, just said the other's were right. Well done. Hey, it would be hard to prove any homophobia was involved, so it was better left unsaid.

[cali]

3. I resent someone posting something on DU

and then stating that if you don't agree with the message, you should NOT feel free to comment. Frankly, I have no opinion about the ad in question.

[Brazenly Liberal]

4. No, thanks

Before anyone says I'm homophobic, let me volunteer some personal info:

I raised two boys who grew up to be wonderful gay men of whom I am enormously proud. And very fiercely protective. Nothing but full and complete rights and respect for them will be good enough. No settling for halfway back in the bus, as they say. One of them married his partner during the glorious but brief period when that was possible in San Francisco. It was an act of love and courage that still makes me cry with happiness and I still say they're as married as I am. Screw anyone who doesn't approve.

That having been said, BBM is not good enough. It's still halfway to the back of the bus.

In order to be honest, I have to give it the props it does deserve. Gay characters in mainstream movies are almost always clowns, nellies, or utterly sexless. I have no problem with clowns or nellies and half of straight America is utterly sexless. But clowns and nellies are not *all* of the gay community and at least BBM gives us characters that don't play into those stereotypes.

But I have issues with this movie, oh yes I do.

First of all, I would not call this a gay movie. I'd call it a sub-genre of Chick Flicks - call it Chick Flicks with D!cks. The same straight women who made up the largest demographic for Queer As Folk are flocking to the theaters to see BBM. It's a sub-genre that I predict will explode after the success of BBM, which is fine, but Chick Flicks ain't nuthin' new.

Secondly, there's the cowboy/sheepherder thing. It's not a minor point. In the weird world of cattle ranchers, cowboys are "real" men and sheepherders are considered the White Trash of the West.
Whatever message was meant to be sent by this artistic choice, the one that was received said, "It's people who are already marginalized that 'choose' to be gay."

Thirdly, I'm sick of sympathetic gay characters who have to "pay for their sins" by coming to a bad end, preferably fatal, so Joe Sixpack can feel his manhood hasn't been too threatened. We can like them, but only if we're gonna lose them. Yes, I know only too well and too close to home that gay bashing is a very real and very hideous thing. But I also know very well and very close to home that longtime, loving, normal, happy relationships happen in the gay community, too - and a lot more often than you'd ever know from watching the way they're portrayed in the movies. The tragic ending is a Chick Flick staple, so it's not surprising to see it in a Chick Flick with D!cks. But, for God's sake, it's not the *only* ending for a Chick Flick. How about a little more "When Harry met Sally" and a little less "Love Story" once in a while?

Not good enough. This is not the Big Breakthrough Gay Movie - not unless we're willing to settle and I'm not willing to settle. Give me a gay-themed movie in which the main characters dodder into old age together. THAT will be a breakthrough movie.

End rant.

[AnnieBW]

6. In Sci-Fi Fandom

They're called "slashers", and the sub-genre is called "slash". It's writing two hetero characters as being homosexual. It comes from the first story of this type, called "K/S", which had Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock as lovers. There are a lot of women out there who are fascinated with the concept of what guys do when they're alone. They're convinced that men talk about their "feelings". Yeah, right. :D

[Brazenly Liberal]

11. Hm. I have mixed feelings about that

Part of me says you *should* be able to just switch the gender on any given love story and it should still be just as valid.

But it's not realistic these days. (Yeah, you said SF, but my rants tend to go off on their own tangents). The fact is that we're living in a world where the Sacrilegious Right still has too much influence and homophobia is all too common. For many (most?) gays, life still contains thousands of small and large moments when their sexual orientation makes their life experience different. For those of us who don't have to live with this, the weight of it over time is unimaginable.

In a society where groups of people are marginalized, whether by their orientation, their appearance, their race, their whatever, you can't just swap them out with their socially accepted counterparts and end up with the same results. On the day when you can, then we'll know we've gotten somewhere.

[NYCGirl]

12. Did you know there's even DAILY SHOW slash?

http://www.wonkette.com/politics/media/daily-show-slash-fiction-033424.php

Hysterical stuff!

[EOTE]

7. I think the point of the movie....

was to portray the tragic consequences of not following your heart and instead following societal conventions. Yes, the movie is a tragedy, but don't criticize it for being so, because it simply is what it is. You can criticize the industry for not making enough gay-themed movies with happy endings, but I don't understand criticizing this film alone for being what it is.

Having said that, I'm not sure I agree with the OP in that I don't really believe that Brokeback Mountain wasn't chosen because of homophobia. I saw both Crash and Brokeback Mountain and I thought they were both great movies. If Brokeback Mountain had been chosen over Crash, would there be petitions claiming Crash was ignored because it tackled racial issues?

[bbmykel]

10. This wasn't a thread to discuss the merits of this film

1. You should address your complaints to Ms. Annie Proulx who wrote the original story. The filmmakers did an amazingly faithful job of adapting her work both in tone and content.

2. The thread was addressed to fans of the movie. Believe me every fan of this movie has read comments similar to yours. I'll refrain from addressing them because that wasn't the point of this thread. If you want to discuss the merits of this film, you could start your own thread and not hijack mine.

[Brazenly Liberal]

13. I wasn't discussing the merits of the movie

I was discussing why I don't agree with the substance of your post. That's not "hijacking" your thread, it's responding to it. Isn't that why it's called a "discussion" board rather than a "pronouncements" board?

Sorry if your undies are knotted. Won't happen again. Really.

[Booster]

14. Welcome to DU, and your rant has some very good merits. It is

true that most "gay" movies end with the death of a likeable gay person, and I think you reasons are probably correct. If they die a horrible death (usually beaten to death) then the public seems satisfied, like "see what happens when you CHOOSE to be gay", which is ridiculous. Personally, I don't think BBM was a "gay" movie, but more a "bisexual" movie. It was good, but it wasn't great. As a gay person myself, "Crash" affected me more and I want to see it again, but don't necessarily want to see BBM again. Just my opinion.

[mondo joe]

15. I think you've confused a story about 2 men with a political

propaganda piece.

BBM doesn't deliver on some political ideal because that's not what it's about.

It's a story about two people - and IMO masterfully done.

I would say, however, that I've often found the parents and families of gays to be MORE zealous about making this kind of progress even then their gay family members (of which I would be one).

[theHandpuppet]

22. You make some very valid points

When you said, "Thirdly, I'm sick of sympathetic gay characters who have to "pay for their sins" by coming to a bad end, preferably fatal, so Joe Sixpack can feel his manhood hasn't been too threatened. We can like them, but only if we're gonna lose them. Yes, I know only too well and too close to home that gay bashing is a very real and very hideous thing. But I also know very well and very close to home that longtime, loving, normal, happy relationships happen in the gay community, too - and a lot more often than you'd ever know from watching the way they're portrayed in the movies. The tragic ending is a Chick Flick staple, so it's not surprising to see it in a Chick Flick with D!cks. But, for God's sake, it's not the *only* ending for a Chick Flick. How about a little more "When Harry met Sally" and a little less "Love Story" once in a while?" my first thought was that BM was the gay male version of The Well of Loneliness.

Those who want to see a prototype for the "gay cowboy" flick should watch "Warlock" (1959) with Henry Fonda and Anthony Quinn. Really. It's worth a discussion of its own.

[saracat]

5. I think this is the ultimate in poor taste. It is effectively

casting an aspersion of the vote of the Academy. Crash won both the Sag Award and the Oscar. This was not a popularity vote. This was the vote of the Academy membership. I think the films producers would be embarrassed by such an ad. They are professionals and accept the artistic judgment of their peers. I understand you are hurt and disagree with the Academy vote but this is not gracious.It is even sort of poor sportsmanship in a way. Many times the public disagrees with the Oscar pick, but to take such action against an organization of peers voting on their own is IMHO not right,Brokeback was not dismissed. It was nominated and won three awards. That is no small potatoes.And best actor went to Capote so one can hardly say the Academy was "homophobic".I voted in the SAG Awards. I though BM had fabulous acting and great scenery. I though Crash was the better film. I feel an add like this calls my vote in question as well.I find it offensive. like sour I applaud your effort but I can't agree with this approach

[julialnyc]

8. I agree with you even though I DO think BBM was a better film

The votes were cast and should be respected. I personally didn't care for Crash that much, but many disagree with me. Crash deserves to celebrate their win. Every win and loss in life should be taken gracefully and this looks like sour grapes.

[bbmykel]

16. I wasn't intending to debate this here

I only wanted to point those that might want to exorcise their hurt and anger towards a place where they could do so.

I'm glad you liked Crash and voted for it. I don't begrudge you your honest vote. However, some facts:

1. No film (not even Schindler's list) had won as many pre-Oscar critical prizes as Brokeback Mountain.

2. No film had won the Producer's Guild, Director's Guild and Writer's Guild awards previously and then not won the Oscar.

3. The SAG award is for ensemble cast and not 'Best Picture'; they are not really equivalent.

4. Premiere magazine does an annual roundup of the critical consensus of the 100 most widely released films (in the US). The four non-Crash Best Picture nominees occupied places between 1 and 5 on that list. Crash came in at number 58.

5. If homophobia is not at play, please explain the attitude of "many" Academy members like Tony Curtis: "Tony recently told Fox News's Bill McCuddy that he hadn't yet seen "Brokeback Mountain" and had no intention of doing so. He claims that other Academy members feel similarly."

There's never going to be any "proof" of superiority of Brokeback Mountain because of the subjective nature of art and critcism, but we can infer 1) Brokeback Mountain had unprecedented critical consensus coming into the Oscars,and Crash didn't (unless you count Roger Ebert as a consensus) and 2) some Oscar voters were reluctant to even see Brokeback Mountain because...hmmm...because....now why would that be? Why would Tony Curtis say "Howard Hughes and John Wayne wouldn't like it". What do you suppose they wouldn't like? Please tell me what it is if it isn't that the cowboys were GAY. They didn't even watch the fricken movie!

These have been posted elsewhere I'm sure.

Kenneth Turan of LA Times on the debacle: http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/oscars/env-turan5mar05,0,5359042.story

MSBNC on the relative merits of Crash: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11700333/page/1/

[NYCGirl]

17. And then there's this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-robinson/sore-loser-mountain_b_16879.html

[bbmykel]

20. Some people choose...

... not to see what's in front of them.

Let him (or you) explain why Tony Curtis (and other Oscar voters as Curtis proclaimed) chose not to even view Brokeback Mountain.

[NYCGirl]

21. Maybe...

it has too little cross-dressing in it for Mr. Curtis. (According to Ed Wood — the real guy, not the movie — Curtis is really a transvestite, as opposed to only playing one in "Some Like it Hot".)

[saracat]

23. And why would a drunken washed up has been

of a second class star as Tony Curtis know anything about how others vote? Who listens to Tony Curtis for god's sake? Why should it bother you that someone doesn't want to see a movie? Or that maybe Curtis is homophobic? So what! It isn't a perfect world. I wouldn't have gone to see Brokeback Mountain either if I didn't have to vote. I don't usually like any cowboy movies, gazy or not. That is my preference.I also never see action adventure flicks if I have a choice.They agitate me.Why must everyone like everything? Both were fine films. I just think Crash was better.

[rinsd]

9. Here's something to do....

Take all that money and pledge it to a charitable cause instead of spending it on a whining ad saying a movie deserved even more recognition.

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Geez. My right-wing nut relative was right. Liberals can be belligerent.

Focus, guys, stay FOCUSED.

[ronnykmarshall]

19. I think that's really sweet and I agree.

But I'd rather not donate money for this.

Now, MY idea is much better.

Boycott all things Oscar!! Oscar Meyer, Oscar De La Renta, Oscar De LaHoya ....... It's ON!!

All gay Oscar winner and gay icon Oscar winners have been ordered to surrender their statuettes to me.

Cher and Barbra Streisand delivered theirs this morning. And trust me, morning is not a good look for them.

La Elton brought his over last night following his post-Oscar party and Miss Thang was FUCKED UP DRUNK!

Tom Hanks surrendered his Oscar for "Philadelphia" and tried to keep the one for "Forrest Gump", I slapped the shit out of him and said life is NOT a box of chocolates mother fucker!!!

All these Oscars will be stored at my house until I call for an end of the boycott. And let me tell you, these little golden slabs really are a wonderful decoration accents in your home.



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