Brokeback Mountain

Let's make it two straight movies about a pair of lost and confused guys alone in the mountains. This one's about gay cowboys, in case you hadn't heard. Or perhaps it's more accurate to call them bisexual cowboys, as each one carries on a married relationship with a woman for some time. Apparently one big source of controversy with this movie (and there were many, as you can imagine) came from attempts to classify the two main characters' sexualities. My own take? Gyllenhaal's character is a very gay-leaning bisexual while Ledger's is a bisexual much more capable of being attracted to women. (But what do I know?) Either way, the two are very much in love with one another, though Ledger's character sometimes tries to deny or de-emphasize the relationship. Brokeback Mountain got a shitload of praise and award recognition back when it was released, but honestly I didn't think it was so special. Take out the homosexuality of the relationship between the two leads (in other words, make one a woman) and this is a fairly straightforward and plain and boring love story. Of course, to remove the gay elements of the film would be to change it entirely; I'm not suggesting that the movie itself was boring or bland. But clearly a lot of the attention this film got was given, both positive and negative, came solely from the fact that it was a major motion picture about a homosexual relationship. You've got conservatives complaining about the media's acceptance and promotion of this film and saying it's got an obvious gay agenda, and then you've got social leftists complaining that it was snubbed for the Oscar for Best Picture because the Academy was too homophobic. Now, I certainly didn't leave this film feeling as though a gay agenda had been pushed upon me (or any potential much younger viewer) but I also didn't think it was the best film of 2005. Not by a long shot! (Of course, neither was Crash, which won Best Picture that year. People put too much stock in that award anyway.) Ultimately I think this was a fine movie, and  definitely one worth seeing some day if you have the chance, even if only because of the importance Brokeback Mountain has to the modern pop culture canon.