Brokeback Mountain

I really don’t think that the actors in Brokeback Mountain are gay. I don’t think that they should feel the need to defend their sexuality or prove that they are straight in any way. I’m not even sure if the fact that Heath Ledger had an onset romance or that Jake Gyllenhaal filmed a war movie was a conscious effort to prove their masculinity, movie schedules are sometimes random and Ledger and Williams got married so something must have been real. The driving issue in this quandary is not that they “proved” that they were not gay, its our society’s (when I say that I only have experience America and the UK, although I highly suspect this is a global issue) obsession with celebrities, their personal lives, and just generally what other people do behind closed doors. I mean really? It’s almost impossible to turn on the tube without coming across some reality show about famous people in rehab or something like that, or rich housewives taking their kids to get their nails done, etc. I don’t feel that the actors in Brokeback Mountain were homophobic or that our society, in general, is; I honestly think that we just love a scandal and no one wants people to think that they’re something that they’re not. But that’s just my opinion.

Brokeback Mountain

I definitely think the reason Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger filmed Jarhead and Casanova (respectively) was to try to quell rumors of homosexuality. Seeing such a realistic portrayal of a gay relationship is against what we are used to. Almost any film you see today with homosexuality as a theme is totally unrealistic, or at least does not reflect the majority of gay relationships. In the 2007 movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry homosexuality was played for laughs, while on the surface the movie claimed to be a movie about tolerance. All of the actual gay characters are punch lines, with no characterization other than being flamboyant. Even more recently the 2009 film Bruno reinforced the old heterosexual fear that gay men will come on to anything that moves by having the title character trying to force himself on Ron Paul. Bruno was meant to be a satire of people’s prejudices, but how many people took it that way? While there are many irresponsible films such as those, there are also a few that have improved people’s perceptions, along with Brokeback. The 1992 film The Crying Game humanized a transsexual, amid the backdrop of IRA terrorism. However, I think the sexual politics may have been overshadowed by the shocking reveal that she is a man (which is most often mentioned when people talk about the movie). Not all comedies featuring gay characters have to portray homosexuals in a negative way. The 1978 film La Cage aux Follies and its 1996 remake The Birdcage use humor as a tool to point out people’s prejudices. Even though it takes place at a drag club, the men are concerned fathers trying to do the best for their straight son when his fiancée’s family comes to dinner. Given the state of societies perceptions towards gays, it is hard to blame Ledger and Gyllenhaal for trying to assure people they are straight.