In honor of the ten-year anniversary of the release of the inic gay Wtern, we spoke to B. Ruby Rich, the film scholar who ed the term 'new queer cema,' to discs the evolutn of gayns on the silver screen.
Contents:
- 'BROKEBACK MOUNTA' USHERED A NEW ERA OF GAY CEMA
- 'BROKEBACK MOUNTA' AT 15: JAKE GYLLENHAAL ON HOW FILMG GAY ROMANCE 'WAS UNFORTABLE AT TIM BUT WE KNEW THE BIGGER PICTURE'
- WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘BROKEBACK MOUNTA’
- THAT “GAY COWBOY MOVIE”QUEER PEOPLE REFLECT ON 15 YEARS OF “BROKEBACK MOUNTA”
'BROKEBACK MOUNTA' USHERED A NEW ERA OF GAY CEMA
* brokeback mountain gay film *
"However, the directors warned uld lose 's stat as the ultimate gay movie as queer cema evolv and the film dtry starts to embrace LGBT reprentatn Insir's homepage for more stori. We've had the first-ever mastream LGBT rom- "Love, Simon, " cultural juggernts like "Call Me By Your Name" and "Carol, " about three Disney movi featurg Disney's "first-ever" LGBTQ character ("Bety and the Beast, " "Onward, " and "Zootopia"), and "Moonlight, " which did what "Brokeback Mounta" uldn't and beme the first-ever queer movie to w bt picture at the Amy "Brokeback Mounta" is still viewed as the go-to gay movie.
"Brokeback Mounta" straddl this le expertly, prentg their leadg queer characters and their forbidn love wh so much sympathy that turns to are gay, and while most dience members may not unrstand exactly what is like to love someone, and be somethg, that is emed so taboo uld lead you to tastrophe, or, "Brokeback Mounta's" se, ath, Lee's movie picts forbidn love, somethg a lot of people know of, so expertly and touchgly that 's hard not to get sucked to rg thoroughly about the characters — whether you're gay or Lee is rponsible for that. It felt tailored to straight dienc, whereas "Brokeback Mounta, " while not exactly tailored to queer dienc the way that a morn TV show like "Pose" is, is so direct s pictn of queer love and the dangers of beg gay that feels absolutely thentic.
'BROKEBACK MOUNTA' AT 15: JAKE GYLLENHAAL ON HOW FILMG GAY ROMANCE 'WAS UNFORTABLE AT TIM BUT WE KNEW THE BIGGER PICTURE'
“Brokeback Mounta” ma history as the first gay romance film to cross over to the mastream, eventually grossg $178 ln worldwi. * brokeback mountain gay film *
"I me out as gay durg the time 'Brokeback Mounta' me out, so cid wh this time of me feelg like I uldn't live a lie anymore and wantg to fally embrace fully who I am, " Johnson told Insir. Jam Wilby, who starred as one half of an inic gay uple himself Jam Ivory's 1987 masterpiece "Mrice, " told Insir that he was "irrated" by the movie spe also thkg was "remarkable. "In "Mrice, " Hugh Grant's Clive reprs his sexualy and liv life as a straight man, whereas Wilby's tular character embrac his inty as a gay man Edwardian England.
WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘BROKEBACK MOUNTA’
"I thought the way that Jam Ivory handled Clive's transn om, if you want to ll him or gay or if you want to ll him somethg oteric, to beg straight was better [than 'Brokeback'], " Wilby told Insir. Craig Johnson's "Alex Strangelove" followed su — a reee, upliftg edy that also wisely picts one gay man's journey to "Moonlight" and "Carol, " both set reprsive societi, manage to squeeze posive moments, upliftg msag, and hopeful endgs to their artfully ma stori. And Apple's Tim Cook beme the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 pany, provg that the tech giant is livg up to s "Thk Different" 2005, LGBT rights have equently been at the foreont of some larger nversatns about visibily, equaly, and jtice, often wh pop culture guidg the discsns.
The film is jt one of the mastream's new addns to the non of gay cema, jog the ranks of Milk, The Kids Are Alright, Blue Is The Warmt Color, and more as the next stage what film cric and profsor B. Look no further than Hayn's own work to see this schism: In 1991, his NC-17 film Poison helped lnch the genre, while this year's Carol is a ser ndidate for a Bt Picture spoke to Rich on where gay cema has veloped the ten years sce Brokeback and where 's head now, and jt why we fd ourselv so fascated wh the gay past while livg such a gay The last ten years have been pretty radil for the gay movement, at least terms of how quickly everythg seemed to happen. Ruby Rich, film cric and scholarYou're noted for g the term "new queer cema, " referrg to the era of pennt films released the 1990s that really began to al wh gay issu.
THAT “GAY COWBOY MOVIE”QUEER PEOPLE REFLECT ON 15 YEARS OF “BROKEBACK MOUNTA”
I remember people talkg about as this important moment, and leads directly to The Life and Tim of Harvey Milk, which is the first real classic gay film that morn era. For one thg, followg Mildred Pierce, really nfirms Todd Hayn as the director of 'women's pictur, ' which is what gay men ed to be Hollywood years back.
I agree wh that, and I feel like I saw that Carol most apparently, bee was one of the first gay films where vlence don't feel like 's teemg jt below the surface.
Though was often far oversimplified as “the gay wboy movie, ” Brokeback Mounta nohels beme a worldwi phenomenon upon s release 15 years ago today.