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:
WAS IT GOOD FOR THE GAYS: ‘BROKEBACK MOUNTA’
In this regular lumn, we’ll look at pictns of queers cema and ask, Was It Good For The Gays? G Van Sant had tried to direct (he pched to Matt Damon, who turned down bee he had already played a gay man and a wboy before and didn’t want to do both aga); Mark Wahlberg was once nsired for the lead, but he turned down bee, duh, ’s about gay guys.
Conservative groups issued boytts of the film, polil punds acced of phg a gay agenda, and notorly lost the Amy Award for Bt Picture to Crash; many crics acced Amy voters of homophobia, as the film was the bt-reviewed release of the year, and, spe the Osr loss, was also the year’s most honored film. And, as most gay dramas, has an unhappy endg: Twist di, likely murred for beg gay.
It’s fluence on popular culture nnot be nied, for better or for worse — ne years later, people are still makg gay wboy jok. The Pros: In terms of basic visibily, Brokeback Mounta was a huge w for the gays. ) And what better way to stoke the classic homophobic fire by makg wboys (OK, technilly they’re “ranch hands, ” but, you know, they’re wboys) — the most classic image of good old Amerin masculy — a ltle queer?
'BROKEBACK MOUNTA' USHERED A NEW ERA OF GAY CEMA
But is there anythg one uld actually suggt wasn’t good for the gays Brokeback Mounta? You uld make an argument that do ph a “gay agenda” as all of those nservative talkg heads suggted. After all, prents the gay experience as somethg that is normal and ordary; the only extraordary thg about , fact, is that there are people out there so disgted by the ia of men havg sex wh other men that they take their homophobia to such extrem — eher issug verbal or physil asslts on those they have emed unsirable bee of their own private sexual practic.
I will say, however, that ’d be nice to see a film that teach lsons about tolerance and empathy but did not also require vlent imagery which a gay man is the victim. …although maybe Anne Hathaway’s hair is the proof that a gay man did work on this film, and he had an amazg sense of humor?