There aren't many times in your life, when you sit down in a movie theater, and you know something is changing. Such is the case with me today, when I went to see Brokeback Mountain. I saw people sitting in a crowded theater on a Sunday afternoon, watching something that could make them very uncomfortable, and not blinking an eye.
Before it gets over-hyped, or over-backlashed, let me just say that it is a very well made movie that shows America something it has rarely seen. A realistic portrayal of two men in love and the devastation that society's mores have on them.
Whether you are on the left or the right, it really doesn't matter. These two characters show what repression and hatred can do to two human beings. What self-loathing and denial produce. You see that the burden of society's expectations is often crushing.
The ex-gays look at this movie and see it as something else altogether. They see two married men who should have remained faithful to their wives. I see two men who should have remained faithful only to each other, never having married any women. Lies destroy the wives and children as well as the husband and father. Not to mention the man on the outside.
I hope America embraces this film, sees it for what it really is. Not a political statement, but the story of hopes and dreams thwarted and lives denuded. I hope even folks in the red states will go see it, and not just in the big cities. Anyone who has ever felt the pain of loss or loneliness will find it speaks to their hearts.
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