Another response to the Stereotype of the Month entry on Old West vs. Old Europe—a discussion about Brokeback Mountain with correspondent Wade. In particular, a discussion about whether Jack Twist and Ennis Delmar are "cowboys":

Rob's reply
>> I've never met or heard of any actual cowboy who'd descend to caretaking sheep. <<

They call each other cowboys in the movie, and they talk of various "ranching" jobs. Both of them tried the rodeo: bull-riding, calf-roping, etc. For all we know, sheepherding was a one-time thing and they normally herded cattle.

Anyway, I go by the broad definition of "cowboy," which the characters fit. As I wrote once:

>> So neh, this movie was variously an attempt by liberal city folk to "out" the cowboy mystique <<

The movie came from an acclaimed short story, and I don't think it's made that much money. It was written by Larry McMurtry, who is not "city folk" and is generally respected as a Western writer (I believe). In short, I don't think the filmmakers were trying to do anything other than translate a story they liked to a more popular medium.

>> It's also slightly playing on reverse discrimination to let it get away with things it wouldn't otherwise. <<

How so? I don't get what you mean.

>> The fact that the two men are bisexual also makes it non-PC to attack the movie. <<

Seems to me they were gay, not bisexual, but were afraid to acknowledge their sexuality. They tried to act heterosexual because society didn't tolerate gays in the '60s and '70s. Many gay men of that era stayed in the closet, married women they didn't love, and raised families.

Bisexuals can go back and forth between the straight and gay worlds without too much trouble. When these two tried to love women, either physically or emotionally, they couldn't do it for any length of time. That says to me they were gays trying to act straight, not bisexuals.

>> I see no value in a movie about two sexually confused roustabouts who betray women who love them, dishonoring themselves WITHOUT even gaining any real benefit for themselves or anyone else. <<

Jack Twist's wife arguably didn't love him. Soon after the wedding Jack described the marriage as more of a business arrangement than anything.

Ennis Delmar's daughter "Junior" would say she benefited from being born and raised by Ennis. His wife Alma remarried and presumably wound up happy.

Anyway, movies don't have to have protagonists you like to be well-done and entertaining. See Citizen Kane, Sunset Blvd., Silence of the Lambs, The Great Santini, Do the Right Thing, L.A. Confidential, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for examples. These movies all deserved to win awards, as does Brokeback Mountain.

Another correspondent weighs in
Correspondent Lisa weighed in on Wade's comments:

>> I don't think Proulx or anyone was trying to "out" the cowboy mystique. That's a ridiculous and ignorant interpretation, if Wade is implying that anyone is trying to claim that all cowboys (or sheep hands or whatever) are gay <<

I think Wade, who I believe is a Cherokee Indian, is liberal on Native issues but conservative otherwise. Which would make him fairly typical for a traditional Indian.

I guess his theory is that the movie was a liberal attack on traditional Western values. You know, "family values" such as faithfulness, honesty, and hard work—the kind of values conservatives routinely violate. Whereas you and I think the characters were as faithful and as honest as they could be. The movie didn't indict anyone except the bigots who resorted to violence.

Even the Randy Quaid character didn't do more than reject Jack's second bid for a job. Since Jack and Ennis let some sheep die and didn't work as hard as they could have, he was arguably justified in doing so.

>> I think the point was to show that love and a broken heart can be felt by anyone. Choosing characters traditionally perceived to be "macho" is more effective in making this point than using the sterotypical gay characters we usually see in TV and movies. <<

Right, obviously.

>> Kinsey described it more as a gay-straight continuum. It's not necessarily either-or. <<

Yes, but I think they were closer to the gay end of the continuum.

>> Well, I wouldn't try to justify their behavior. Gay or straight or in-between, they were cheating on someone. <<

That seems to happen in about half of all "relationship" movies. Is Wade going to condemn them all? I doubt it.

How about Casablanca, Moonstruck, or Pretty Woman? Were these also "liberal" attempts to subvert solid heartland values? I wouldn't say so, but Wade might.

>> Well, I wouldn't try to justify their behavior. Gay or straight or in-between, they were cheating on someone. <<

He doesn't have the right to misstate the movie's premise or intent. Not without rebuttal, anyway.

>> And good for you, Rob, for being the only heterosexual male I know who not only saw the movie but dares to defend it. <<

I haven't talked to any man who has seen it. But I'll defend any movie if the story works artistically. And I'll criticize it if it doesn't—even if it includes "noble" portrayals of Indians, as with The New World.

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