For years, most of Hollywood’s cultural movers and shakers have been doing their level best to denigrate, insult and otherwise destroy what can only be described as the country’s “traditional values.” With the new movie “Brokeback Mountain,” featuring a secret affair between two male cowboy characters, Tinseltown has now launched a salvo against the rich history and cultural influence of the American Old West.
You’re probably already hearing a lot about this film. In that vein, I debated even using it as subject matter for a column because I don’t like giving coverage to issues that I don’t support or believe in.
But because the mainstream media has been fawning all over this film – which should tell you something about its contents – I felt compelled to put some much-needed perspective on it.
It’s being touted by “critics” as a “broader story of tragic love,” a “remarkable” and “heartbreaking” film, a “cinematic triumph” that is “compelling” and “atmospheric” in its “universal substance,” a story that is told with “taste and intelligence.”
Whatever. The fact is the only reason Hollywood and its cheerleaders are ga-ga over this film is because it’s a “love story” about two homosexual men. No matter what else you read or hear about it, that’s the bottom line on the film’s storyline, pure and simple.
Full disclosure: I haven’t seen the film and I’ve no plans to see it. That’s no reflection on the film’s two main characters – Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal – who, I’m sure, did a fine acting job, as usual.
But look, it doesn’t take a crystal ball to know “Brokeback” is little more than an effort by Hollywood culture thieves to celebrate and mainstream a lifestyle (homosexuality) with which most Americans disagree, while flipping the bird to the distinctly heterosexual American West, where men were men, women were women, and neither slept with members of the same gender.
And personally, pardner, the subject matter just ain’t my cup of java.
And granted, so far the film has done pretty well in terms of box office (about $550,000 as of this writing). But considering where it has opened thus far – New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco – that’s expected (what “gay” film would not do well in San Fran and NYC?).
As to how it’s going to do everywhere else is predictable. The Hollywood elite and the purveyors of multiculturalism – none of whom have much knowledge of, or respect for, Mr. and Mrs. America – will talk of the film’s “success” and “impact” at their exclusive parties and social functions. But you can bet your rawhide boots and 10-gallon punchbowl “Brokeback” isn’t likely to break the bank.
That’s because no matter how many cultural icons Hollywood tries to skewer, Main Street isn’t ready to accept cowboys who are, er, a little light in the saddle because, well, that just isn’t Main Street. In fact, the more Hollywood tries to dismiss and eradicate traditional America, the more America clings to it.
If you doubt that, consider last year’s genuine bank-breaking blockbuster, Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” Hollywood hated the film (actually, they hated the film’s premise – that there is a “God” and it’s not Steven Spielberg). The major distribution companies wouldn’t touch it. The glitterati press panned it. Special-interest groups decried it. Jewish organizations thought it comparable to the Holocaust (a comparison that was completely off the charts).
But Main Street loved it – to the tune of $370.2 million at the box office (No. 10 overall in U.S. movie history) and more than $600 million in gross sales (box office, DVD, video, etc.). In the first day of release on DVD, it sold an astounding 4.1 million copies.
On the other hand, “Million Dollar Baby,” last year’s “Best Picture” Oscar winner, was admittedly what I consider a good movie (it had just about everything – boxing, Eastwood, Freeman and, best of all, Hilary Swank). It also won for best leading actress (Swank); best director (Eastwood); and best supporting actor (Freeman). But after seeing both, there was no comparison in terms of powerful performances and dramatic presentation. Yet “Passion” didn’t even win a single award, though I thought it should at least have won the “Best Writing for an Original Screenplay” award, since it is, after all, a Bible story.
If you want more proof there is an agenda behind “Brokeback,” consider that the advance praise for this film has only been matched by the advance criticism of “Passion.” As much as Tinseltown loves “gay” cowboys, they hated Jesus.
With its underlying message that homosexuality is so normal even strapping young cowboys in Wyoming can have a hankerin’ for each other, this movie is going to be as popular with most Americans as a hog farm in the summer, despite the best efforts of Hollywood to present it as the greatest performance ever committed to celluloid.
But don’t take my word for it. Go ask the first cowboy you see how many boyfriends he has, then make up your mind … if you’re still standing.
