by Abel Horwitz
Daily Lobo
Now is the golden time of the year in Hollywood when seemingly every group that has anything to do with movies - actor's guilds, writer's guilds, critic's associations, cinematographers, etc. - hand out their awards.
This all comes to a head March 5 with the Academy Awards, and, if these lesser award ceremonies are any indication as to how Hollywood's biggest self-congratulatory pat on the back will be, it's "Brokeback Mountain" winning all the way.
As I understand, "Brokeback Mountain" is far more than just a gay cowboy film. It's a film about love, emptiness and yearning, filmed masterfully by Ang Lee, the director of the beautiful yet confusing "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
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I have yet to see "Brokeback Mountain," not because of any political, moral or ignorant agenda, but simply because when I tried to see it the theater was sold out. I'm sure if there's anything about this film that I'll find morally offensive it will be the advertisement for Fandango that runs before the show. I never thought anything could make me hate paper bags so much.
But there is controversy surrounding the film. In Utah, Larry Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz, first decided to show the film in a movie theater he owns and then yanked it from rotation hours before it was to be screened. Bill "If you're poor and lived in New Orleans then you deserved to drown in Katrina" O'Reilly has described the success of the film as the liberal media bringing homosexual content into the mainstream. While Miller and O'Reilly are certainly entitled to their opinions they seem to miss the point that people have a choice if they want to see "Brokeback Mountain" or not. The film has become successful not through an aggressive ad campaign, but through word of mouth.
It's almost as if 2006 is the year of the great coming out party for American cowboys. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to pick a fight with any Marlboro Man wannabes out there, but riding on the success of "Brokeback Mountain," Willie Nelson released the single "Cowboys are Frequently Secretly (Fond of Each Other)." One can't help but raise an eyebrow to this trend in gay cowboydom. Nelson's song is a cover of a song by unknown musician and writer Ned Sublette that's 20 years old. Perhaps Nelson felt the time was right for the exposure of this song to the public eye. The song includes lyrics such as "Well the cowboy may brag about the things that he's done with his women / But the one's that brag loudest are the one's that are most likely queer."
Part of me thinks this is a joke, in the same vein as the shots that David Letterman, Jay Leno and countless other comedians have taken at "Brokeback Mountain." I mean, after all, Nelson released the song on the "Howard Stern Show." But with plans to include it on his upcoming album and it being one of the most downloaded songs on iTunes, I really have to scratch my head and wonder if there is something to this gay cowboy phenomenon.
At the Oscar ceremony, don't be surprised to find host Jon Stewart taking a few shots of his own at the film. But also don't be surprised if it's the night's big winner as well. All signs point to "Brokeback Mountain" coming out with Oscar gold.
