Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably heard about "Brokeback Mountain", the movie about two gay cowboys starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall. I haven't seen this movie yet, but the more furor it causes among the self-righteous, the more I want to. The religious right is throwing quite a fit over this movie, holding the growing Oscar buzz for the movie up as proof of Hollywood's moral failings. Here's what Gary DeMar has to say about it:
Can we ever sing "Home on the Range" again without the lyrics being spoiled by images of the latest in homosexual propaganda, "Brokeback Mountain," a story about two cowboys in love - with each another? As expected, Hollywood is gushing over the latest finger in the eye of the movie-going public.
An interesting idea, this "finger to the eye" theory. See, all this time I thought that the entertainment industry was the ultimate free market - if you spend millions of dollars making a movie that no one wants to see, you go broke. Hence, the public's tastes are truly what controls the supply and decides what gets made and what doesn't. If movies with gay characters are so loathsome to the public, then the movie won't do well and others like it won't get made.
But in fact, the public is increasingly tolerant of and even curious about gay characters. Ellen Degeneres' show was huge hit, as is her current talk show. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is nothing less than a cultural phenomenon. DeMar himself mentions the movie Philadelphia, which was a great movie that did very well at the box office. So how this movie constitutes a "finger to the eye" of the moviegoing public is beyond me. If there's a market for it, it will survive; if there's not, it won't. And for all of those people who are offended by it, they have a very simple way of avoiding that finger in their eye - don't go see the movie.
Americans have become desensitized to moral degeneracy. Immoral acts that were once only spoken of in hushed tones 30 years ago are now included in the curriculum of our nation's government schools in order to break the back of values that create and sustain civilizations.
Ah, the tried and true "let's harken back to a simpler time" argument. But bear in mind also that Gary DeMar is a Christian reconstructionist, a hardcore theocrat who thinks that the Mosaic law should be the civil and criminal law of the United States. He harkens back not to the 1950s in America, but to the 9th century BC in Israel. He looks back fondly on a time when homosexuals were struck with stones until they died, along with witches, infidels and women who weren't virgins on their wedding day. Even the nostalgia was better in the old days.
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' He harkens back not to the 1950s in America, but to the 9th century BC in Israel.'
And it's not as if the 1950's were better, people jsut pretended it didn't exist or outright lied about it.
I really hate when someone says that "hollywood" is doing something. How the heck can a town do anything? There is no collective decision making in hollywood. Invididual directors decide what types of movies they want to make (mostly based on whether or not it will get picked up) and then the studios decide whether or not they will make the movie (based mostly on whether or not they think it can sell) and then the studios (individually) decide whether or not they will release the movie (based entirely on whether or not it will sell). There is no leftist hollywood wedge document.
Can we ever sing "Home on the Range" again without the lyrics being spoiled by images of the latest in homosexual propaganda, "Brokeback Mountain," a story about two cowboys in love - with each another?
Yes, and can we ever read the Paul Bunyan stories to our kids without them being spoiled by images of lumberjacks putting on women's clothes and hanging out in bars? Or farting cowboys sitting around the campfire?
Nincompoop.
If people don't want to see movies about cowboys, they don't have to buy a ticket!
I'm sure they'll be happier with the next gay romance, whether it involves a pair of abalone divers, circus performers, or astronauts.
Funny how Christian fundamentalists can't even think about gay people or gay issues without calling up luried visions of the homosexual sex act.
I wonder, do they immediately imagine fat people having sex when they bump into the grossly overweight middle-aged couple who live next door to them? Or worse still, what do they think about when they talk to their aged parents?
If you go on to the right-wing message boards and see what they're saying about the movie, you'll find the comments are much more explicit and obscene than anything that's possibly in the movie.
I think it is as telling as the fact that when various hate groups try to block the "homosexual agenda" they seem to fall flat on their faces. They seem to think that because they have temporarily blocked gay marriage they've somehow won - when the reality is that gay's are moving closer to complete equality every day. In large part due to the fact that most Americans believe in equal rights for everyone - not "special" rights - the same rights.
DeMar is an obvious idiot. BBM is a story based on a lengthy short story of the same name that was published in New Yorker magazine in 1997 or 1998. The primary boost for the movie comes from the fact that it was directed by Ang Lee, who directed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a few years ago.
The unfortunate point is that it will vie with George Clooney's Good Night And Good Luck for the Oscars.
In a sense, it is too bad that they were both released in the same year. Same problem that Wizard of Oz had against Gone With The Wind in 1939. If Wizard had been released in a different year as GWTW (arguably the best movie ever made), Wizard would have won all the Oscars.
No, you obviously don't understand -- let me clarify:
The Free Market® -- is the magical solution for every problem in the world -- except when it isn't.
Same as with them Unelected Activist Judges®; they're the problem -- except when they're not.
And the duly elected representatives of the people are the one repository for legitimate political action -- except when they're not.
And it is necessary that our elected leaders respect and obey the rule of law, and be fully honest and forthright -- except when it isn't.
And the basis for the policies that our elected representatives enact must be a foundation of Sound Science®, not Junk Science® -- except when it must not.
And we fight over there (to keep from having to fight over here) those Terrists® and Evildoers® who repress and torture their own people, and oppress women -- except when we don't.
Now do you get it? Glad I could be of assistance; call any time.