Brokeback Mountain

Others have already posted about the movie theater in Utah that decided against showing Brokeback Mountain but I wanted to add my two cents on the matter since I haven't blogged in a while. Thanks to Chris for emailing me some quotes about this issue.

So Larry H. Miller, a prominent Utah businessman decided to pull Brokeback Mountain from his movie theater that had been set to show the movie. The ensuing media attention caused the only theater(a small artsy theater) in Utah showing Brokeback to get a lot of business. The GLBT community in Utah called for a boycott of all of Miller's businesses(which includes the Delta Center where the Utah Jazz play). Heath Ledger even spoke out about this issue: "I heard a while ago that West Virginia was going to ban it. But that's a state that was lynching people only 25 years ago, so that's to be expected. Personally, I don't think the movie is (controversial) but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society. If two people are loving . . . I think we should be more concerned if two people express anger in love, than love."

I of course think that it's awful that Miller decided to pull the movie from his theater just because the movie is about a gay love story. Mormons aren't allowed to watch rated R movies(although this rule is kind of like drinking Coke, it's followed by a lot of Mormons but won't keep you from getting into the temple if you don't follow it), so if Miller was being a good Mormon and not showing the movie because it was against his beliefs he shouldn't show any rated R movies at his theater. He was just being a bigot. Still I don't see why it was made out to be such a big deal(although it turned out to be good for that little theater that got all the resulting business) because think of all the theaters that decided not to show Brokeback in the first place. We aren't calling for a boycott of all those theaters. It comes down to what the theater owners thought would be good business and in Utah showing a gay movie probably was seen as not good business. But I'm happy to report that the Cinemark 16 at the Provo Towne Center Mall is now showing Brokeback Mountain, so all those repressed BYU gay boys can drive down the street and see the movie.

I saw the movie with Kip(yes, we're back together) and enjoyed it a lot. It was amazing(and hot) seeing these two famous actors portraying a gay love story. It wasn't my favorite movie though because somehow I wasn't impacted as much as I thought I'd be, I didn't cry, for example. Still, I thought the scenery and acting were amazing. I was a little weirded out by seeing The Princess Diaries' Anne Hathaway and Jen from Dawson's Creek show their breasts but oh well. I'm glad the movie was made and that this powerful gay love story was brought into the mainstream.