An Analysis of Brokeback Mountain Essay

Annie Proulxs Brokeback ken is a tragic report of forbidden love. It chronicles the court between Ennis Del Mar and bozo Twist, 2 cowboys who fall head over heels for each other in the spring of 1963. Their relationship endures for twenty years, never fully resolved, never fully let go of, and endlessly surrounded by fear, confusion, and above all, by love. Brokeback mound depicted a taradiddle that was both perfect in its portrayal of queerness in the setting of its story, and in making it relatable to queerness and homosexuality today. Later, when off-key into a movie, it broke even practically barriers, and furthered its social effects on Hollywood and Society.Brokeback quite a little accurately describes the attitudes of society towards homosexuals in the 1960s, specifically of those that live where the story took place. In the 1960s, police raids of gay bars were routine, and exceedingly violent. The stigma associated with even the composition of being homosexual was crippling. It was considered a disease, and looked down upon severely. But finally, the gay rights ride was gaining its footing. During this time, influenced by the model of a militant black civil rights move workforcet, the homophile movement, as the participants dubbed it, became more visible. Activists, much(prenominal) as Franklin Kameny and Barbara Gittings, picketed government agencies in Washington to protest discriminatory employment policies. But the south, the setting of Brokeback Mountain, was rattling different.Although these were great steps towards equality, some rural areas in the south and west were very far behind. The treatments of gays shown in the story were painfully accurate. At one catch, when Ennis and Jack reunite after(prenominal) quaternary years, they fear what would happen if they got caught. Ennis tells Jack the story from his childhood, saying There was these devil old guys ranched together down home, Earl and Rich- Dad would pass a remar k when he seen them. They was a joke even though they was pretty tough old birds. I was what, nine years old and they found Earl dead in a irrigation ditch. Theyd took a use up iron to him, spurred him up, drug him around by his dick until it pulled off, rightful(prenominal) bloody pulp. What the tire iron do looked wish well pieces a burned tomatoes all over him, nose tore down from skiddin on gravel. (29)Incidents like this were not uncommon in the 60s, and as horrifying as it seemed to read this passage in the book, what made it worse was the Proulx was in no way exaggerating, but rather relaying the harsh truth of the events that would hand during this time. Brokeback Mountain is allay relatable to by m whatsoever people, especially by those that can identify with the characters in the story. Wyoming, the state where Ennis and Jack met, is in an area of the United States that is still not completely supportive of the gay rights movement. In an article published in The New York Times in 2005, after the release of the film base on Brokeback Mountain, many people who place as homosexual came forward to speak about their experiences. They grimly spoke about the intolerance they still face, and Derrick Glover, a 33 year old gay rancher said, Where I live, you cant really go out and be yourself. You couldnt go out together, two guys, as a couple and ever be accepted.It wasnt accepted in the past, its still not, and I get dressedt think it ever will be. Glover came from a family of ranchers, and his family had herded the lands around their home for generations. He grew up herding, branding, culling and haying, horses hobbled on picket lines and calves pulled forcibly from their mothers bodies during spring calving, and every summer he would set out with his brother in a panel truck carrying their two quarter horses, to grapple in calf and steer roping competitions. His tale sounds just like that of Jack and Ennis, ontogenesis up and k at one timeing no thing but being a cowboy, but just like Jack and Ennis, he would never have been accepted for who he was. Because of this, he was leaving his home and moving to an area with more people and more tolerance. This situation, oddly reminiscent of Stephen in The Well of Loneliness, is something that occurs shockingly often.At one point in the story, Ennis declares, I aint queer, despite the fact that he had sex with Jack. He refused to accommodate that he could possibly be a homosexual, and that somehow, maybe, he could be falling for another man. Ennis is more masculine of the two, and in declaring his homosexuality, even to himself, he would be losing an aspect of his masculinity. Ben Clark, another man who spoke of being growing up on a ranch and being gay, said of it, But I had no idea what to do about it, ever. I was raised in a ranching, rodeo world wrangling, packing horses, riding bucking stock, on the job(p) in hunting camps but always with the sense that I had to c at a tim eal who I was because cowboys could never be gay. Cowboys have always been seen as men who are rough and wild, who face nature with stern faces and no fear, men whose masculinity was literally one of the main essences of their being, and this stereotypically cowboy image is what hinders the acceptance of so many homosexual men in the west. Of this image, Mr. Clark said, I could not accept being gay because of the stereotypes that were drilled into me fairylike men are emotionally weak.They are not real men. They are like women. This sentiment, unfortunately, is echoed throughout much of the United States, and the rest of the world as well. By showing that these macho, strong, ranch hands and cowboys could be gay, Brokeback Mountain rejected the normative ideas of what is considered queer and gay. It showcased two homosexual men as regular men, and didnt guarantee to fit them into the stereotypical, effeminate image of gay men. Homosexual men used to be seen as perverts, men who jus t wanted to have sex with other men, but Brokeback Mountain destroys that idea. It shows queerness and homosexuality as what it truly is- love. It showcases the intense affection one person can have for another, regardless of their gender. In 2005, Brokeback Mountain was telephone numbered into a movie, and was met with great approval. Starring Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger, the movie went on to receive many awards, including cardinal Academy Awards for topper Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score as well as quartet Golden Globe awards for Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Director, Best Song, and Best Screenplay and four BAFTA Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal).The film also received four Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Ensemble, more than any other movie released in 2005. It was a hit. More than that though, it reached thous ands more people than it did as a book. What was once just a short story by a Pulitzer Prize winning author was now a major motion picture being shown all over the United States. It opened up peoples eyes, it started raillerys, and it helped break down barriers in the normative stereotypes of what gay men were. Instead of just imagined characters, Jack and Ennis now had faces put to them, and these faces were well known actors. Leonard Maltin, a film critic and historian, said that Brokeback Mountain was in some uncharted waters, because it shows what its like for two men to feel that kind of appetency and passion for each other, and people arent used to thatNo one movie is going to turn things around, but they can be building blocks.That could be this movies legacy. The movie helped in attempting to kill Hollywoods homosexual stereotypes, and to raise consciousness of gay rights. Gay rights groups immediately embraced the movie after it came out. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance ag ainst Defamation (GLAAD) established online resource guides for the movie. The guides had links to both articles and support groups for cowboys and ranchers who identified as homosexual, and who often felt confused and alone in the struggle with their sexual orientation. The Human Rights exhort also joined in, issuing Oscar Party Kits, with posters of Brokeback Mountain, and cards that read Talk about It to encourage the discussion of gay rights. Brokeback Mountain put a new spin on cowboy stories.It showed the life of two queer cowboys, who could never fully give in to their love. It created a story that could have been plucked corking out of Wyoming in the 1960s, through its accuracy and effectiveness. It was raw and real, and it was unapologetically showed the struggles faced by homosexual cowboys and ranchers, both in the 1960s, and even today. The movie of the same name attempted to break down barriers in Hollywood, and it spread the story of Jack and Ennis even further, open ing more peoples eyes to the reality of queer relationships, and how they dont always fit into certain molds. Brokeback Mountain is a classic piece of queer literature, one that will continue to be both authentic and relatable for years to come.