An Analysis of Brokeback Mountain Essay

Annie Proulxs Brokeback Mountain is a tragic chronicle of forbidden love. It chronicles the tap between Ennis Del Mar and doodly-squat Twist, both rodeo riders who fall head over heels for for each genius other in the spring of 1963. Their relationship endures for twenty long time, n perpetually fully resolved, neer fully let go of, and forever and a day surrounded by attention, confusion, and above all, by love. Brokeback Mountain depicted a legend that was both accurate in its opinion of queerness in the setting of its explanation, and in making it relatable to queerness and trans trip outual(prenominal)ity today. Later, when turned into a pic, it broke even to a greater extent(prenominal) barriers, and furthered its social effects on Hollywood and Society.Brokeback Mountain accurately describes the attitudes of society towards homo cozys in the 1960s, specifically of those that live where the story took place. In the 1960s, police raids of man bars were r come f orthine, and super violent. The stigma associated with even the appraisal of world pederastic was crippling. It was considered a disease, and looked down upon severely. only finally, the animated rights move custodyt was gaining its footing. During this time, influenced by the place of a militant black polished rights move manpowert, the homophile movement, as the participants dubbed it, became more than visible. Activists, such(prenominal) as Franklin Kameny and Barbara Gittings, picketed government agencies in cap to protest discriminatory employment policies. scarce the south, the setting of Brokeback Mountain, was very different.Although these were great stairs towards equality, some states in the south and westerly were very far behind. The treatments of gays shown in the story were painfully accurate. At wiz presage, when Ennis and crap reunite after four years, they fear what would happen if they got caught. Ennis tells Jack the story from his childhood, tru ism There was these 2 gray guys ranched in concert down home, Earl and Rich- Dad would pass a remark when he seen them. They was a humbug even though they was pretty yob old birds. I was what, nine years old and they found Earl dead in a irrigation ditch. Theyd took a tucker out iron to him, spurred him up, drug him around by his dick until it pulled off, fair(a) bloody pulp. What the discharge iron come ine looked worry pieces a burned tomatoes all over him, meander tore down from skiddin on gravel. (29)Incidents like this were not uncommon in the 60s, and as horrifying as it seemed to dissolvevass this passage in the book, what made it worse was the Proulx was in no way exaggerating, nevertheless rather relaying the harsh truth of the events that would go along during this time. Brokeback Mountain is howeverton up relatable to by umteen people, especially by those that can get wind with the characters in the story. Wyoming, the state where Ennis and Jack met, i s in an bea of the fall in States that is still not completely supportive of the gay rights movement. In an article published in The vernal York Times in 2005, after the absolve of the film based on Brokeback Mountain, m some(prenominal) a(prenominal) people who determine as homosexual came forward to speak about their experiences. They grimly mouth about the intolerance they still face, and Derrick Glover, a 33 year old gay rancher express, Where I live, you cant realisticly go out and be yourself. You couldnt go out together, deuce guys, as a couple and ever be accepted.It wasnt accepted in the past, its still not, and I dont think it ever ordain 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 all(prenominal) summer he would set out with his broth er in a bloodshed truck carrying their two quarter horses, to fight in calf and steer lasso competitions. His tale sounds just like that of Jack and Ennis, growing up and k nowadaysing nil but being a cowpuncher, 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 despicable to an area with more people and more tolerance. This situation, oddly reminiscent of Stephen in The s salutary 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 acknowledge that he could peradventure be a homosexual, and that somehow, maybe, he could be falling for another man. Ennis is more manlike 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 n o idea what to do about it, ever. I was elevated in a ranching, rodeo world wrangling, boxing horses, riding bucking stock, working in chase camps but eternally with the sense that I had to conceal who I was because cowboys could never be gay. Cowboys have always been seen as men who are rough and wild, who face record 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 meGay men are emotionally weak.They are not real men. They are like women. This sentiment, unfortunately, is echoed throughout often of the United States, and the rest of the world as intimately. By showing that these macho, strong, ranch work force and cowboys could be gay, Brokeback Mountain rejected the prescriptive ideas of what is cons idered queer and gay. It showcased two homosexual men as regular men, and didnt plan of attack to fit them into the stereotypical, effeminate image of gay men. Homosexual men used to be seen as perverts, men who just cherished 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, heedless of their gender. In 2005, Brokeback Mountain was turned into a exposure, and was met with great approval. Starring Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger, the delineation went on to receive many awards, including leash Academy Awards for vanquish Director, beat fitted Screenplay, and high hat Score as well as four Golden mankind awards for better 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 alike received four Screen Actors ball club nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Ensemble, more than any other video released in 2005. It was a hit. More than that though, it reached thousands 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 tidingss, and it helped spread 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 novice 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 desire 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 exhaust Hollywoods homosexual stereotypes, and to face lift consciousness of gay rights. Gay rights groups immediately embraced the movie after it came out. The Gay and sapphic Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD) established online vision 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 bemused and alone in the struggle with their sexual orientation. The Human Rights Campaign also fall in in, issuing Oscar Party Kits, with posters of Brokeback Mountain, and cards that articulate 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 lawful out of Wyoming in the 1960s, through its trueness 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, opening more peoples eyes to the existence 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.