I Wanna Be A Cowboy

.."and you can be my cowgirl..."

Hi All,
Remember that song from the 80's? 'I Wanna Be A Cowboy?' God, the 80's were cheesy!! But we loved every second of it. Bean and I rented 'Brokeback Mountain' and finally watched it last night. I'm sure we've all heard the hype..'landmark,' 'groundbreaking,' 'courageous.' If you've never seen 'Queer As Folk,' maybe. But we've seen 'Queer As Folk,' and THAT was groundbreaking, and very, very courageous, and a landmark. That show was also very explicit. If you had never seen two men together before...well, those images will stay in your head forever once you see them in graphic detail. The first time I saw such a scene, I yelled, "Oh My Dear God!" and sat there with crimson face. But after awhile, it just becomes...an aphrodisiac. Our friend Joan saw 'Brokeback' before we did and said the love scenes were a complete turn-off, and not something she wanted to see.

I figured with two attractive actors, they couldn't go wrong. Our complaint was, though, not that the love scenes bothered us or the plot itself upset us; it was that 1) We saw no love story established and 2) What we did see was weak and about as erotic as a brick. It doesn't bother me to see any assortment of people together in an intimate way; just, when you DO create such a scene, make it believable and tender? Is that too much to ask? I'm a woman, so of course I will want the tender love scene. Well, none of that in 'Brokeback.' The worst, though, as I mentioned before, is that I didn't feel anything for these characters. I didn't believe that they were in love. There was no love story developed. They meet at Brokeback Mountain every six months to hook up. So what? That shows they love each other? No, that shows they're always up for sex.

I will say that Heath Ledger's character Ennis was the one I could sort of feel for. He had so much anger and had such a hard time accepting who he was. If only he'd get the marbles out of his mouth. We had to put on Subtitles (no closed captioning for this movie) just to understand what he was saying. I liked Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), but I felt he was underdeveloped as a character.

Did this deserve Best Picture? Certainly Not. 'Crash' was justified, and was a much better film. I guess for major films, this WAS one of the few about the homosexual lifestyle, so Hollywood pats itself on the back and thinks it's done something overwhelming. Get a Grip, Hollywood! Those people truly do live in their own world. If that was a great homosexual love story, then homosexuals must not know what love really is! I've seen much better on Lifetime...

Is it worth a rental? Sure. It was mildly entertaining, I'd say. And I like the lead actors, and I love Ang Lee, the director. He can do better, though. He should have gotten his award for 'The Ice Storm,' which is a classic. (Sigourney Weaver should have been rewarded for that one too, brilliant actor that she is). But I digress...

I guess it's just a bit of a letdown when you expect something to be fresh and exciting, and it just isn't. But if you like low talking, repressed characters who do look pretty good in tight jeans and cowboy hats, this one's for you.

Things I'd Have Done To Make Brokeback A Better Movie
1) Ban mumbling. E-N-U-N-C-I-A-T-E!!
2) More shirtless shots. ANY shirtless shots.
3) Give the 'wives' more to do than yell and cry.
4) Tender love scenes galore.
5) Have one 'real' scene where the two men show they love each other.

Have a good day, All.