Larry David will NOT be seeing Brokeback Mountain
Filed under: Drama, Romance, Newsstand
There are loads of people who don't want to see Brokeback Mountain, and they've all got their reasons. Some of
them might hate Ang
Lee, or be allergic to horses. Others just think it looks dumb. Some, however, just don't dig on the whole Gay
Thing. Larry
David, proudly, counts himself as one of these - sort of. Though he insists that he's got nothing against people who
happen to be gay ("I love gay people. Hey, I've got gay acquaintances. Good acquaintances, who know they can call
me anytime if they had my phone number."), David nevertheless has a creeping fear of the masculine homosexuality
on display in the movie. It's not that he's disturbed by the thought of watching two macho men in love - far from it.
Instead, he's afraid might find the whole thing so appealing that he'll walk out of the theater gay. And then where
would he be, what with the wife and everything?









Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-03-2006 @ 10:00AM
Troy said...
I think David's remarks may have been written to gently poke fun at the large number of non-movie critic columnists who have taken the trouble to write reviews of a movie they won't see. Many of these same folks also say they love gay people but, as David writes, probably don't actually have close "phone number" friendships with them. At the end of David's column he humorously articulates what may be a persistant, if subtle gnat of a fear that some of these columnists harbor--seeing Brokeback Mountain might illuminate some repressed homosexual identity within them. Maybe these guys simply don't like the idea of seeing two guys in love. I can sort of relate, but we should thank GOD we don't have to sort through the considerably greater number of articles that could be written by queers who are turned off by the bazillion straight love scenes Hollywood gives us each year.
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1-03-2006 @ 11:54AM
Dave said...
Ditto above - I thought David's "review" was quite funny shtick
saying he can't go see this moview cause he has a "weakness
for cowboys" (in the title of his review) and will be
complete converted to be gay by the hot specter of Jake/Ennis
("not that there is anything wrong with that"), and this would
be damned inconvenient ...
I don't believe him - I bet he actually goes and sees the movie.
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1-03-2006 @ 12:19PM
bgdc said...
Funny stuff. Gotta love Larry.
A better reason to not see Brokeback - the story utterly fails at making the characters sympathetic. Regardless of gender or sexual orientation, the characters are lying, deceiving and cheating on their families. Why should any moviegoer give a damn about the fate of the characters?
Good acting and direction in the film, matched with great cinematography can't help the fact that the characters just aren't compelling. Hell even the immoral scumbags in 'Closer' were fun to watch because at least they were clever.
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1-03-2006 @ 1:29PM
Jane said...
I think Larry David's hilarious anti-homophobe article is going to be misused here to fuel the homophobic fires. Some people just don't get satire. Perhaps a more honest title to your article was in order.
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1-03-2006 @ 3:40PM
Tim said...
Perhaps thinking about WHY the characters behaved in the way they did would be beneficial. Cheating, lying, and hiding was the only way many could capture even a glimpse of happiness at that time and in that culture (probably still largely true today). I suppose it is easier to discredit than try to understand. The movie is brilliant because the characters are flawed.
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1-03-2006 @ 3:41PM
Claude said...
Wow. bgdc, you've got it all wrong. Luckily, most people who've seen BBM don't see it that way.
This movie took place at a time when everyone was expected to get married (to the opposite sex). Homosexuality was seen by nearly everyone (including many gay people) as a sickness or an unspeakable sin. Openly living with another man (especially in a place like Wyoming) was almost unthinkable. Those who did were likely to end up dead like what Ennis witnessed as a child.
Imagine if straight people were forced to marry someone of the same sex. First of all, think of what a profound violation of human rights and dignity that would be. That's what gay people have had to go through for most of human history. Then imagine that some or even most of them sought out a little human companionship with a member of the opposite sex when the opportunity presented itself. Would any reasonable person condemn them for "lying, deceiving and cheating" on a family that was imposed upon them by an oppressive society? If anything, Jack and Ennis were cheating on each other with their wives.
BBM shows is the tragic cost of homophobia to everyone involved, including the families. But let's not forget that the primary victims were gay people themselves who were denied the right to form loving relationships with people they were attracted to.
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1-03-2006 @ 6:31PM
Hao Le said...
The man responsible for Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, ppl! Get a clue. It was meant to be funny. Jesus. Get a sense of humor.
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1-04-2006 @ 1:23AM
George Williamson said...
It's hard to believe anyone took Larry David's commentary seriously. Proves how many people in this world have a brain the size of a pea.
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1-04-2006 @ 2:32AM
Dave said...
To bgdc:
"Regardless of gender or sexual orientation, the characters are lying, deceiving and cheating on their families. Why should any moviegoer give a damn about the fate of the characters?"
Are you talking about "Walk the Line," where Johnny Cash cheats on his wife, does drugs, becomes alcoholic, goes to prison? Or were you talking about "Ray," where Ray Charles cheats on his wife, does drugs, becomes an addict, walks out on his family? Or were you talking about "Dr Zhivago," where Yuri and Lara carry on a decade-long affair behind their families backs?
When it involves hetero characters having an affair, it's "romantic" or "good character drama," but when gay characters do it, it's immoral and must be STOPPED or discounted IMMEDIATELY. Why is that?
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1-04-2006 @ 9:54AM
Tim said...
I think everyone gets Larry David's humor (the article was pretty funny). I think we don't get bgdc's reasoning.
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1-04-2006 @ 3:59PM
vikors said...
This movie presents sexual intimacy between two men as something beautiful and appealing to the audience. Take away the explicit gay sex and this movie would become just plain ordinary. Which makes me wonder why film critics are raving over it. Could it be that they have finally found a perfect vehicle to sell their "gay" agenda?
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1-05-2006 @ 3:23AM
rand said...
The movie speaks for itself. See it. It will be around longer than any of us.
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1-05-2006 @ 1:17PM
neil dawson said...
I'm not from The States, but from England, where the debate about things gay is not so heated. We now have legally recognised Civil Partnerships for gay people. But Larry David's clearly satirical article does poke fun at that element in heterosexual society that believes homosexuality is somehow "infectious"!
As a rather cute 20yr old at Oxford, thirty odd years ago, there were plenty of girls willing to convert me to heterosexuality. The results were generally embarrassing and occasionally hilarious; I managed "it" one and a half times. Are all these people who are so outraged and disturbed by "Brokeback Mountain", so insecure in their own sexual identities that they really believe thay might be born again?
Golly! On that basis Heath and Jake were taking a pretty big risk.....
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1-05-2006 @ 1:57PM
Elliott said...
Larry David kinda has a point. I watched Seinfled reruns and The Daily Show so much that I am now Jewish.
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1-20-2006 @ 8:32PM
Jerry said...
Now Larry David has gone and done it. With this very funny and engaging critique of why he can't see Brokeback Mountain, he has probably endeared himself to many a gay man. Mr. David, don't be surprised if you get some goo-goo eyes from your gay friends.
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