When I was attending university back in the early 2000s, I took a course in contemporary literature. In this class, our textbook contained a number of short stories that our instructor gave us a choice to choose from. One of the women in that class chose the story Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx, based solely on author recognition. At the time, this story was not that well known, and none of us knew what it was about. I bring this up because the following class, she came in and profusely apologized for picking this story, professing that had she known the topic, she would have never suggested it. I must confess that as I had been reading it the night before, I was caught off guard by the subject matter, having never been exposed to literature that dealt with this topic before. We were all younger back then, younger and less mature. A lot has happened, both in the world and in my own personal life, to shift feelings around and build empathy for a subject that we once were embarrassed to have even read about twenty-five years ago.
Returning to this story was an interesting experience. The film that has been labeled as “the gay western” really doesn’t deserve being slighted that way. For one, neither of the leads is gay. Bi-sexual is the more accurate term to describe them. And even if they were both full-on gay, what does that even matter, really? It is a love story about two men who are compelled to hide their relationship from the world because their relationship is damned by those around them. It’s about the misery that exists because people aren’t allowed to be free about who they are lest they face violence and social stigmatism. The film takes place over a long period of time, and those social stigmatisms are still in effect by the end of it.
The film opens with two American cowboys in Wyoming in 1963: Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). Both men are hired by rancher Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid) to herd his sheep through the summer on grazing pastures on Brokeback Mountain. After a night of heavy drinking, Jack makes a pass at Ennis, who is initially hesitant but is finally receptive, and the two have sex in their tent. Afterwards, both men agree that this was just a one-time event, but that resolve doesn’t last. When Joe Aguirre finds out, they are not invited back to work for him in the upcoming season.
Ennis goes home and marries his longtime fiancée, Alma Beers (Michelle Williams), and they proceed to have two daughters. Jack moves to Texas seeking work and eventually meets rodeo rider Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway), the daughter of a wealthy agricultural machinery manufacturer. They, too, marry and have a son together.
Four years go by, and Jack comes back to visit Ennis. Ennis introduces him as an old fishing buddy, but Alma accidentally sees them kissing passionately. Later, Jack tries to convince Ennis to leave his life behind and start a new one with him, but Ennis refuses to abandon his family and turns him down. They continue to see each other a few times a year under the pretense of going on fishing trips, but Alma knows what those trips are really about and eventually confronts him, leading to the two getting a divorce with Alma getting primary custody of the kids. Jack tries again to convince him to leave together, but Ennis once again refuses to leave his family behind. Meanwhile, Jack’s own marriage is falling apart with his wife taking work in her father’s business while Jack works in sales. Jack and his father-in-law are fighting, with the elder man openly disrespecting and belittling him. This, too, may have ended in divorce were it not for a tragic accident that takes his life.
It’s painful to think that most people have made up their minds about this film sight unseen. Branding it “the gay western” or “the gay cowboy movie” puts a stigma on it that keeps people away from what is ultimately a heart-wrenching story about two people kept apart by societal expectations, forced to live their lives in secret and away from the world. Just like any relationship out there, there are difficulties, fights, and a lot of high and low moments. This kind of life choice was highly frowned upon in the 1960s and still is to a degree in the 2020s. In fact, the situation has only gotten more heated as people have emboldened themselves to be out and proud in the face of hatred and animosity. Ennis tells the story of a time when he and his father witnessed the beating of a homosexual man. Later, when Jack has died in an accident, Ennis envisions him being beaten to death in a similar situation.
Brokeback Mountain was lauded by the LGBT cinema community for being an influential film to tackle these issues. Because the film was a financial success, it opened the way for other studios to back projects with homosexual or bi-sexual characters without feeling the need to portray them in a stereotypical way. In this way, it was a seminal picture for the ongoing demands for gay rights and inclusion. And just like every cause out there, for every supporter, there are several others determined to be offended and insist it be torn down, or at the very least mocked. This is exactly what happened, too, when, at the following year’s Academy Awards, John Stewart took to the stage and showed a collage of western clips taken out of context to make the characters appear gay. It was as if the Academy assumed Brokeback Mountain was going to win and was trying to lighten the mood. Brokeback Mountain didn’t win in the end, though, and many feel the stigmatism of homosexuality turned enough voters away from it. Years later, voters have reassessed that vote and believe that the wrong movie won.
What’s so impressive about this film is that its themes are universal. This could be about any two people whom society has deemed cannot be a couple. It could be an interracial couple and the story would change little. More people would champion it, too, pointing out how racism is such an outdated concept. That’s the hypocrisy or blind hatred for this film. It’s an outdated response to something that is really not our business to be judgmental. Imagine how less hurt everyone in this film would have been had Ennis and Jake been able to just be together from the start. Neither would have gotten married to their wives, saving a lot of unhappiness from happening. But life is unfair, and misery happens all the time. And there are thousands of people out there afraid to reveal their true selves for fear of their family and friends turning on them. It leads to sadness, depression, sometimes even suicide. Jack Twist says to Ennis when it becomes clear their relationship is coming to an end, “I don’t know how to quit you,” and we see that all the sneaking around and pretending has been tearing these two men apart.
Brokeback Mountain is not for the bigoted or close-minded. If two men loving each other gets you upset and clutching your pearls, then this film will not change your mind. But if you can put aside those personal feelings and look at these people as human beings, not some repulsive creature worthy of your scorn, then you can see that this is a real tragedy, a story of forbidden love and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. For Jack and Ennis, Brokeback Mountain is the symbol of their struggles as well as the only place they were ever really happy.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Diana Ossana and James Schamus
Best Director: Ang Lee (won)
Best Actor: Heath Ledger
Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal
Best Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (won)
Best Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto
Best Original Score: Gustavo Santaolalla (won)
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Release Date: December 9, 2005
Running Time: 134 Minutes
Rated R
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, and Randy Quaid
Directed by: Ang Lee
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