My heroes have always been cowboys

[chickwriter]

Now that I have a working computer and Internet back, here are my thoughts about Brokeback Mountain.


The spare emptiness of the Wyoming (Alberta) mountainside echoed the terse language of Annie Proulx's short story. It also serves as accompaniment to the quiet desperation of lives lived to meet other's expectations. Not only that of Ennis Del Mar, the clenched-jawed avatar of all that is cowboy, but also that of the sad-eyed wives of both Ennis and Jack, both women ciphers to the true poignancy of the men's connection.

I was leery of the movie when finally there, anticipating the room's darkening with a bit of trepidation. Surely it wouldn't live up to its build-up. Surely, I'd come away, liking it overall, but with a sense of vague disappointment.

Ang Lee proved me wrong. The two plus hours vanished as I sat, mesmerized by the sterile beauty of this film. Sterile - an odd word to describe it, but yes, I stand by this choice. The lives led by Ennis and Jack, and their legal families held no richness, no joy, just the plodding sameness and unending knowledge that somewhere "out there" there was something more. The true pity is that both these men briefly touched something more, which left the rest of their lives that much emptier.

Should there have been a happy ending? No. Not for me...because the whole point of this story (to me, anyway), was the certainty that doing what is expected, what life demands of you is sometimes utterly the wrong choice. Then again, is it? If Ennis and Jack had defied convention, gotten themselves a little spread somewhere, who's to say that Ennis' fears wouldn't have been true? After all, despite the vast changes in the later 60s and early 70s, free love, drugs and flower children didn't wend their way into the small towns of the American West until much later.

I do speak from experience. In the early 70s, I was in high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, soon followed by Leander, Texas (now booming, but then a conservative family-values farm and ranch community). Having come from a rather liberal education, my beliefs slammed into the reality that was small town Texas life. From the Dust Bowl-like grayness of Alma's attitude to Lureen's brash nouveau-riche bleached blondeness, Lee's attention to detail was impeccable. I even leaned over to darthrami, nudging her at one point, as Lureen's dinner companion rambled on about sororities - the specifics were perfect!

Yeah, I'm rambling - but these are the thoughts and impressions that stayed with me through an entire weekend without Internet or a computer that was behaving.

I need to go see this movie again, this time to catch more of the detail.

Oh, and yes, I did leak at the end. I'm glad I'd read the story, because it prepared me for the impact of the shirts. I think maybe seeing it again, might spring some more tears.

Random thoughts:

* I knew they'd play the Willie Nelson song at the end over the credits. I think that made me cry more so than the shirts. There's something about Willie's music.

* Heath Ledger nailed shit-kicker speak. I dated someone once that spoke exactly like that. He'd been born and raised west of Fort Worth, Texas.

* The costuming was superb. Again, nailing the look/feel of the 20 years. As you can see, cowboys rarely change their style, but the "modern" looks for Jack, Lureen and that gang was brilliant...if not godawfully garish - which was so very popular then. Can you say "leisure suit"?




I'm glad we got to go. I'm even gladder that this movie was made.

Comments

[estrella30.livejournal.com]

I was also surprised as how quickly the movie seemed to pass. When I saw it was over two hours I was worried it would feel too long or drag, but I really didnt think that was the case.

And gosh, it was just SO beautiful, wasnt it?

*sighs happily*

[allaboutm-e.livejournal.com]

thanks for the thoughts, Willie... keeping fingers crossed it makes it to Tucson and we make it to Tucson in a timely fashion...