Sunday, November 12, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Philadelphia
I arrived in Philadelphia on the same day as the tail of the hurricane. At 6AM, the city looked old, gray, windy and soaking wet.
We didn't have a car, so we took the subway and walked and walked. It was a fallen capital although through details here and there you could almost see the glims of the glory days it once had. I wasn't interested in American history or the big bell with a crack. I hate sightseeing. I knew it was the birth place of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which claimed that everyone was equal except women and slaves. That was enough information for me. I am more interested in people, ordinary people's everyday life. I admit I experienced some kind of culture shock while walking through the streets of Philadelphia. Like the first time in Vancouver I was shocked to see so many Chinese outside of China. Here I was bit shocked to see almost half of the population (43.2%) was black in Philly. I was even more shocked to see most of them live around or below the poverty line. I remember one article in New Yorker talking about the aftermath in New Orleans. It said something like flood was act of God, but doing a bad job building levees and destroying homes and letting people die or suffer because they are poor is not. I am from a country where hardship is daily life to millions of people. It is still shocking to see on TV and with my own eyes that there is a third world living right in the heart of the richest country in the world. Having poor people is not disturbing. Having most of the poors from one single race is disturbing. I don't understand that how a country with its backyard on fire can possibly throw billions of dollars in order to police the world. I am not sure if Canadian know how lucky it is to live in Canada. I know I do because the moment I stepped back on Canadian soil I started to breathe easier.
ps. I know this is the song originally for people with AIDS , but it could also be dedicated for all the people who are abandoned and forgotten...
Streets of Philadelphia
I was bruised and battered and I couldn't tell what I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself
Saw my reflection in a window I didn't know
my own face
Oh brother are you gonna leave me
wasting away
On the streets of Philadelphia
I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Just as black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of Philadelphia
Ain't no angel gonna greet me
It's just you and I my friend
And my clothes don't fit me no more
I walked a thousand miles
just to slip this skin
The night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake
I can feel myself fading away
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss
or will we leave each other alone like this
On the streets of Philadelphia
We didn't have a car, so we took the subway and walked and walked. It was a fallen capital although through details here and there you could almost see the glims of the glory days it once had. I wasn't interested in American history or the big bell with a crack. I hate sightseeing. I knew it was the birth place of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which claimed that everyone was equal except women and slaves. That was enough information for me. I am more interested in people, ordinary people's everyday life. I admit I experienced some kind of culture shock while walking through the streets of Philadelphia. Like the first time in Vancouver I was shocked to see so many Chinese outside of China. Here I was bit shocked to see almost half of the population (43.2%) was black in Philly. I was even more shocked to see most of them live around or below the poverty line. I remember one article in New Yorker talking about the aftermath in New Orleans. It said something like flood was act of God, but doing a bad job building levees and destroying homes and letting people die or suffer because they are poor is not. I am from a country where hardship is daily life to millions of people. It is still shocking to see on TV and with my own eyes that there is a third world living right in the heart of the richest country in the world. Having poor people is not disturbing. Having most of the poors from one single race is disturbing. I don't understand that how a country with its backyard on fire can possibly throw billions of dollars in order to police the world. I am not sure if Canadian know how lucky it is to live in Canada. I know I do because the moment I stepped back on Canadian soil I started to breathe easier.
ps. I know this is the song originally for people with AIDS , but it could also be dedicated for all the people who are abandoned and forgotten...
Streets of Philadelphia
I was bruised and battered and I couldn't tell what I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself
Saw my reflection in a window I didn't know
my own face
Oh brother are you gonna leave me
wasting away
On the streets of Philadelphia
I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Just as black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of Philadelphia
Ain't no angel gonna greet me
It's just you and I my friend
And my clothes don't fit me no more
I walked a thousand miles
just to slip this skin
The night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake
I can feel myself fading away
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss
or will we leave each other alone like this
On the streets of Philadelphia
Friday, September 01, 2006
Yes, Dr. Darcy
I dragged and dragged my feet on the way to watch the new movie version of Pride and Prejudice, in fear that they would butcher one of my favorite stories, in fear that Keira Knightley was too pretty, too tall and too stiff for Lizzie. I should have known that usually the British production movies are not as disappointing as the Hollywood ones because when the movie was over, I felt unreasonably happy. The warm and fuzzy feeling lingered on for days. I almost forgot how much I enjoyed a good love story. Lizzie and Mr. Darcy, fundamentally are very much alike. They should be in love, and they deserve to be happy. I almost forgot how wonderful it feels that after all the obstacles the one you love actually loves you too. It takes a miracle. Life just doesn’t get better than this.
I have to admit this story is still one of the good old-fashion fantasy even though it was from Jane Austen, who was never married and was as cynical as one could get. A prince with shining armors, rich, handsome to death, comes on a white horse to rescue her from her miserable life. But how can we possibly keep our sanity intact without these little occasional escapes from reality?! I have no doubt that Lizzie would be able to make Mr. Darcy laugh with her wit here and there. One piece of advice my friend, life is long and dreadful, so get someone who can make you laugh.
I have to admit this story is still one of the good old-fashion fantasy even though it was from Jane Austen, who was never married and was as cynical as one could get. A prince with shining armors, rich, handsome to death, comes on a white horse to rescue her from her miserable life. But how can we possibly keep our sanity intact without these little occasional escapes from reality?! I have no doubt that Lizzie would be able to make Mr. Darcy laugh with her wit here and there. One piece of advice my friend, life is long and dreadful, so get someone who can make you laugh.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
The Flowers of Evil
No, I am not talking about the French poem. I am talking a planet called Las Vegas.
Las Vegas strucked me with two unexpected as soon as I landed. One, the first thing I saw when I walked out the arrival gate was slot machines, tons of them, everywhere. Two, the heat wave, it was 112 degree F, around 40 C. It felt like I was locked in an oven, and I couldn't get out. It says, 'Welcome to Las Vegas!', but what it is really saying is 'Baby, you can run but you can't hide!'.
When you look at Vegas you know we make wonders. This is a piece of land that grows nothing but sand, rocks and cactus. Out of nowhere, here it stands this splendid city, a real mirage in the desert. This is a place that never sleeps, that has traffic jam at midnight, a place of sound and lights. I cannot help feeling that Vegas is a woman, when she is good she is good, when she is bad she is even better. Wynn hotel was built with more than two billions dollars. It was luxury to the extreme, but I like the older ones more, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Venetian...which have a touch of culture, at least they try. My favorite thing has to be the small lake size dancing fountain in front of Bellagio. Water shot toward the sky, waves danced to the Italian song 'Time to Say Goodbye' in a desert summer night. It was like a dream.
I love Vegas. It is the least self conscious and least hypocrite place. It wares sin on the sleeve, and is very proud of it. It does anything possible to please you, to temp you, to surprise you. It is a never ending party, an eternal slacking summer. Whether you are man or woman, rich or poor, old or young, you can always find something you look for here.
Las Vegas strucked me with two unexpected as soon as I landed. One, the first thing I saw when I walked out the arrival gate was slot machines, tons of them, everywhere. Two, the heat wave, it was 112 degree F, around 40 C. It felt like I was locked in an oven, and I couldn't get out. It says, 'Welcome to Las Vegas!', but what it is really saying is 'Baby, you can run but you can't hide!'.
When you look at Vegas you know we make wonders. This is a piece of land that grows nothing but sand, rocks and cactus. Out of nowhere, here it stands this splendid city, a real mirage in the desert. This is a place that never sleeps, that has traffic jam at midnight, a place of sound and lights. I cannot help feeling that Vegas is a woman, when she is good she is good, when she is bad she is even better. Wynn hotel was built with more than two billions dollars. It was luxury to the extreme, but I like the older ones more, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Venetian...which have a touch of culture, at least they try. My favorite thing has to be the small lake size dancing fountain in front of Bellagio. Water shot toward the sky, waves danced to the Italian song 'Time to Say Goodbye' in a desert summer night. It was like a dream.
I love Vegas. It is the least self conscious and least hypocrite place. It wares sin on the sleeve, and is very proud of it. It does anything possible to please you, to temp you, to surprise you. It is a never ending party, an eternal slacking summer. Whether you are man or woman, rich or poor, old or young, you can always find something you look for here.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
The Time of Our Lives
I was going to write something after the World Cup was over since it was one of the most beautiful dreams of mine. I waited for so long because I didn't know how to start. This World Cup put me on an emotional rollercoaster ride, up and down, up and down. In the end it left a bad taste in my mouth just like the one four years ago, which makes me wonder if this game is till as beautiful as I remembered. Every time we meet new brilliant rising stars, and we say goodbye to many of the greatest players as well. It brings as much joy as tears, as much broken dreams as hopes. Maybe, just maybe my heart would still pounding again in four years, for the first time on the amazing land of Africa. We will see...
A flawed genius, but a genius all the same
What Zidane did was wrong, no doubt, and no excuse. He should have challenged Materazzi in a duel after the game and broken his jaws, so that he could never insult anyone on or off the field. How I wish you had never come out retirement for this World Cup. It broke our hearts to see you left the field like this. It is true that the world will remember all your flaws, but the people who truly love this game will also remember all magic and wonders you did that took our breath away. Zizou, we will miss you.
There’s nothing you can say
Nothing you can do
There’s nothing in between
You know the truth
There’s nothing left to prove
There's nothing I won’t do
There’s nothing like the pain
I feel for you
Nothing left to face
There’s nothing left to lose
Nothing takes your place
When they say
You’re not that strong
You’re not that weak
It's not your fault
And when you climb up to your hill
Up to your place
I hope you’re well
What you want
What you lost
What you had
What is gone is over
What you got
What you love
What you need
What you have is real
...
There’s nothing you can say
Nothing you can do
There’s nothing in between
You know the truth
There’s nothing left to prove
There's nothing I won’t do
There’s nothing like the pain
I feel for you
Nothing left to face
There’s nothing left to lose
Nothing takes your place
When they say
You’re not that strong
You’re not that weak
It's not your fault
And when you climb up to your hill
Up to your place
I hope you’re well
What you want
What you lost
What you had
What is gone is over
What you got
What you love
What you need
What you have is real
...
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Bend it like Beckham
I never root for England, but when I saw Beckham cry on the injury bench today, it broke my heart. I wasn't a fan of Beckham for the longest time because I didn't like a man who marries a spice girl and shows up often on the tabloids for all the wrong reasons.
Trust me, he is not the same man on the football field as England's captain and as the best accessory on Posh Spice's arm. When it comes to football, he is a natural. He is calm, steady, precise, and he bends the ball like nobody else does. He is the backbone of team England. He was crying because England was losing the game, but even more because it was most likely his last World Cup. He is 31 already, which is considered old for a sports in which players have to run, jump and kick for about 90 minutes.With or without winning the World Cup, he is one the greatest football player. That much we know.
We miss you
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Simply Beautiful
(For your sanity please view this page with FireFox)
I can feel it, a heartbreak is creeping somewhere in the backgorund, because I know it is going to end on July 9th. What the heck! the show is still on, let's have some fun!
"It's a simple thing, just a ball and a goal. But once every four years, that simple thing drastically changes the world. It closes the schools, closes the shops, closes a city, stops a war. Simple ball fuels the passion and pride of nations, gives people everywhere something to hope for, gives country's respect where respect is in short supply, and achieves more than the politicians ever could. Once every four years, a ball does the impossible, and if history means anything, the world as we know it is about to change..."
Do you remember the dreams you had when you were a little kid? Did you dream to play with your heros and someday to be just like them? Some people can tell us that the only way the dream could come true is to never stop dreaming... ('...If you don't give my football back, I'm gonna get my dad on you...'. I laugh everytime I watch this ad)
A country united makes for better cheerleaders than a country divided. It is an honor to just be part of it. Let's drink to the teams that made it for the first time.
I swear I haven't taken a sick day...yet... :P
Let's drink to all the teams that didn't make it this time. See you in four years!!!!!!
Never grow up, my friends!
It is funny. Everyone goes into this game already knowing who is the champion, but every try is worthwhile still. let's drink to the champion!!!
Are you drunk yet, my friend?! You know it only happens every four years. If someone is still trying to tell you that their game is better than ours, just brush it off. They are allow to dream you know?! Now, let's drink to FOOTBALL.
I can feel it, a heartbreak is creeping somewhere in the backgorund, because I know it is going to end on July 9th. What the heck! the show is still on, let's have some fun!
"It's a simple thing, just a ball and a goal. But once every four years, that simple thing drastically changes the world. It closes the schools, closes the shops, closes a city, stops a war. Simple ball fuels the passion and pride of nations, gives people everywhere something to hope for, gives country's respect where respect is in short supply, and achieves more than the politicians ever could. Once every four years, a ball does the impossible, and if history means anything, the world as we know it is about to change..."
Do you remember the dreams you had when you were a little kid? Did you dream to play with your heros and someday to be just like them? Some people can tell us that the only way the dream could come true is to never stop dreaming... ('...If you don't give my football back, I'm gonna get my dad on you...'. I laugh everytime I watch this ad)
A country united makes for better cheerleaders than a country divided. It is an honor to just be part of it. Let's drink to the teams that made it for the first time.
I swear I haven't taken a sick day...yet... :P
Let's drink to all the teams that didn't make it this time. See you in four years!!!!!!
Never grow up, my friends!
It is funny. Everyone goes into this game already knowing who is the champion, but every try is worthwhile still. let's drink to the champion!!!
Are you drunk yet, my friend?! You know it only happens every four years. If someone is still trying to tell you that their game is better than ours, just brush it off. They are allow to dream you know?! Now, let's drink to FOOTBALL.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
We don't mind
Someone sent me a link to an article, in which the writer squeezed the last drop of his brain out trying to explain just why hockey is better soccer, in as scientific ways as possible. Later a young man basically quoted every point from that article on MSN messenger to me. I am sure he believed he was the most open minded person on earth to enlighten me and all the soccer fans. He just wouldn't shut up until I blocked him. For God's sake just stop nagging. Can you see we are having a party? We have waited for four long freaking years for this. Can you see we are having the best time of our life? I admit soccer is not as 'busy looking' as some other sports. To be honest, we don't mind. We don't mind watching the Brazilian players passing the ball around and around. A no goal game could be just as satisfying as a cold beer in a hot summer day. It is all about the view of beauty.
Ok ok, we got the point. Billion fans from all over the world including some North Amaricans all fail to see your brilliant point. We apologize for it. Anyway, next time your beloved millionaires decide to lock you out again because they think they deserve more money, you are more than welcome to give soccer a try. We will save you a seat. Even though we already have billions, we don't mind having more.
Ok ok, we got the point. Billion fans from all over the world including some North Amaricans all fail to see your brilliant point. We apologize for it. Anyway, next time your beloved millionaires decide to lock you out again because they think they deserve more money, you are more than welcome to give soccer a try. We will save you a seat. Even though we already have billions, we don't mind having more.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Ole Ole Ole
16 years ago when I was at sweet 16, I first encountered football, my first World Cup (sorry, North Americans, out of respect I am calling this game for what it really is). It was an unforgettable summer. Me and my best friend were crazy for this game. We hand-drew all the posters. We were both cheering for Germany. I was for No.18 and she was for No.10. I got up every time at 3 am to watch the game. Italy looked so beautiful. I never forget the morning when my favorite team won the champion. When I was watching the sunrise on the balcony I felt truly happy.
Football is an amazing game, the combination of speed, strength, and intelligence. It is also an undiscriminating game. You could be short and you could be skinny. As long as you can run and you want to play, you are in.The World Cup is special. First it makes you wait for 4 long years. Second it is not a game of a whole bunch millionaires running around. Some players and referees have daytime job. They have to take days off for the game. World Cup is a holiday, a celebration, a month-long party for everyone from all over the world who loves this game.
Some snobby guys say that women watch this game only for the good looking players. What they fail to see is every man who plays, who rises and falls, who screams even cries, who runs with his national flag running with him on his chest is as good looking as a Greek god.
This World Cup is also special to me because some of my favorite players from 16 years ago are here again as coaches, Van Basten for Netherlands, Klinsmann for Germany...
Pele once said, 'My heart starts pounding every four years'. Are you ready?!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
How Can I Forget?
I am drinking because I know this is going to be hard. I need to warn you that the pictures you see here might give you nightmare, a nightmare every generation Chinese have lived with ever since.
Yesterday over lunch I was told by a 20 something, white, Jesus looks like, Canadian boy to forget, forgive and move on, as well as some other vague lines like 'Don't hold grudge', 'Can we just all get along'... He also claimed that he got some relatives who died fighting the Nazi during WW2, but he has forgiven and moved on. He should really be proud because his relatives died as solders for a justified cause. I don't even want to comment on the comparison he brought between the violence in the Middle East now and what I am going talk about here, (I am a little drunk now, but I still know a better way to waste my time). I looked at him with rage and sorrow. I was angry because the worst days of his life probably was the days back in high school when he wasn't so popular. I was sad because I was too weak to stop the humiliation to the people half century later after they were slaughtered. I know I am not much better than him. What do I know? All I have suffered was couple of racial discrimination in Calgary and Phoenix, a sleepless summer night in Beijing back in 1989 with gun shots echoed through out the night which knowing some of the people I and my family knew probably were never coming home.
I admire Judaism, a faith that doesn't believe in forgiveness, whose God loves and cares as hard as he hates and punishes. I admire Jews who make sure that everyone hears and nobody forgets what happened, who believe that some wounds should never heal, so that they would hurt forever to remind. Let me show you a little piece of forgotten history. From December 1937 to February 1938, over 300,000 Chinese were brutally murdered in Nanjing. It was just couple of months of the 8-year war, it was just one city of the thousand cites in China, and it was just 300,000 people among the 4 million dead Chinese, who were murdered only because they were Chinese! Nanjing was the capital city of China in that era, and it is a beautiful mid-size city close to my father's home town.
When the German president got on his knees apologizing, Japanese government was busy re-writing their elementary school textbooks to cover up the history. We never ever got an apology. Do you believe the criminals who never admit their fault wouldn't do it again? I wouldn't count on that. This Canadian guy was right. I wasn't even born yet when it happened, and why do I care so much?! It is a funny thing to be a Chinese. The thousand years of history is glory, but it is also a huge baggage that weights tons on every Chinese's chest. We are billions, but we are also one. I died through their death, and they are still living through my life. How do we know good if we don't know evil? How do we forgive if we don't know suffering? Everyone knows the holocaust, but other than Chinese who knows that holocaust times a thousand actually happened in China, in Asia?
When the German president got on his knees apologizing, Japanese government was busy re-writing their elementary school textbooks to cover up the history. We never ever got an apology. Do you believe the criminals who never admit their fault wouldn't do it again? I wouldn't count on that. This Canadian guy was right. I wasn't even born yet when it happened, and why do I care so much?! It is a funny thing to be a Chinese. The thousand years of history is glory, but it is also a huge baggage that weights tons on every Chinese's chest. We are billions, but we are also one. I died through their death, and they are still living through my life. How do we know good if we don't know evil? How do we forgive if we don't know suffering? Everyone knows the holocaust, but other than Chinese who knows that holocaust times a thousand actually happened in China, in Asia?
Let's not be fatally naive to talk about peace until justice is served. Let's not forget when the dead are still not resting in peace. I am not a violent person, and I don't believe in violence. All I am asking of you is not to forget. How can I forget? I don't dare to, because the moment we forget the history will repeat itself, because the moment I forget they all died in vain.
If you are not Chinese and you have a weak heart, you probably should stop reading on now. If you are a Chinese or at least you think you are, you own your people this one.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you
Suddenly Spring is here again. Suddenly one year was over. Four years ago you chose to jump, to leave everything behind. I was never the biggest fan of yours. I knew you were somewhere, living, doing things you liked to do, and it was good enough to me. Until you were gone, I realized that there was this empty spot which could never be filled again. I am not even a believer, but I know it is not up to any of us to judge. You were just one of the people who make the world a bearable place. Wherever you are now, take care.
没什么可给你, 但求,凭这阙歌
谢谢你风雨里都不退愿陪着我
暂别今天的你, 但求凭我爱火
活在你心内分开也像同度过
没什么可给你, 但求,凭这阙歌
谢谢你风雨里都不退愿陪着我
暂别今天的你, 但求凭我爱火
活在你心内分开也像同度过
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Freak Show
Before I moved to Victoria everybody had warned me about the rain, but nobody had warned me about the wind. I can stand the rain, but the wind here is a freak show. Trees are down everywhere, roads are blocked, siren of ambulances or fire trucks echoes through out the night, ferries, the only mean out of the island, are cancelled, and I am trapped on this island. If you are younger than age of 45, don't move here because you will be the minority. People used to say this is the place for the newly wed and the nearly dead. I haven't seen any newly wed so far. They probably get hit by the insane housing price tag between the eyes so hard and move to Alberta or Manitoba. But the nearly dead are everywhere. They are controlling, complaining, and stopping everything that is younger than them from happening. Have you ever played the video game called 'House of Dead'? Yeah, it's kind of like that except in this game the zombies are the ones with the machine guns.
Somerset Maugham said, ' I don't feel at home in London, but then I don't feel at home anywhere'. There must be something seriously wrong with me.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Random Thoughts
According to the article I read there might be a little mistranslation of the old bible. Instead of God drove Adam and Eve out of Eden, it was God who was driven out of Eden. Could this be true? Just a little mistranslated the verb?! Well it certainly explains the absence of Him for all these years. I am not even religious, but the idea terrified me. I somehow find that the idea that "God has given us up' is scarier than 'God doesn't exists'. I wouldn't blame him. Honestly I would be pretty pissed off if I were Him, just look at us! Would we ever be able to win his heart back? Or just wait for the flood? I am not so worried since He's always got the plan.
According to another article I read ,which was just as horrifying as the last one, according to Greek mythology when people pass away they will be greeted by one question, and one only, which is 'Did you have passion?'. What kind of question is that, seriously?! Dose passion for Gucci bags count? This question really scared the air out of me. How many of us ever have had passion, for anything?! This is the world and the time that passion is truly a luxury. We run around the clock to try to make ends meet. If I had more time I would go to the gym. If I had more money I would invest more in my RRSP. If I had more time or money I would have more passion? Does it work that way? No, it doesn't, and we all know that. We all have favorites like chocolate, smoking, World of Warcraft...but passion is something you would die for. I am still working on my answer.
Over the holiday I met a mom who bought her four years old daughter the fancy hard covered color pictured book called 'Princess', which is a collection of princess fairytales, the Snow White, Cinderella... How we all loved those stories when we were little girls. Girls are brain washed from very early age to believe that some day the prefect Prince on his perfect white horse would come and rescue us from our miserable life, and everything would be ok and we would live happily ever after. I felt like rescuing the poor kid. Personally I think these fairytales are responsible for many failed relationships. Women who grew up with these fairytales embeded in their brain are set up to fail because life is not fairytale. Life is a battle field. If I ever had a daughter I would like to tell her something like this, 'Sweetie, nobody is going to save us except ourselves. Nowadays, princes are busy saving themsevles. Get a job, be financially independent, start a nice RRSP portfolio early, and stay true and close with your friends. These are the ingredients of a nice cake. If a nice guy comes along he could be the perfect icing on top. Remember, in this unpromising world the only thing I can promise you is no matter what happens I will always always be the one who loves you the most'
According to another article I read ,which was just as horrifying as the last one, according to Greek mythology when people pass away they will be greeted by one question, and one only, which is 'Did you have passion?'. What kind of question is that, seriously?! Dose passion for Gucci bags count? This question really scared the air out of me. How many of us ever have had passion, for anything?! This is the world and the time that passion is truly a luxury. We run around the clock to try to make ends meet. If I had more time I would go to the gym. If I had more money I would invest more in my RRSP. If I had more time or money I would have more passion? Does it work that way? No, it doesn't, and we all know that. We all have favorites like chocolate, smoking, World of Warcraft...but passion is something you would die for. I am still working on my answer.
Over the holiday I met a mom who bought her four years old daughter the fancy hard covered color pictured book called 'Princess', which is a collection of princess fairytales, the Snow White, Cinderella... How we all loved those stories when we were little girls. Girls are brain washed from very early age to believe that some day the prefect Prince on his perfect white horse would come and rescue us from our miserable life, and everything would be ok and we would live happily ever after. I felt like rescuing the poor kid. Personally I think these fairytales are responsible for many failed relationships. Women who grew up with these fairytales embeded in their brain are set up to fail because life is not fairytale. Life is a battle field. If I ever had a daughter I would like to tell her something like this, 'Sweetie, nobody is going to save us except ourselves. Nowadays, princes are busy saving themsevles. Get a job, be financially independent, start a nice RRSP portfolio early, and stay true and close with your friends. These are the ingredients of a nice cake. If a nice guy comes along he could be the perfect icing on top. Remember, in this unpromising world the only thing I can promise you is no matter what happens I will always always be the one who loves you the most'
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Brokeback Mountain
I went to watch the movie 'Brokeback Mountain' today. Once again I realize what a hopelessly romantic person I am. But I don't know how or what to say. According to nature it take a man and a woman to reproduce. According to the Bible (assume that even though it was written by human with fresh and blood like you and me truly represents God' will) it takes a man and a woman to make a matrimony holly. But what about love? Does love have to? Please don't ask me if I am Pro-gay right. I am a hopelessly romantic person, and I am Pro-love.
BTW, I love reading this review. It made me laugh out loud every second line. Enjoy!
Who's Afraid of Riding 'Brokeback'?
Jim Emerson / January 5, 2006
"Whoa, Nelly!" It seems that "Brokeback Mountain" has set off a tizzy of squeamish homosexual panic that's rippling across the nation! From critics to pundits to stand-up comics making sophomoric puns -- everybody's cracking the same lame and uncomfortable "gay cowboy" jokes over and over, but for different reasons, and I'm trying to keep track of it all. Let's see, over here we have those (mostly straight male critics) who think it's "not gay enough" (whatever that means) and might alienate its "core audience." And over here are those (mostly gay activists) who resent that the leads are ostensibly straight actors instead of gay ones. And over here are some Kinsey 1-6 men and women wiping their eyes and noses on their sleeves. I don't think any of this other stuff would even be brought up now if "Brokeback Mountain" hadn't turned out to be such a darn good movie. And it's a Western, you know.To me, what's been fascinating are the conflicted reactions of those who either do or do not want to see the movie in the first place: They're "afraid" to see it because of what it might reveal (to themselves or others) about their own sexuality; or they don't want to see it because they think it's a Hollywood plot to ram a "gay agenda" down America's collective throat; or they feel guilty about not wanting to see it because they're not homophobic, but they just don't want to watch two guys in love (even though they do like Westerns); or they want to go but they can't take a (female heterosexual) date (what would they talk about afterwards?) and they don't want to go by themselves or with another guy; or they want to wait until it's out on DVD because they don't want to see it, or be seen with it, in public....Let's take a look at some examples of "Brokebackophilia" and "Brokebackophobia":1) Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Heath? Bill O'Reilly (who amazingly thinks that "Spin" and "Talking Points" are two different things) told Michael Medved and Jeannie Wolf that he wasn't going to see it because he was "afraid." Of what, he didn't say, but it was apparently supposed to be a joke about his wooziness when it comes to... what? Horsies? Marlboro Men? Sheep? I dunno. So, then Larry "Not That There's Anything Wrong With That" David wrote a satirical op-ed in the New York Times in which he made fun of people like Bill O'Reilly (and himself), trying to find excuses for why he said he didn't want to see the movie:
I'm for gay marriage, gay divorce, gay this and gay that. I just don't want to watch two straight men, alone on the prairie, fall in love and kiss and hug and hold hands and whatnot. That's all.Is that so terrible? Does that mean I'm homophobic? And if I am, well, then that's too bad. Because you can call me any name you want, but I'm still not going to that movie.To my surprise, I have some straight friends who've not only seen the movie but liked it. "One of the best love stories ever," one gushed. Another went on, "Oh, my God, you completely forget that it's two men...." [...] If two cowboys, male icons who are 100 percent all-man, can succumb, what chance to do I have, half- to a quarter of a man, depending on whom I'm with at the time? I'm a very susceptible person, easily influenced, a natural-born follower with no sales-resistance.Fox's John "War on Christmas" Gibson (the guy with the biggest, gayest neo-Liberace helmut-pompadour blonde dye job you've ever seen) has announced again and again that he isn't going to see "the gay cowboy movie" (ha ha!) either, and was glad that Larry David, uh, "rode to [his] rescue." Funny guy. Funny ha-ha, I mean.To me, this is the funniest part of the whole homosexual-panic reaction to "Brokeback Mountain" -- not just that seeing it or not seeing it is seen as a kind of statement, but that it's necessary for people to make a statement about seeing it or not seeing it. Some people not only feel defensive about not wanting to see it, but feel compelled to come out and announce that they don't want to see it. Does that mean they're really homophobic, or latent queer, or right-wing fundamentalists or all of the above? I "came out" recently about my (initially) unconscious resistance to seeing "King Kong" (it has to do with the 3-hour running time and my fear of feeling bad when they kill the big, sweet, furry galoot -- I don't like to see even CGI animals get hurt), but since when do people have to feel so guilty or conflicted about not wanting to see a movie? As it happens, Larry David's straight friends are right: Part of what's so good about "Brokeback Mountain" is precisely that it's a great movie love story and that you don't even think about playing stupid, reductive identity politics with the characters' lives.(Anybody who thinks that "straight" and "gay" are permanent or exclusive binary options, or comprehensive definitions of human sexuality, will probably be surprised or confused by the movie anyway, because it doesn't make an issue of "gay" or "straight" identity or behavior. It's just a movie about the lives of these two guys who meet and work together and develop a friendship with benefits at a crucial time in their lives -- and, as with a lot of male friendships, that early on-the-job bonding becomes a life-long relationship. And, every once in a while, Jack and Ennis have sex.)My friend John, whom I've known (entirely platonically!) for almost 30 years and who now lives with his wife Mary in Los Angeles, told me recently about a male friend of his who wanted to go see "Brokeback Mountain" but didn't know how. He knew he couldn't take a date. He didn't want to go by himself -- or with another guy (how would that look? he obsessed). So, John came up with the perfect solution: He invited his friend to accompany him and Mary. "Great!" said the friend. "But if Mary cancels, I'm not going."John, who's in the music industry, said: "This is the perfect DVD movie. It could be huge." 2) "Not gay enough" or "too gay"? "Brokeback Mountain" -- like "Munich," another one of 2005's best movies -- does not paint its characters in solid black-and-white. But that's exactly what worries some, who have been trying to predict whether (supposedly straight, "mainstream") audiences will find it "too gay" and be turned off, or whether (supposedly gay, activist) audiences will find it "not gay enough" (in a political sense) and be turned off. In his "Straight dudes' guide to 'Brokeback,' " David White at MSNBC offers some advice to those who are worried about the "too gay" part:
It’s about 130 minutes long and 129 of them are about Men Not Having Sex.And:
You kind of have no idea how important it is for you to shut up. But it’s crucial. I was recently at a press screening for another movie and I overheard four guys in the theater lobby talking about “Brokeback.” They were resolute in their refusal to go see it and they couldn’t stop loudly one-upping each other about how they had no interest, were not “curious,” and were, in the words of the loudest guy in the group, “straight as that wall over there.” Oh, the wall with poster for the Big Gay Cowboy Movie on it? That straight wall? Well here’s something that everyone else now knows but that guy: he’s probably gay. Being silent marks you as too cool to care about how other men see you. It means you’re comfortable and not freaked by your own naked shadow. Did Steve McQueen go around squawking about how straight-as-a-wall he was? No, he didn’t. He was too busy being stoic and manly.And besides:
Dude, it's a western.... And the script was adapted by none other than Total Dude Larry McMurtry. That guy is the coolest western writer in the country. He wrote “Lonesome Dove.” You love “Lonesome Dove.” In fact, the only problem with remembering that it’s a western is having to ignore the fact that most westerns are about 1000 percent gay. If you think I’m making that up, just go watch “Red River” again.I would add that "Brokeback Mountain" isn't even 10 percent as gay as "Top Gun" or "Jarhead," and that the man-on-man contact in both those films is much heavier and more explicit than any "stemming the rose" in "Brokeback."3) Is it PC enough? Back in September, David Poland, over at The Hot Button, made a prediction after seeing "Brokeback Mountain" in the mountains of Colorado at the Telluride Film Festival:
I still think that there could be some backlash against the film since it depicts gay men (presumably, though one of the two men is clearly a happily active bi-sexual and the other seems okay with married life though obsessed with the other man, though not men in general) as unable to move forward, suppressed by society and the threat of anti-gay rage rearing its head. It's hard to imagine Larry Kramer or Andrew Sullivan going for the politics of this film.On the flip side, I didn't find a gay man at Telluride who saw the film and was not a fan, including some very, very smart, fully out, sharp-tongued guys. [...] In so many ways, "Brokeback Mountain" is not inherently political. It is a very old-fashioned romance....More recently, in the Village Voice year-end movie poll, critic Steve Erickson said:
It's no surprise that a "Brokeback" backlash is coming, but the form it's taking is odd: straight male critics complaining it's not gay enough. They think a gay film has to prove — or at least aspire to — its outlaw authenticity. "Brokeback" is not just another story of tragic, helpless victims. Repression, especially the internalized variety, is the clear villain here. It comes in many forms: Straight people claiming the authority to determine queer legitimacy and then fetishizing it is one.... while another critic, Nathan Lee, wrote:
If I hear one more straight critic complain that "Brokeback Mountain" isn't particularly gay, I'm gonna spit on my hand, lube up my ----, and ---- him in the ----. I'm only kissing if he looks like Heath Ledger, though.Only Lee didn't use all those little dashes.So, you may be shocked to learn that, despite what you may have been led to believe, "Brokeback Mountain" is not, in fact, all things to all people. I know, it's a wild concept. The movie tells a small-scale, narrowly delineated story, specific to these individual characters in their time and place, that makes no overt political claims -- except, natch, that it's part of a Hollywood conspiracy to promote a "pro-gay" agenda. It's also not particularly gay, although there's some of that in it.Which brings me to my favorite "review" of "Brokeback Mountain" over at Red State Update. In a variation on SCTV's "Farm Film Report" with Billy Sol Hurok (Joe Flaherty) and Big Jim McBob (John Candy), Jackie Brole and Dunlap (played by Nashville comics Travis and Jonathan) discuss that new "King Kong" movie everybody's been talkin' about (the new one, not the old black-and-white one), and how it's nice to enjoy a good Western. What I think is particularly great about this hilariously inarticulate discussion -- which is sort of the whole "Brokeback" tizzy in a nutsack -- is that it's not just another stupid "gay cowboy" joke, but is more about the preconceptions and perceptions of moviegoers than it is about the movie itself. (Thanks to readers who sent in this link.)4) "Is it breakthrough enough"? Finally, and perhaps most curious of all, is a commentary by my former Los Angeles Film Critics Association colleague David Ehrenstein, who points out that "Brokeback Mountain" is not a gay breakthrough like some are saying because it was preceded by many much gayer movies, and that those who say it's some kind of "gay breakthrough" are wrong because the movie is not what they say it is -- i.e., a "gay breakthrough" movie. Then he kind of bashes the movie for not being the very thing that he says it isn't:
Heath Ledger’s faithful Ennis Del Mar waits for Jake Gyllenhaal’s straying Jack Twist and his “fishing trip” invites just as Irene Dunne pined away for a “drop-in” from her married lover, John Boles, in 1932’s "Back Street." But we’re not supposed to speak of such things, living as we do in what Gore Vidal calls “The United States of Amnesia.” We’re instead encouraged to ignore the precedents shattered by three decades of truly groundbreaking queer films — with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1971) leading a pack that also includes "My Beautiful Laundrette" (1985), "Parting Glances" (1986), Todd Haynes’ "Poison" (1991) and "Velvet Goldmine" (1998), Gus Van Sant’s "Mala Noche" (1985) and "My Own Private Idaho" (1991), "Savage Nights" (1992), "The Long Day Closes" (1992), "Wild Reeds" (1994), "Urbania" (2000), "Les Passagers" (1999), Patrice Chereau’s "L’Homme Blesse" (1983) and "Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train" (1998), "Kinsey" (2004), and, just this year, "Tropical Malady" and "Mysterious Skin." No, what’s really supposed to be important is the saddle-packing same-sex equivalent of "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner."Newsweek’s Smith is simply agog at how “Gyllenhaal and Ledger don’t dodge it. The kissing and the sex scenes are fierce and full-blooded. But if the actors were taking a risk, they sure don’t seem to think so.” Goodness, you’d swear the thing starred Tom Cruise and Kevin Spacey. And what about gay actors playing gay roles? Is it beyond their ken? Would they be open to accusations of “simply being themselves” rather than “really acting”? In a marvelously irreverent article published in The Guardian called “Gay for Today,” writer Philip Hensher put it best: “There are no gay actors — or at least, there weren’t until Nathan Lane, to everyone’s utter incredulity, came out. Of course, there were gay actors in America’s past — James Dean, Cary Grant, Dirk Bogarde, Rock Hudson, Danny Kaye. Plenty of them, in fact. But, for whatever reason, there’s hardly a single gay actor of recognizable stature working in Hollywood. An incredible fact.”Maybe I missed the part where "Brokeback Mountain" announced it was a "gay breakthrough." (Oh, the marketers are also being criticized for downplaying the gayness -- even though there may not be enough -- in trying to reach a "mainstream" audience.) I agree with David that all the swoony talk about how "brave" this solidly classical movie is -- or the actors are -- is sheer sheep dung. But "Brokeback Mountain" is no pedantic liberal thesis movie like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." And it's not the movie's fault that some ignorami are writing about it as if it were. (David: Think "All That Heaven Allows" or "Ali -- Fear Eats the Soul," in the guise of a traditional, sexually and emotionally repressed Western. Is there any other kind -- "Johnny Guitar" excepted? I mean, while we're citing Todd Haynes and Gus van Sant, shouldn't we mention Douglas Sirk and R.W. Fassbinder and Howard Hawks and John Ford -- "Two Rode Together," indeed! -- too?)As for the "gay actor" question, I look at it this way: We all know there are a lot more gay actors playing straight parts than straight actors playing gay parts. The big difference is that the gay actors pretend that not all of what they do is acting.Hensher's catty comments are so disingenuous he reminds me of Austin Powers: "Yeah, and I can't believe Liberace was gay. I mean, women loved him! I didn't see that one coming." Surely there's no doubt that are at least as many high-profile gay (or Kinsey 1+) actors working in Hollywood as there've ever been. And just like those Hensher mentions from the past, most of them -- with the notable exception of "Lord of the Rings"/"X-Men" icon, Sir Ian McKellen -- are not "out" to the general public. But everybody in the movie biz seems to know who they are. Or, at least, they've heard some pretty good rumors. Whether these actors want to officially come out on the job or not is up to them. I'd like to think it wouldn't hurt their careers at all, but I'm not going to blame them for shutting up if they think it would. Or if they just don't want to deal with the particular kind of media attention they'd be inviting. And, again, that's hardly the fault of "Brokeback Mountain" or Ang Lee or Heath Ledger or Jake Gyllenhaal. Don't hate them because they're pretty!So, there you go. It's completely up to you if you want to see or skip the first sort-of gay but maybe not gay enough cowboy love story Western picture show. Just don't assume it's what anybody else tells you it is. Or isn't. You know what "assume" does...
BTW, I love reading this review. It made me laugh out loud every second line. Enjoy!
Who's Afraid of Riding 'Brokeback'?
Jim Emerson / January 5, 2006
"Whoa, Nelly!" It seems that "Brokeback Mountain" has set off a tizzy of squeamish homosexual panic that's rippling across the nation! From critics to pundits to stand-up comics making sophomoric puns -- everybody's cracking the same lame and uncomfortable "gay cowboy" jokes over and over, but for different reasons, and I'm trying to keep track of it all. Let's see, over here we have those (mostly straight male critics) who think it's "not gay enough" (whatever that means) and might alienate its "core audience." And over here are those (mostly gay activists) who resent that the leads are ostensibly straight actors instead of gay ones. And over here are some Kinsey 1-6 men and women wiping their eyes and noses on their sleeves. I don't think any of this other stuff would even be brought up now if "Brokeback Mountain" hadn't turned out to be such a darn good movie. And it's a Western, you know.To me, what's been fascinating are the conflicted reactions of those who either do or do not want to see the movie in the first place: They're "afraid" to see it because of what it might reveal (to themselves or others) about their own sexuality; or they don't want to see it because they think it's a Hollywood plot to ram a "gay agenda" down America's collective throat; or they feel guilty about not wanting to see it because they're not homophobic, but they just don't want to watch two guys in love (even though they do like Westerns); or they want to go but they can't take a (female heterosexual) date (what would they talk about afterwards?) and they don't want to go by themselves or with another guy; or they want to wait until it's out on DVD because they don't want to see it, or be seen with it, in public....Let's take a look at some examples of "Brokebackophilia" and "Brokebackophobia":1) Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Heath? Bill O'Reilly (who amazingly thinks that "Spin" and "Talking Points" are two different things) told Michael Medved and Jeannie Wolf that he wasn't going to see it because he was "afraid." Of what, he didn't say, but it was apparently supposed to be a joke about his wooziness when it comes to... what? Horsies? Marlboro Men? Sheep? I dunno. So, then Larry "Not That There's Anything Wrong With That" David wrote a satirical op-ed in the New York Times in which he made fun of people like Bill O'Reilly (and himself), trying to find excuses for why he said he didn't want to see the movie:
I'm for gay marriage, gay divorce, gay this and gay that. I just don't want to watch two straight men, alone on the prairie, fall in love and kiss and hug and hold hands and whatnot. That's all.Is that so terrible? Does that mean I'm homophobic? And if I am, well, then that's too bad. Because you can call me any name you want, but I'm still not going to that movie.To my surprise, I have some straight friends who've not only seen the movie but liked it. "One of the best love stories ever," one gushed. Another went on, "Oh, my God, you completely forget that it's two men...." [...] If two cowboys, male icons who are 100 percent all-man, can succumb, what chance to do I have, half- to a quarter of a man, depending on whom I'm with at the time? I'm a very susceptible person, easily influenced, a natural-born follower with no sales-resistance.Fox's John "War on Christmas" Gibson (the guy with the biggest, gayest neo-Liberace helmut-pompadour blonde dye job you've ever seen) has announced again and again that he isn't going to see "the gay cowboy movie" (ha ha!) either, and was glad that Larry David, uh, "rode to [his] rescue." Funny guy. Funny ha-ha, I mean.To me, this is the funniest part of the whole homosexual-panic reaction to "Brokeback Mountain" -- not just that seeing it or not seeing it is seen as a kind of statement, but that it's necessary for people to make a statement about seeing it or not seeing it. Some people not only feel defensive about not wanting to see it, but feel compelled to come out and announce that they don't want to see it. Does that mean they're really homophobic, or latent queer, or right-wing fundamentalists or all of the above? I "came out" recently about my (initially) unconscious resistance to seeing "King Kong" (it has to do with the 3-hour running time and my fear of feeling bad when they kill the big, sweet, furry galoot -- I don't like to see even CGI animals get hurt), but since when do people have to feel so guilty or conflicted about not wanting to see a movie? As it happens, Larry David's straight friends are right: Part of what's so good about "Brokeback Mountain" is precisely that it's a great movie love story and that you don't even think about playing stupid, reductive identity politics with the characters' lives.(Anybody who thinks that "straight" and "gay" are permanent or exclusive binary options, or comprehensive definitions of human sexuality, will probably be surprised or confused by the movie anyway, because it doesn't make an issue of "gay" or "straight" identity or behavior. It's just a movie about the lives of these two guys who meet and work together and develop a friendship with benefits at a crucial time in their lives -- and, as with a lot of male friendships, that early on-the-job bonding becomes a life-long relationship. And, every once in a while, Jack and Ennis have sex.)My friend John, whom I've known (entirely platonically!) for almost 30 years and who now lives with his wife Mary in Los Angeles, told me recently about a male friend of his who wanted to go see "Brokeback Mountain" but didn't know how. He knew he couldn't take a date. He didn't want to go by himself -- or with another guy (how would that look? he obsessed). So, John came up with the perfect solution: He invited his friend to accompany him and Mary. "Great!" said the friend. "But if Mary cancels, I'm not going."John, who's in the music industry, said: "This is the perfect DVD movie. It could be huge." 2) "Not gay enough" or "too gay"? "Brokeback Mountain" -- like "Munich," another one of 2005's best movies -- does not paint its characters in solid black-and-white. But that's exactly what worries some, who have been trying to predict whether (supposedly straight, "mainstream") audiences will find it "too gay" and be turned off, or whether (supposedly gay, activist) audiences will find it "not gay enough" (in a political sense) and be turned off. In his "Straight dudes' guide to 'Brokeback,' " David White at MSNBC offers some advice to those who are worried about the "too gay" part:
It’s about 130 minutes long and 129 of them are about Men Not Having Sex.And:
You kind of have no idea how important it is for you to shut up. But it’s crucial. I was recently at a press screening for another movie and I overheard four guys in the theater lobby talking about “Brokeback.” They were resolute in their refusal to go see it and they couldn’t stop loudly one-upping each other about how they had no interest, were not “curious,” and were, in the words of the loudest guy in the group, “straight as that wall over there.” Oh, the wall with poster for the Big Gay Cowboy Movie on it? That straight wall? Well here’s something that everyone else now knows but that guy: he’s probably gay. Being silent marks you as too cool to care about how other men see you. It means you’re comfortable and not freaked by your own naked shadow. Did Steve McQueen go around squawking about how straight-as-a-wall he was? No, he didn’t. He was too busy being stoic and manly.And besides:
Dude, it's a western.... And the script was adapted by none other than Total Dude Larry McMurtry. That guy is the coolest western writer in the country. He wrote “Lonesome Dove.” You love “Lonesome Dove.” In fact, the only problem with remembering that it’s a western is having to ignore the fact that most westerns are about 1000 percent gay. If you think I’m making that up, just go watch “Red River” again.I would add that "Brokeback Mountain" isn't even 10 percent as gay as "Top Gun" or "Jarhead," and that the man-on-man contact in both those films is much heavier and more explicit than any "stemming the rose" in "Brokeback."3) Is it PC enough? Back in September, David Poland, over at The Hot Button, made a prediction after seeing "Brokeback Mountain" in the mountains of Colorado at the Telluride Film Festival:
I still think that there could be some backlash against the film since it depicts gay men (presumably, though one of the two men is clearly a happily active bi-sexual and the other seems okay with married life though obsessed with the other man, though not men in general) as unable to move forward, suppressed by society and the threat of anti-gay rage rearing its head. It's hard to imagine Larry Kramer or Andrew Sullivan going for the politics of this film.On the flip side, I didn't find a gay man at Telluride who saw the film and was not a fan, including some very, very smart, fully out, sharp-tongued guys. [...] In so many ways, "Brokeback Mountain" is not inherently political. It is a very old-fashioned romance....More recently, in the Village Voice year-end movie poll, critic Steve Erickson said:
It's no surprise that a "Brokeback" backlash is coming, but the form it's taking is odd: straight male critics complaining it's not gay enough. They think a gay film has to prove — or at least aspire to — its outlaw authenticity. "Brokeback" is not just another story of tragic, helpless victims. Repression, especially the internalized variety, is the clear villain here. It comes in many forms: Straight people claiming the authority to determine queer legitimacy and then fetishizing it is one.... while another critic, Nathan Lee, wrote:
If I hear one more straight critic complain that "Brokeback Mountain" isn't particularly gay, I'm gonna spit on my hand, lube up my ----, and ---- him in the ----. I'm only kissing if he looks like Heath Ledger, though.Only Lee didn't use all those little dashes.So, you may be shocked to learn that, despite what you may have been led to believe, "Brokeback Mountain" is not, in fact, all things to all people. I know, it's a wild concept. The movie tells a small-scale, narrowly delineated story, specific to these individual characters in their time and place, that makes no overt political claims -- except, natch, that it's part of a Hollywood conspiracy to promote a "pro-gay" agenda. It's also not particularly gay, although there's some of that in it.Which brings me to my favorite "review" of "Brokeback Mountain" over at Red State Update. In a variation on SCTV's "Farm Film Report" with Billy Sol Hurok (Joe Flaherty) and Big Jim McBob (John Candy), Jackie Brole and Dunlap (played by Nashville comics Travis and Jonathan) discuss that new "King Kong" movie everybody's been talkin' about (the new one, not the old black-and-white one), and how it's nice to enjoy a good Western. What I think is particularly great about this hilariously inarticulate discussion -- which is sort of the whole "Brokeback" tizzy in a nutsack -- is that it's not just another stupid "gay cowboy" joke, but is more about the preconceptions and perceptions of moviegoers than it is about the movie itself. (Thanks to readers who sent in this link.)4) "Is it breakthrough enough"? Finally, and perhaps most curious of all, is a commentary by my former Los Angeles Film Critics Association colleague David Ehrenstein, who points out that "Brokeback Mountain" is not a gay breakthrough like some are saying because it was preceded by many much gayer movies, and that those who say it's some kind of "gay breakthrough" are wrong because the movie is not what they say it is -- i.e., a "gay breakthrough" movie. Then he kind of bashes the movie for not being the very thing that he says it isn't:
Heath Ledger’s faithful Ennis Del Mar waits for Jake Gyllenhaal’s straying Jack Twist and his “fishing trip” invites just as Irene Dunne pined away for a “drop-in” from her married lover, John Boles, in 1932’s "Back Street." But we’re not supposed to speak of such things, living as we do in what Gore Vidal calls “The United States of Amnesia.” We’re instead encouraged to ignore the precedents shattered by three decades of truly groundbreaking queer films — with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1971) leading a pack that also includes "My Beautiful Laundrette" (1985), "Parting Glances" (1986), Todd Haynes’ "Poison" (1991) and "Velvet Goldmine" (1998), Gus Van Sant’s "Mala Noche" (1985) and "My Own Private Idaho" (1991), "Savage Nights" (1992), "The Long Day Closes" (1992), "Wild Reeds" (1994), "Urbania" (2000), "Les Passagers" (1999), Patrice Chereau’s "L’Homme Blesse" (1983) and "Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train" (1998), "Kinsey" (2004), and, just this year, "Tropical Malady" and "Mysterious Skin." No, what’s really supposed to be important is the saddle-packing same-sex equivalent of "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner."Newsweek’s Smith is simply agog at how “Gyllenhaal and Ledger don’t dodge it. The kissing and the sex scenes are fierce and full-blooded. But if the actors were taking a risk, they sure don’t seem to think so.” Goodness, you’d swear the thing starred Tom Cruise and Kevin Spacey. And what about gay actors playing gay roles? Is it beyond their ken? Would they be open to accusations of “simply being themselves” rather than “really acting”? In a marvelously irreverent article published in The Guardian called “Gay for Today,” writer Philip Hensher put it best: “There are no gay actors — or at least, there weren’t until Nathan Lane, to everyone’s utter incredulity, came out. Of course, there were gay actors in America’s past — James Dean, Cary Grant, Dirk Bogarde, Rock Hudson, Danny Kaye. Plenty of them, in fact. But, for whatever reason, there’s hardly a single gay actor of recognizable stature working in Hollywood. An incredible fact.”Maybe I missed the part where "Brokeback Mountain" announced it was a "gay breakthrough." (Oh, the marketers are also being criticized for downplaying the gayness -- even though there may not be enough -- in trying to reach a "mainstream" audience.) I agree with David that all the swoony talk about how "brave" this solidly classical movie is -- or the actors are -- is sheer sheep dung. But "Brokeback Mountain" is no pedantic liberal thesis movie like "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." And it's not the movie's fault that some ignorami are writing about it as if it were. (David: Think "All That Heaven Allows" or "Ali -- Fear Eats the Soul," in the guise of a traditional, sexually and emotionally repressed Western. Is there any other kind -- "Johnny Guitar" excepted? I mean, while we're citing Todd Haynes and Gus van Sant, shouldn't we mention Douglas Sirk and R.W. Fassbinder and Howard Hawks and John Ford -- "Two Rode Together," indeed! -- too?)As for the "gay actor" question, I look at it this way: We all know there are a lot more gay actors playing straight parts than straight actors playing gay parts. The big difference is that the gay actors pretend that not all of what they do is acting.Hensher's catty comments are so disingenuous he reminds me of Austin Powers: "Yeah, and I can't believe Liberace was gay. I mean, women loved him! I didn't see that one coming." Surely there's no doubt that are at least as many high-profile gay (or Kinsey 1+) actors working in Hollywood as there've ever been. And just like those Hensher mentions from the past, most of them -- with the notable exception of "Lord of the Rings"/"X-Men" icon, Sir Ian McKellen -- are not "out" to the general public. But everybody in the movie biz seems to know who they are. Or, at least, they've heard some pretty good rumors. Whether these actors want to officially come out on the job or not is up to them. I'd like to think it wouldn't hurt their careers at all, but I'm not going to blame them for shutting up if they think it would. Or if they just don't want to deal with the particular kind of media attention they'd be inviting. And, again, that's hardly the fault of "Brokeback Mountain" or Ang Lee or Heath Ledger or Jake Gyllenhaal. Don't hate them because they're pretty!So, there you go. It's completely up to you if you want to see or skip the first sort-of gay but maybe not gay enough cowboy love story Western picture show. Just don't assume it's what anybody else tells you it is. Or isn't. You know what "assume" does...
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