Heath Ledger is very upset about the recent move by a cinema in Utah to not show Brokeback Mountain, the controversial movie about two cowboys in love.
Ledger said he was not surprised a Utah cinema had banned Brokeback Mountain, which depicts a lifelong love affair between two Montana cowboys. "I heard a while ago that West Virginia was going to ban it. But that's a state that was lynching people only 25 years ago, so that's to be expected," Ledger said. "Personally, I don't think the movie is (controversial) but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society."
He goes on to say why he feels the movie should be seen, and people shouldn't be frightened by it, saying "If two people are loving . . . I think we should be more concerned if two people express anger in love, than love."
I have to agree with him to a point, though his comments and the generalizations he made about Utah and West Virginia do not do much to lessen the cultural divide between Middle America and Hollywood.
From most every review I've head, Brokeback Mountain is a moving and heartfelt story about love and loss. Many men who reluctantly went to the movie with their wives and girlfriends left in tears and were very moved.
Perhaps the religious right is a little closed minded, but that is within their right. They do not have to see it. The movie theater is a privately owned company, and within its right to show whatever movie it desires. Just like the left tried to get The Passion of The Christ removed from theaters and not seen, the right is just as guilty with this movie.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
should hollywood feel snubbed? i think HUMANITY should feel snubbed. the banning of a film for those reasons, my good lord in heaven, it baffles me how in 2006 this can happen!! how CAN it happen?? how can anyone anywhere take that kinda insanity seriously, or not be offended out their very teeth that it should be so?? it could make a fella awful despairing if'n he thought about it too much.
as does the notion of films being nothing but entertainment. not a slight on yourself for a second, Tom, i just disagree greatly with that idea. certain films exist for that purpose only, an fantastic, we'd go mad if'n every corner we turned there was another damn thought to think about. sometimes you need fluff. maybe MOST times. but all cinema as merely entertainment with no political, social, cultural issues raised anywhere? that's a highly depressing notion.
2 - Tom Bux
I see your point. My only problem with music, cinema, or books that have a political agenda is that I don't want to be preached to or insulted. The majority of the media that I am talking about has a liberal slant where things like traditional family, religion, and conservative values are not only shown in a bad light but insulted. That upsets me.
Why would I go to see a standup comic to hear him do a unfunny rant about his hatred for George Bush. There is a difference between culture in cinema and cinema promoting culture.
3 - Michael Heumann
"Just like the left tried to get The Passion of The Christ removed from theaters and not seen"
I don't remember any liberal group trying to ban this movie, though many jews were angry for they thought the film was anti-semetic. "Left" and "jew" are not the same thing, as your statement (I think) implies.
4 - Steve S
comment 3 brings up the point I would make. Can you provide a source to back up your claim that the Left tried to get Passion banned?
Perhaps it is the fact that the homosexual characters in this movie are cowboys, characters who are usually portrayed as very masculine, women-loving men. How can a cowboy be gay if John Wayne was a cowboy?
The only other comment I would make is that what is bugging people so bad is that straight men seem to think gay men have no masculinity. John Wayne did not have exclusive rights to a swagger and nut scratching. There are gay men out on the range, there are gay men in pro football, there are gay men on the police force and there are gay men in the military. These men are not easily identified by a purse on their arm or a 'limp wrist'.
It is this assumption by straight men that is being shattered and THAT is what is bugging them more than same sex love.
To many of us, what it looks like to us, is a bunch of people are learning that the world isn't flat, i.e. they are learning something we've known for generations and is really common sense (and that would be that gay men can be anywhere and in any profession and that masculinity/femininity has no correlation with orientation, hence that's why it's called a stereotype).
5 - Steve S
Forgot to ask you, you don't say if you've seen the movie, or if you want to, and if not, why not.
6 - Aaman
Why would you not want to view political humor or art?
7 - Tom Bux
No, I have not seen the movie. I wait till movies come out on video before I watch them. That's why I have Netflix.
Perhaps saying that the left wanted to "ban" Passion was too strong a word, but the movie definately did not get good press.
I have to admit that though many conservatives chastize liberals for being closed minded, in this case, it is the religious right that is being ignorant and closed minded. My philosphy, is if the movie offends you, then just don't watch it!
The same goes for that show on ABC, The Book of Daniel. Many religious folks never saw it, but based on what Pat Robertson said on The 700 Club, they are writing letter. I've seen it. It isn't great, but it isn't offensive.
8 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
maybe "tried to ban" is too strong a term with regards how certain groups reacted to The Passion Of The Christ, but i think i see Tom's point, regardless. and i'm fairly to the left, let's say, fairly on over there, and yet i loved The Passion Of The Christ immensely. which is neither here nor there.
Tom, i understand where you're coming from with the "stand-up comic" and his "unfunny rant about his hatred for George Bush", but maybe that's crossing over into the territory marked "good art versus bad art"? For example, Bill Hicks, whom i believe to be the finest Stand Up comedian of all ever, spent an awful lot of time on these sortsa concerns (and, as fate would have it, happened to direct a lot of bile at George Bush, albeit snr), but the material that resulted is among the finest in all of comedy. t'is surely a complex situation. although i like it when art of whatever nature is ABOUT something, that's no gurantee that it's any good, either.
all of which kind of takes us a wee bit past Brokeback Mountain, which i might add i haven't seen yet, but will do, on account of it's Ang Lee whom i love dearly. well, The Ice Storm was a wee bit cold, fittingly enough, for me, but Hulk is surely the finest flick about a big green fella e'er been etched on celluloid.
9 - Aaman
10 - Trish
Ban, don't ban, whatever. If the theater really wants to do that, the owners have the right. Ultimately, though, it gives the film that much more publicity. So Hollywood should be thrilled.
TD
11 - reggie von woic
I'm sure the gay community is having a ball over all this, can't blame them. They know its Long, but not too long from now, that they will no longer be a minority in USA. Movies such as these have softened a couple more 'conservative haters', and every little bit counts.
Pity where i come from though (not America)--if you're seen as much as throwing someone a look, you'll get stoned to death on the spot before you can finish saying "i was just looking" in my language. Doesn't matter if you're inside a building..you will be STONED to death.