It seems that for sixty years it’s been fed to Americans that racism isn’t an issue. In Color Adjustment, they show a clip from 1951 in which a host claims that there is no room for prejudice in television. And now, in as color-blind a society as America has ever been, racism is still in place.

In a 2005 interview, Morgan Freeman, one of the most well-known Black men, claimed that the way to stop racism is to stop talking about it. Stop making it an issue. And television apparently tried to do that, by portraying worlds in which there was no racism, like Julia. Frankly, it seems like a good idea.

But maybe it’s not. Color Adjustment shows that people want representation of their lives and stories, however awful they may be. The argument goes that it will raise awareness, not promote racism. It’s another fair point.

Dear White People addresses this head-on. There are color-blind characters and those who want their culture and history recognized. To them, being Black is more than just a common ancestor and skin pigmentation. There is Black culture–which is a culture of oppressed people. Oppression lead to close communities, solidarity, and bonding, as well as resentment towards oppressors. I can’t claim to know Black culture, but that is what I’ve read.

So I’ll pose a question. Which approach is better? Do we “fake it ’till we make it,” showing truly post-racial societies, with appropriate proportions of races and as few stereotypes as possible? Or do we press the issue, showing the oppression of Blacks (and other races), and forcing people to see what is happening still?

Perhaps the question is too high-minded, but I find myself unsure of how to act, myself…

I am a little ashamed to admit that before watching this film I referred to it as “the movie about the gay cowboys.” However, in my defense, if I ever brought up the name of the film the responses I would get from friends would always be “oh that’s a movie about gay cowboys” so I had very little other information to live off of. With that being said, I am a big supporter of what the film does and will defend it any chance I get by saying “it is a film about two cowboys who may be bisexual, but even that is open-ended and left for interpretation.” Even if that answer is less appealing, it is far more truthful than saying Brokeback Mountain (2005) is simply a film about gay cowboys.

In the first few minutes of the film, a clear male gaze is established. Ang Lee takes the traditional image of a man watching a woman and attributes it to Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he peers over at Ennis (Heath Ledger). Voyeurism is also explored by having Jack look at Ennis in his side mirror without Ennis realizing it. In this scene, no words are shared. The technique and effect is genius. Later in the film, “gazes” are touched on again by having the animals constantly watching/in the presence of the cowboys with no reaction to their homosexual acts. The gaze is also seen again by the boys’ boss (Randy Quaid) watching them through binoculars and also by Ennis’ wife (Michelle Williams) when Ennis and Jack hookup for the first time after four years.

As the film progressed, I made note of any clear feminine/masculine characteristics the men had. I noted that Jack was seen several times carrying a baby sheep who was unable to travel without support. This is a motherly quality. Ennis went “shopping” for their food. When he arrives late, Jack asks “where the hell you’ve been?” Jack then attempts to clean Ennis’ face. Jack complains about “commuting four hours a day” and that he’s “pretty good with a can opener” but “can’t cook worth a damn.” This scene/several scenes couldn’t help but remind me of the conversation between a married couple. By this point, there is little obvious homosexuality, but the commentary plays on the idea that the two have/will have a relationship closer than friendship. Throughout the rest of the film, the roles of each male shift, making the two seem balanced between feminine/masculine qualities rather than having one male dominate the other.

A few minutes more into the film has Jack showing Ennis his belt buckle, or as it can be read, drawing Ennis’s attention to his crotch region. Following this, Ennis tells a story and admits it’s the most he’s spoken in years. This is an acceptance of Jack’s gesture. After the two bond, Jack orders Ennis to sleep in his tent that night and this kickstarts the first sex scene. Interestingly enough the boys the next day share a conversation about not being queer and they agree that it’s nobody’s business but theirs. At the same time, there are animal eyes on the two at all times and a sheep ends up dead. This could be seen as the killing of innocence, any opportunity the men had to live “normal” straight lives.

When speaking to Joe (the boss) about the illness of his uncle, Jack  says, “not much I can do about it up here” in which Joe replies “not too much you can do about it down there neither, not unless you can cure pneumonia” and I took this as a direct hit to Jack’s homosexuality. Joe is telling Jack that he can’t do anything about his homosexuality in the real world unless he can change the way the rest of the world sees it, or unless he can cure himself of it. The last few seconds of the film show Ennis admiring the bloody clothing that the boys wore when they fought. He then straightens an image of Brokeback Mountain. I am still unsure what this means, however, if I had to guess, I think it is Ennis’s contribution to straightening up the world and how they see homosexuality. Throughout his life, he has fought the idea of it and has been told against it, but I think this final act serves as his acceptance of it and inner-hope that someday the rest of the world will be as open and accepting as Brokeback Mountain.

I want to preface this by saying that I believe diversity in films is good and that everyone should have their share of accurate representation, I am just exploring what I think of story telling and how diversity could be handled in film.

The ability to write certain characters into film has always been difficult because of the purpose the character serves for the overall meaning of the film can be something tricky to justify if there is no legitimate reason as to their inclusion.  As a film writer, I have always stood by “write what you know” and, after attending Justin Simien’s Dear White People panel here on campus, what he said about the writing yourself into the film industry resonated with me.  He said something along the lines of “If you don’t see a representation of yourself in film, write that representation.”  This resonated with me because as a Caucasian male in an ever changing political landscape, it’s hard to decide whether I have a social obligation to complying with what the modern audience wants, a diverse cast of characters, or what I think would make for a good story, a story with characters who I believe have a purpose in the greater meaning of my story.

Now, I’m not saying that I think a good story is one that is dominated by characters much like myself, white and male, but at the same time, having an oversaturation of diversity in a story just to satisfy a quota is also not a good story.  I believe a good story comes naturally, and to write extraneous characters in, to satisfy a diversity quota or not, detracts from the meaning of the story.  I think this because then when you’re writing the story, you need to spend exposition on why that character is there and, if written/justified poorly, can make an otherwise good story feel shoddy.

How I think a good story can come naturally while also having a diverse cast of characters, referencing back to “write what you know,” is to recall experiences where you’ve been surrounded by diversity, find the inspiration to write, and then talk about the experience, or lack there of, and how that might play out, using film like an essay to explore your theory of why that experience, or again lack of experience, was meaningful in a broader sense.  A story which emanated from an experience, I think, would then reduce the misrepresentation of marginalized groups because it came from an unbiased memory and, using that memory as a reference, would very more or less better represent said group.  Yes, if the writer/director/producer had bias, that would be seen clearly in the film, but, if the story-teller meant to represent a memory accurately and unbiased, the method I’ve described could be a possible path for story-tellers to follow if they fear misrepresenting any group in a film due to error in any sense (writing, aesthetics, casting, etc.).

I know that a story with a diverse cast doesn’t strictly have to come from a memory, but if you have a story to tell and you’re writing the persona of a character you’ve never actually experienced, I think it’d be better to draw from inspiration that you know of rather than just making up an image for that character which may have repercussions later on.

While watching Brokeback Mountain I couldn’t help but see glimpses of the archetype of the old west hero within the personality of Ennis Del Mar, which led me to believe that one of the aims of Ang Lee’s film is to construct a new western narrative that differs greatly in subject matter and themes. One of the aspects of the film that led me to believe this was the way in which Ennis acts around Jack during their trips together. Ennis’ cold and emotional detachment is visible in the aftermath of their first night together in which Ennis wakes up and rides off without saying anything to Jack. This act is one that is featured in countless old west classics  in which the hero rides into town, finds himself a love interest, and then rides off into the next town with little emotion shown throughout the entire ordeal. The difference between Ennis and a loner old west hero like Clint Eastwood’s character Josey Wales is that unlike Josey Wales Ennis isn’t able to keep up the emotional detached facade that many cowboy’s have and breaks down crying in an alley way after he leaves Brokeback and realizes that he has left his true love. I think by showing this scene Ang Lee is attempting to deconstruct the stereotype that western heroes have to be macho beings who feel no pain because the simple act of showing a grown cowboy hunched over crying in an alley shows that even the macho men in cinema feel deeply and have more emotional depth than we typically give them credit for. I thought that this was a powerful cinematic choie because typically the only time we see a western hero express emotional or show vulnerability is when he is seeking revenge or is angry, but here the director uses the loss of one’s love interest to try and create a new western narrative in which the protagonist hero is a loner who, although strong and macho, feels emotional pain and prioritizes love over revenge or justice.

Right after watching a film for the first time, I typically don’t have a strong reaction to it, because I can’t really sort through the thoughts in my head and create a linear idea.  This is exactly how I felt after watching Brokeback Mountain, perhaps even  more so than usual – I just couldn’t really grasp what my own reaction was to what I had just seen on screen.  So what I did was I took to imdb.com, in my mind one of the more reliable sources for popular/critical film evaluation, and I clicked on the first review I saw that gave the movie a 100.  To paraphrase the article using its own words, it said this :

“Brokeback Mountain has been described as “a gay cowboy movie,” which is a cruel simplification. It is the story of a time and place where two men are forced to deny the only great passion either one will ever feel. Their tragedy is universal.”

We really touched on that first point in class, and lead a little bit into the second part.  But it’s really an important idea to reiterate about this film that being gay isn’t necessarily the most important theme – It’s really a lot about passion and sacrifice, and the words “their tragedy is universal” speaks volumes to this.  It might be hard to conceptualize Brokeback Mountain as a universal story, especially if your sexual identity doesn’t seem to match up with the characters.  But I gather that one thing most people in the world deal with is the loss of passion at some level, whether it be a sexual passion or a completely different form – say music, sports, etc.  There are many, many instances outside of sexual identity in which people feel trapped, false, abused or misunderstood, and I think Brokeback Mountain is one of the most heartfelt representations of this.  There will always be times when we are forced to conform to something that we don’t draw joy from, while our hearts will long for something better, fiercer, and more full of life and feeling.  Jack and Ennis happen to have a sexual attraction but it’s not the only thing that they’re missing – they’re missing a concept of free expression in their lives.

While watching Brokeback Mountain (2005) I noted the ways in which Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger’s character’s masculinity were reinforced after an act of homosexuality on screen. I know I mentioned something about the landscape in relation to their masculinity and how it was used to reinforce their masculinity. Having both men out in the mountains acting as brave warriors of nature and under the genre of the western there’s no way that this film can be depicted as non masculine.

Character interactions: For starters, when Jack Twist played by Gyllenhaal is seen as the observer to Ennis Delmar played by Ledger, he is automatically given a razor in order to toughen his image. Through this act, he “distracts” the audience thinking  anything beyond the gaze of interest he gave to Ennis-but who are we kidding, we knew he was checking him out! 

After the first time that Jack and Ennis shared an intimate moment, we see how the morning after, Ennis storms out of their tent in what seems confusion/frustration and then there is a jump cut to the bloody opening of a dead sheep. This juxtaposition was one of the greatest ones in the film because it was to make a comment on how what they shared is considered deathly and controversial. To even bring this point further one can comment on how his masculinity has been destroyed and torn apart.

Ennis’ interaction with the men on the lawn while watching fireworks with his family. I saw this as a way of Ennis’ defending his masculinity because he fought against very stereotypical men in order to protect his daughters. This action commented on how masculinity does not necessarily dictate if he is a good father or good male role model for his daughters.

Camera Angles/Techniques: This is also seen in the use of shallow depth of field when Jack is bathing in the background of Ennis. This decision emphasized how homosexuality isn’t something that we expect to see in western films, let alone from two very “masculine men.” While watching, I was expecting him to look over at him, but he didn’t. Not having Ennis look over at Jack shows how he isn’t willing to return the gaze that Jack checked him out with towards the beginning of the film, but also how he has to uphold his masculinity by not checking out other men.

Music: I thought it was an interesting romantic choice of music when the men were working out in the fields with the sheep and the horses. This juxtaposition between their very “masculine roles” and romantic music describes perfectly their situation as homosexual males in a western setting.

Dialogue: Did anyone pick up on the nemonia talk? Was that referring to homosexuality?

Overall, there are many things that I picked up in addition to the things I have discussed in this post and was wondering if anyone had the same observations or different ones. I loved this film because it explored a lot of the flaws with masculinity, homosexuality and fatherhood.

I’m a white middle class male raised in a conservative household. I’ve said and done things inadvertently which have been rude, insensitive, or even downright racist. I’ve never intended them as such, but they’ve happened. In regards to this week’s discussion topic, I’m really rather nervous to discuss it. This whole subject is full of ways to get tangled up and say the wrong thing. And what right do I have to pretend to know the struggles of an oppressed group? No matter how much I research, read, watch, listen, I’m never going to understand a life of denied opportunities and dual consciousness. If I ever try, I feel as though I’m coming off as again rude, or holier-than-thou, or white-hero-of-the-oppressed. I can try to sympathize, but I can never empathize, not really. To pretend to, in my opinion, is to delude myself.

I don’t intend to speak for anyone else with this. If you think you can understand better than I can, wonderful, and look forward to hearing your thoughts. These are simply my own thoughts and apprehensions after years of inadvertently supporting the racist structure of this country and struggling to work my way out of that framework.

Something interesting about Brokeback Mountain is the aspect of the protagonists as fathers. Ennis is a proud father and obviously takes it importantly. In the fireworks scene, he gets up and fights the punks because they’re being vulgar in front of his daughters. When, after the divorce, Jack comes visit, Ennis turns him away in favor of spending time with his daughters. And at the end of the film, this man, whose job was important enough throughout the film to make him abandon his wife in the past, willingly risks his job to attend his daughter’s wedding. This isn’t because he’s excited to see her married, but only because it will make her happy.

This contrasts with some of his scenes with his children before the divorce. He drops his kids with his wife when he gets called in to work. He also seems really annoyed when they’re very young and willing to pass off responsibility of them. As his relationship with Jack developed, and as he aged and matured, Ennis realized how important being a good father is to him and his children. This is likely incentivised by his own father’s rough treatment of him, showing him the lynched homosexual when Ennis was a child. It is a masculine thing to aspire to be a better father than your own, and Ennis’ masculinity is important to him.

Jack, on the other hand, has very little time on screen with his son. His main fatherly moment is the Thanksgiving scene in which he tells his son to listen to his mother. This seems more out of respect for his wife and whatever little pride he has as a homeowner than any great aspirations to be a good father. This goes along with a point I made in class about Jack being the more feminine of the pair.

In Brokeback Mountain, the mise-en-scene, specifically the framing and location of two specific shots, reveals the societal view of the relationship between Jack and Ennis.

The first person to discover the homosexual relationship between Ennis and Jack was their boss, Joe Aguirre. He does so through an eyeglass, and a shot of the film gives us this perspective. This is representative of the judgmental view of society on homosexual relationships at the time, as Jack and Ennis are almost literally put under a microscope. In addition, Aguirre is looking down on them from his higher point in the mountain.

In a very similar manner, Ennis’s wife is physically distanced from Jack and Ennis when she sees them kissing by a glass door. She too observes from a significantly higher vantage point, when combined with the screen door, putting the two men under a judgmental lens.

Both Delmar and Twist had a scene where they asserted their masculinity, and both scenes had shared similarities between them. For Delmar, this scene came when two men were using disrespectful language in front of his daughters at a Fourth of July picnic. Delmar started a physical fight with the two men, with fireworks going off in the background.

In the other scene, Twist yells at his father-in-law who tries repeatedly to turn on football during Thanksgiving dinner. His justification for why his son must not watch is that his mother spent many hours making the meal and that it would be disrespectful to her to watch the game.

In both instances, Delmar and Twist assert their masculinity, but in the context of defending women important to them–Delmar’s daughters and Twist’s wife.