Brokeback Mountain is riding to Oscar glory at breakneck speed. Last week, it picked up the top award from the Producers Guild of America. Of the 17 winners of that prize, 12 have gone on to win the best-picture Oscar. The film’s distributors have been understandably anxious how it would play in conservative “red states”. But it has become such a phenomenon (last week, President Bush was asked if he’d seen it; he hasn’t) that it’s pulling big crowds even in states such as Mormon-dominated Utah. It’s mainly women going to see it, apparently swooning over good-looking cowboys who can actually express their emotions, albeit to each other.
Conservatives have been on the attack. “It’s a brilliant propaganda film,” wrote one, “reportedly causing viewers to change the way they feel about homosexual relationships and same-sex marriage.
And how do the movie-makers pull off such a dazzling feat? Simple ... by raping the Marlboro Man, that revered American symbol of rugged individualism and masculinity.”
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