Another glass ceiling

I saw Brokeback Mountain tonight with some friends. For all the parts that made it painfully obvious that Ang Lee was prostrating himself for Oscar season, the movie is pretty genuine. The beginning is a bit choppy, especially to the lead-up of their first tryst, but once this hurdle is overcome, the film has a realistic and genuine emotional quality to it. I realize I'm using a bunch of buzzwords to describe something that goes beyond such things, but hey, that's how I roll. I couldn't help but think of people from North Platte as I watched it though, strangely. It reminded me a lot of farm kids I went to school with, not with the gay thing, necessarily, but that kind of rural mentality.

As I watched it, I began to hope that it becomes a real breakthrough in cinema. Gay characters in movies and television are treated as accesories, hairdressers, interior designers. As of late, it's gotten better - Happy Endings, which I rented recently, seemed to portray realistic relationships instead of the usual stereotypes. They need to break the Will and Grace's Jack mode and branch out as far as how they utilize gay characters, because right now, in many movies, they seem to be a mere backdrop or prop instead of a genuine character. Maybe part of it is that Hollywood just doesn't know what to do at this point. But not every gay character needs to be Corky from Waiting for Guffman.

I just sincerely hope this sparks screen writers to add real depth to all of their characters, regardless of orientation, because we, as a cinematic culture, are far too stupid. As I exited the movie and saw Clay in line for it, the guys behind us tried to guffaw and say they should warn people not to see it. And it's this mentality that will always keep movies stupid. People will continuously work towards being as positively stupified by their movies as they can be, and refuse to be made uncomfortable, to be forced to think, to be engaged in something wholly. Instead, we'll just get another Sweet Home Alabama nugget of spoon fed celluloid turdery.