Re: Brokeback Mountain


<hobnoblin@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1136867545.881487.19860@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Matt Deres wrote:
>> "Jeremy Henderson" <hellpop@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
>> message news:0ar3s192g8ii6tvjtaln31e92g8r0gavie@xxxxxxxxxx
>> > On Sun, 08 Jan 2006 10:24:47 -0800, ~consul
>> > <consul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >
>> >>kenneth_m_lin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>> >>> The famed director Ang Lee must have received a free copy of the
>> >>> Rawhide
>> >>> Kid
>> >>> mini-series while directing The Hulk because he just came out with a
>> >>> movie
>> >>> about two gay cowboys. (Actually they herd sheeps.)
>> >>
>> >>He should have gotten instead the "Blaze of Glory". Much better bookend
>> >>of
>> >>everyone in those times.
>> >
>> > I can not believe how many people are taking this troll seriously.
>>
>> I can't believe the venom spewed at the so-called troll's initial post.
>> The
>> stereotypical cowboy and the stereotypical gay guy seem incompatible so
>> it's
>> worth an attempt at humour when they are linked (as in Brokeback and
>> Rawhide). I don' recall anything in the initial post that was homophobic
>> or
>> even anti-cowboy; it just wasn't funny. I probably would've tried tying
>> it
>> in somehow with Village People or something, but now the opportunity is
>> lost. :-/
>>
>>
>> Matt
>
> Matt, there isn't anything about the initial post that explains that
> it's all a joke. It comes off as a bunch of cheap shots at gay people,
> including the use of the "time honored" approach of reducing gay
> people to a sex act for mean-spirited chuckles. I've encountered the
> phrase "Bareback Mounting" all over the internet, and this is the first
> time it apparently wasn't meant to be hurtful.

I understand. And since you're gay, I can see why you'd be more sensitive
to the issue in general or even that post in particular. Your point about
reducing gay people to a sex act is well made, but that's what jokes do -
reduce things to the lowest common denominator. If the joke was aimed at a
subgroup I belonged to, I'd try to keep in mind that it didn't imply
anything about my group being inferior, or unnatural, or gross, or wrong -
it just made a crude reference to something associated with my group. Gay
guys like having sex with other gay guys? How does the defendent plead?

Besides which, Brokeback Mountain was really a bit of an unfortunate name
considering the subject matter - the joke title almost writes itself. In
the spirit of Star Whores, Weapons of Ass Destruction, and Bring'um Young,
I'm sure there'll be a porno or two that makes use of Bareback Mounting.

I've noticed that people often forget that almost any joke worth repeating
is aimed at someone, when it happens to be aimed at them. Here in southern
Ontario, I could make a joke about any serial killer I wanted... except for
the ones from around here. It wouldn't matter how funny the joke was, it
would hit too close to home for most. By the same token, people often
over-appreciate humour that aligns well with their own views. I recall
watching a stand-up comedy show with my dad, who's a huge WW2 history buff.
This Japanese girl gets up and says her name (I forget what it was, but it
was Japanese), then goes on to explain that her blah-blah-first name means
"Pearl" and her blah-blah-last-name means "Harbour". Well, my dad is just
killing himself laughing at it while I'm sitting there blankly. After he
finally got control of himself, he actually took the time to explain to me
what Pearl Harbour was - as if I didn't already know and that was the source
of my not laughing! Never occured to him that it just wasn't all that
funny.


Matt








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