First off, it’s not a "gay cowboy movie"…

In “Brokeback Mountain,” the lead characters are tending sheep, not cows. Although they come from the cowboy culture and I doubt they’d call themselves “shepherds.”

Heath Ledger is remarkable in this movie, which takes place in some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen on screen.

For me, Ang Lee’s film was far more engaging than “Philadelphia,” the last prestigious theatrical motion picture to be so thoroughly focused on gay men and the obstacles they face.

The film seems a bit long, but it is extremely effective and compelling. Though you never hear the word “gay,” and no one speaks about anybody’s “rights,” watching the movie made me feel that I understand the term “homophobia” a bit better.

I used to think of “homophobia” as an artificial word. I thought, let’s just call it “hatred,” or “hating gays,” and get on to the next piece of business. And I thought of homosexuality the way I think of mushrooms. I can’t stand the taste of mushrooms. If they’re on a pizza, I won’t even peel off the mushrooms—that taste bleeds through. But, I’m not upset that millions of other people enjoy mushrooms. And I’m certainly not afraid of mushrooms—there are no nightmares where I’m stalked by toadstools.

Similarly, I’m not afraid that I’ll slip and fall and be gay. Or a dentist, or an accordion player. Your instincts are your instincts.

It’s no news that a lot of people—a lot of hetero men, especially—feel that it’s important to view homosexuality as an exotic, bizarre behavior, more like having sewage on your pizza, not just a different instinct, but a sick, irrational behavior.

From this movie, I’ve come to feel that people feel that way specifically because it isn’t an exotic, sick irrational thing. In this film, it feels as though a couple of guys found themselves wanting to do this together. Not a couple of transvestite space travelers. Just a couple of guys, and this is what felt right to them. That’s what this movie does perfectly—give you a sense of the “regularness” it can be for some people.

And, to far too many hetero folks, this exact feeling—that it’s just what some guys do, and those guys aren’t aliens or sick or irrational—is terrifying to them, because it means that anyone could be gay.

Even people with good intentions, and I’d like to think I’m such a person, will relate that someone has been “accused” or “suspected” of being gay. Sheesh. I’ve never been “accused” or “suspected” of having a girlfriend; people just think I have a relationship with a woman, or gossip that I am, and if they’re a friend of mine, they’ll know so.

But if you’re gay, there’s this “whisper” hetero language that suggests “we all know about those bank jobs you and the gang pulled off in Philly, and watch yourself or we’ll tip off the cops.”
If “Brokeback Mountain” suggested these ideas to me, I’m sure it was worth seeing, beyond entertainment.