Hmm, I see what you're saying about BBM but you can't exactly divorce the characters from the time and setting in which the story takes place in favour of the romance. Annie Proulx's story is set in a time and place where it absoultely was not okay for grown men to express deeply felt emotions in an uninhibited way. I mean, even nowadays it's not exactly okay to do that, and it's hard to pull off the mask society forces on people even in private.
So I'm not sure what exactly you're criticising. I get that it wasn't the movie you wanted, but there are lots of other gay-focussed films; the one I can think of right off the top of my head that sort of fits the bill is the Canadian low-budget Sugar (which is a lesser cousin of My Own Private Idaho, come to think of it). I suppose what I'm saying is that if you're going in to see a film about gay cowboys, you gotta be prepared for the cowboys, not just the gay, you know?
Though Heath spent the movie being a straight man pretending to be a gay man, that much is true; there was just zero chemistry on his side, all of it was sustained by poor Jake, who pleasantly surprised me. I wasn't a fan of the BBM film at all, though not for the same reasons you weren't.
Who do you see? The Harry-in-my-head is closest to this (minus the tan, plus glasses... that actually used to be my Blaise but we all know that Blaise looks like this). The Draco-in-my-head is closest to this only with more blond. But neither of those are perfect depictions of what I see, and the images shift constantly. The only thing that I'm sure of when I write is what their voices sound like. :>
No, I agree that the story is set in a time when it was not the done thing for men to be expressing their feelings in an uninhibited way - however, I think my point may have been that if it was a heterosexual love story, the man would have been more emotional. In some of the best love stories of the 60's or 70's, the men in them were men, and yet had a healthy emotional range and not that of a teaspoon. Take Love Story, or Sunshine...pretty sappy romantic and angsty movies, but heavy on the love angle which is what this was supposed to be, right? A sweeping grand tale of love. A narrative that we're all familiar with - only the two lovers are male. For a mainstream movie to cop out of that was, to me, disappointing. To neglect to use the opportunity to educate...oh ok thats a whole other kettle of fish and not one I should get into. It just felt wasted to me. To have the opportunity to introduce a part of society and love into a community that needs to see how 'normal' it is, and not take it was deflating. No, it's not their responsibility to educate, I know, and that's why I won't get into that argument, lol. There are other movies around about gay couples, but the distribution and the exposure is different. Most of those movies are not available to much of the community, at least where I live, anyway.
And, yes, I was pleasantly surprised by Jake as well. He carried that movie for what the movie was worth and it did have good moments in it that I liked. So, tell me why you didn't like it.
Now, I am off to take a look at your Harry and Blaise and Draco. heee!
That's a very good point, actually -- that in a hetero romance, the man is quite likely to behave romantically. Though I've never seen Love Story or Sunshine. I think with BBM, Ang Lee was just trying to follow the short story on which the movie is based, where the emotions were actively suppressed by both characters (but you got an idea of them being there because they were described through words). I didn't like it mostly because it didn't follow the short story to the letter and as a result ended up feeling disjointed (and despite the trying, Lee obvs. failed). That, and I hated Heath's performance a lot more than I let on above. I mean, Keanu Reeves would've done a better job than that.
That's the difference between the written word and the film genre. And perhaps why a lot of women prefer written erotica than visual porn. Perhaps a woman writing the screenplay from the book might have done a more thorough job of it.
Heath Ledger was flat and uninteresting, even getting past the way he spoke and the way he walked like he had something long and hard shoved up his arse - hah -
So I'm not sure what exactly you're criticising. I get that it wasn't the movie you wanted, but there are lots of other gay-focussed films; the one I can think of right off the top of my head that sort of fits the bill is the Canadian low-budget Sugar (which is a lesser cousin of My Own Private Idaho, come to think of it). I suppose what I'm saying is that if you're going in to see a film about gay cowboys, you gotta be prepared for the cowboys, not just the gay, you know?
Though Heath spent the movie being a straight man pretending to be a gay man, that much is true; there was just zero chemistry on his side, all of it was sustained by poor Jake, who pleasantly surprised me. I wasn't a fan of the BBM film at all, though not for the same reasons you weren't.
Who do you see?
The Harry-in-my-head is closest to this (minus the tan, plus glasses... that actually used to be my Blaise but we all know that Blaise looks like this). The Draco-in-my-head is closest to this only with more blond. But neither of those are perfect depictions of what I see, and the images shift constantly. The only thing that I'm sure of when I write is what their voices sound like. :>
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And, yes, I was pleasantly surprised by Jake as well. He carried that movie for what the movie was worth and it did have good moments in it that I liked. So, tell me why you didn't like it.
Now, I am off to take a look at your Harry and Blaise and Draco. heee!
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Heath Ledger was flat and uninteresting, even getting past the way he spoke and the way he walked like he had something long and hard shoved up his arse - hah -
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