Dec 29, 2005 11:45
When I came home for vacation, I thought I'd take a look at Brokeback Mountain and see if all the critical acclaim/hype was justified. So I checked the newspaper and the web, and discovered that it's only playing at two theaters -- both of them far from where I live. I figured the Christian right had had its way, and was intimidating theater owners to keep them from showing it.
By sheer dumb luck I checked the movie listings again yesterday, and I couldn't believe what I saw. 25 theaters in the area were showing Brokeback Mountain! Including most of the local shopping malls that I can get to very easily.
Then came another big shocker: it turns out that Brokeback Mountain was by far the most profitable movie of the holiday season on a per-screen basis. It handily beat "King Kong" and "Chronicles of Narnia" in earnings. Starting tomorrow, "Brokeback" will expand from 217 to 269 screens nationwide. In an otherwise down season for Hollywood, this movie has clearly found an audience.
I love this, for two reasons. First, it certainly appears the film is finding a large audience that isn't deterred by the movie's homosexual content. Second, most people don't seem to be paying much attention to the religious right's attempts to pan the film. (One so-called Christian reviewer characterized it as "twisted, laughable, frustrating and boring neo-Marxist homosexual propaganda.") Apparently there are lots of movie-goers who prefer to make up their own minds.
It sure looks like God is on the side of Ang Lee in this battle. I take this as a sign from heaven that I need to see this movie.