As the issue of homosexuality in the context of the Western has never been so openly expressed as in "Brokeback Mountain", it seems not surprising that the movie on the other hand also evoked highly critical and often homophobic voices. Such responses included for instance David Kupelian, a conservative journalist, calling Brokeback Mountain “The Rape of the Marlboro Man”. Statements like this purport that the film struck America right at the heart and put highly praised and sacred American values into question. It also proves that the genre of the Western contains archetypical and conservative constructions of gender and sexual expression.
As the documentary film "The Celluloid Closet" (1995) conveys, the subject matter of homosexuality indeed has a relatively long tradition in Hollywood cinema, but mostly could not manage to depict gays in an equal and appropriate way. Often the movie’s gay characters were portrayed as either exaggerated versions of what heterosexuals imagined as ‘gay’, as comic characters like ‘the gay best friend’ or the seductive villain, that gets sanctioned in the end.Gayness combined with classical Western motifs is groundbreaking, because it on the one hand rises mainstream Hollywood cinema on a new level, but on the other hand touches the audience by humanizing gay love for the very first time in that manner. "Brokeback Mountain" goes without categorizations and stereotypes, it rather sets the focus on true human emotions: the story of two young men, who unexpectedly fall in love with each other in Wyoming’s wilderness and in the end ultimately fail.
Beyond the aspects of heteronormativity and in connection with it homophobia, the film reshapes or at least challenges imaginings of American national identity. In this paper I want to outline ideological concepts which are closely connected to the imagination of the American West and the impact they have on America’s self-understanding. Furthermore my essay will focus on the film's cinematographic language to portray Western landscapes, in what way the movie can be connected with classical conventions of the Western genre, to what extent it depicts iconic images like the cowboy and, on the other hand, how gender identities are constructed out of it. The focus of my argumentation is thereby to illustrate that Brokeback Mountain critically exposes questions of American identity as such by revealing inherent ambiguities in the conceptualization of the American West.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The American West
2.1 Myth and Self-Identification
2.2 The West(ern) and its Cultural Significance
2.3 Gay Cowboys: Homosexuality and the Western
3. Brokeback Mountain: Establishing the West
3.1 The Wilderness-Civilization Dichotomy
3.1.1 The Nature of Desire: Brokeback Mountain
3.1.2 Urban Spaces: Painful Domestication
4. Gender Constructions and Homosexuality
4.1 The Cowboy Image as a Sacred Icon and Embodiment of Masculinity
4.2 The Legitimization of Violence: The Regeneration of Male Dominance
5. Brokeback Mountain and Homophobia: “You know, I ain’t queer”
6. Conclusion
Objectives and Core Topics
This academic paper aims to analyze how the film adaptation of "Brokeback Mountain" challenges traditional American national identity and Western genre conventions by integrating themes of queerness and homosexual desire. The study examines the intersection of landscape, masculinity, and heteronormativity within the cultural framework of the American West.
- The role of the American West as a cultural myth and its impact on national self-understanding.
- The use of cinematographic language to establish a dichotomy between wilderness and civilization.
- Deconstruction of the traditional "cowboy" icon and the performance of hyper-masculinity.
- The relationship between homophobia, violence, and the internal conflicts of the protagonists.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.1 The Nature of Desire: Brokeback Mountain
Wyoming’s wilderness and in particular Brokeback Mountain functions as a symbol for Jack’s and Ennis’s relationship. It is the place where they are able to act out their true emotions and sexual desires unrestrictedly. Apart from their social life as fathers and husbands, Brokeback Mountain offers them an escape from what society expects them to be – it is their paradise, their space of freedom where they are no longer closeted. On a deeper level Brokeback Mountain merges the outside with the inside. As civilization constitutes a space where both of them are not at home, America’s homeland becomes their paradise and hence their second ‘natural’ home: it is the landscape of their heart.
Ang Lee establishes the wilderness of Brokeback Mountain by investing in mise-en-scène. The nature of Brokeback Mountain is staged through very long shots of the landscape and in relation to that comparatively few dialogues. Through a chromatic warm tone and a soft score the depicted scenes gain a peaceful and idyllic tone. The audience watches the protagonists riding down grassy hills hurrying forward a herd of sheep. The breathtaking outdoor scenery automatically evokes romantic feelings as the vast environment reflects nature’s implicit beauty. This cinematographic language epitomizes the protagonist’s inner emotional condition: being in the wilderness for them literally means to be ‘natural’ - it is their paradise, their garden Eden.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the film as a groundbreaking work that humanizes gay love while challenging the conservative values of the Western genre.
2. The American West: Explores the historical and cultural myths of the American frontier and how they have shaped national identity and political discourse.
3. Brokeback Mountain: Establishing the West: Analyzes the spatial contrast between the liberating wilderness and the restrictive, domestic urban environments in the film.
4. Gender Constructions and Homosexuality: Discusses how the protagonists perform traditional masculinity to survive in a patriarchal society while struggling with their repressed identities.
5. Brokeback Mountain and Homophobia: “You know, I ain’t queer”: Investigates the themes of denial, violence, and the pervasive fear of being outed within the Wyoming context.
6. Conclusion: Summarizes the tragic nature of the love story as a reflection of the inherent contradictions within the American Western myth.
Keywords
Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee, American West, Queer Cinema, Homosexuality, Western Genre, Masculinity, Heteronormativity, Wilderness, Frontier, Cowboy, Gender Identity, Homophobia, Domesticity, Cultural Myth
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this academic paper?
This paper examines how the film "Brokeback Mountain" challenges and redefines traditional tropes of the American Western by placing homosexual love at the center of a genre historically defined by rigid heteronormativity.
What are the primary themes analyzed in the text?
The core themes include the myth of the American frontier, the dichotomy between nature and civilization, the construction of masculinity, the performance of gender, and the pervasive impact of homophobia in society.
What is the main research question of the work?
The work seeks to determine how "Brokeback Mountain" utilizes cinematographic language and classical Western icons to reveal inherent ambiguities in the American national identity.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author employs film studies and cultural analysis, drawing upon theoretical frameworks regarding the Western genre, place theory, and queer identity to interpret the narrative and visual language of the film.
What topics are discussed in the main body?
The main body covers the cultural history of the West, the spatial tension between wilderness and domestic life, the symbolic significance of the cowboy figure, and how violence acts as a defense mechanism against homosexual realization.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
The work is characterized by terms such as Western genre, queer cinema, heteronormativity, frontier, masculinity, and identity performance.
How does the film use the concept of 'space' to drive the narrative?
The paper argues that the film uses spaces to represent internal states: the wilderness represents a liberating, natural space for the protagonists' true selves, while urban, domestic settings represent the repressive, claustrophobic structures of traditional society.
What role does the 'cowboy' icon play in the analysis?
The cowboy is analyzed as a sacred, mythical figure defined by ruggedness and heterosexual stoicism. The paper explores how the film's protagonists struggle to embody this ideal while secretly subverting it through their relationship.
Why does the author focus on the 'Wilderness-Civilization' dichotomy?
This dichotomy is essential because it mirrors the internal conflict of the characters, who are caught between their desire for freedom in the wilderness and their need to comply with the restrictive laws of the community.
- Quote paper
- Bachelor of Arts Christina Keppeler (Author), 2013, The Revision of the Western Genre in "Brokeback Mountain", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/340830
