Homophobia? Hogwash!

Who isn’t bummed that Brokeback didn’t mosey away with the Best Picture Oscar? But if fingers must be pointed, blame the loss on gays for not standing up to endless parodies and jokes about the film

By Karel

An Advocate.com exclusive posted March 9, 2006

“And the Oscar for Best Picture goes to Crash…”

Even before Jack Nicholson handed the naked gold statue to the movie’s producers, cries of homophobia echoed from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. What? No Brokeback Mountain? How could this be? There is no doubt that Brokeback was the favorite to win, and one would think a film that had just won for Best Score, Best Adapted Screenplay (go, Diana and Larry!), and Best Director would, in fact, be the Best Picture. Well, not according to Oscar.

Obvious homophobia again, right? The Academy just couldn’t stomach awarding an unashamed love story with gay sex, right? Those damn cultural elitists caved to the pressure of Middle America and the religious right and played it safe by awarding a movie about racism in the LAPD, right?

Say it with me: “Poppycock!”

That’s too easy an answer and one to which we all too often defer when things like this happen. So what happened?

First, Brokeback burnout, and for that we are all to blame. In fact, gays are probably more to blame for Brokeback not winning than almost any other group (if there is one to blame). Why? Because we allowed it to become a national joke. Oh, sure, the parodies are funny. Oh, yeah, the jokes, including Billy Crystal and Chris Rock at the beginning of the Oscar show, got laughs. But at what expense? Simple—ours.

Brokeback Mountain is a tragic story with a tragic ending. I have yet to hear anyone explain to me what is funny about two people who can never really admit they’re in love, a society that wouldn’t accept them if they did, and the possibility that one of them dies by fag bashing (oops, was that a spoiler?). It seemed like a laugh riot on paper, right?

But most gays and lesbians have allowed Brokeback parodies to flourish. Where was GLAAD when all the jokes were being made and all the clips were being produced? Oh, no, it’s cool to laugh at gay people. Look how funny they are. And the thought of gay love? Hysterical! Let’s make it a joke. In fact, in 2006, “Brokeback” became the “Hollywood Word of the Year” as reported by the nonprofit Global Language Monitor group. Hey, it’s good for the box office, right?

The problem is that Academy members may not have wanted to vote for a joke, and unfortunately that’s what the media, comics, and Hollywood have done—turned Brokeback into a giant joke, a comedy skit. It’s a shame, because Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry’s script is anything but funny and Heath Ledger’s and Jake Gyllenhaal’s performances are worthy of praise more than parody.

And then there’s Brokeback fatigue. By the time Academy members got around to voting, they were probably tired of hearing about the movie, especially in the new, lighthearted way it’s been presented. There was no balancing voice from any gay group or organization to refocus them or the nation on how important and serious the discussions about this movie should be.

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Karel (Charles Karel Bouley II) is a talk-show host for KGO AM 810 in San Francisco and is heard Saturday and Sunday from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. or online at kgo.com. He is a columnist for Advocate.com and In Magazine Los Angeles, and his book of essays, You Can’t Say That, is published by Alyson Books. He maintains a blog, podcasts, and message boards at karelchannel.com and can be reached at showcomments@karelchannel.com.

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