Bitch, Ph.D. lends considerable insight into Brokeback Mountain and Westerns in general. An excerpt:
Brokeback, like every other Western out there, is about the suppression of male emotion for the greater social need. Will Kane just got married, but no mind: he has to take care of the bad guy, all by himself, because he is the hero, and he understands that his personal emotional needs are less important than the Greater Good.
Interesting piece–thanks for the tip.
Of course, Ang Lee’s films are (often, maybe usually) about suppressing emotion (male or female) for the greater social need–Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the ultimate, but you see it in Sense and Sensibility (Eleanor Dashwood is so repressed, so responsible), Eat Drink Man Woman, maybe even The Hulk for all I know. It’s kind of his theme. So it makes sense that he would be incredibly perceptive about the nature of Westerns.
You’re very right about Ang Lee. Brokeback was so good that I forgive Lee for The Hulk, but I wouldn’t go so far as to find meaning in it. 🙂
I’ve never seen more than about 15 minutes of Hulk, but it didn’t make me want to watch the rest. I’m a big fan of just about everything else of his I’ve seen, though. In fact, this reminds me I need to put Ride With the Devil on my Netflix list.