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Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Poorly disguised agenda 

A while ago I went back-and-forth with some conservative who was saying Brokeback Mountain was another example of liberal Hollywood failing to learn that they can't alienate a substantial part of the population and expect to be successful. Then, just now, FOX News did an interview on this very subject, with the caption, "Will gay cowboy movie 'Play in Podunk?'"

Let me answer that for them: No, it won't -- and it's an irrelevancy that they're using to mask their true "Get those gays out of my theaters" feelings.

The "alienation" argument is one of the more inane conservative talking points, in that it's both disingenuous and completely inaccurate. The fact is, in today's huge, fragmented, niche-based entertainment market, tons of movies and TV shows succeed on the backs of either Red-State-minded or Blue-State-minded people. Or different classes, age groups, or races. Sure, there's crossover. But it sure isn't news when something's popular in New York and not in Mississippi, or among 14-year-olds and not 40-year-olds. NASCAR alienates an immense portion of the population, yet it's still hugely popular. Think southerners and westerners dug Jerry Seinfeld? Think the average Manhattanite raced home to watch Home Improvement or the Jeff Foxworthy show? Jerry Springer? And as for the racial divide: well, I'm sure you've seen articles like this one about how different the TV viewing habits are in white and black households.

So, FOX, why not have the cajones to say what you really want to say: "Liberals are trying to make your children gay."

Another talking point I've seen is that the critics are to blame. Because, you see, they're praising the movie solely because of its subject matter. Funny, because these same biased critics must not have gotten the memo to praise Oliver Stone's Alexander, which endured quite the onslaught from right-wing talk radio and the internet -- and got the shit panned out of it by critics. Maybe that's because the film sucked, and Brokeback doesn't. I haven't seen either, so I don't know. Just a wild theory.

None of this is to say that there's something wrong with people not wanting to see the film. I don't particularly want to see it. But then, I don't see a lot of movies for a lot of reasons. There's nothing wrong with feeling a little uncomfortable, and making a quiet, personal choice that it is not your cup of tea. You are an asshole, however, if you resent the fact that such a movie has been made. And there's something particularly pathetic about taking the above approaches to criticizing it, instead of coming out (no pun intended) and saying what you really want to say.

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