fond of y-o-u

We finally got around to watching Brokeback Mountain. It was great. (And hey, apparently it's banned in China and Malaysia. Huh.) When it came out, I heard all the gay cowboy jokes and the discussion of the political importance of such a movie, which I think overshadowed the fact that it is beautifully written, shot, and acted.

As an instructor of college-level English, I made the argument many times that literature - the stories a culture tells itself, in print or film or advertising, even - is powerful and important. Even though it feels anymore like it isn't; even though "content" like TV shows and "product" like movies are just ways to rake in money, these stories do have an impact on the subjects we think about and the opinions we develop of them.

And this movie is an example of what great literature can do, can make people feel and understand. It gets at things that can be argued intellectually (or not so intellectually) in debates and bumper stickers, but that exist on another level of empathy and emotion that can be better touched through dramatization.

It's really a shame that "I wish I could quit you" became such a punchline, when it's actually the emotional core of the movie.

If you haven't seen it, do.