Oscars swings that way

Here's a sweet article - 'Gay cowboys flirt with Oscar' (that is a great headline, I have to say). Talk about controversial; all the hype that's surrounded this film. It's one thing to be filming a sex scene between two women in it (Muholland Drive and Monster, anyone?) but its another to be filming sex scenes between to young male actors. Why? Because we're not exposed to gay issues and explicit in-your-face gay relations like this (or so I've been reading up on in regards to this film 'Brokeback Mountain'. I think this is a breakthrough in film and a right and proper commentary on the issues surrounding gay sexualities.

This article is only informative in that Oscar talk for the film has heightened, but there is one statement, that I really like - '[Heath] Ledger and co-star Jake Gyllenhaal are two of Hollywood's hottest leading men, but they risk alienating fans and sending their stars plummeting if, after watching the pair have sex on screen, audiences cannot see them any other way than gay.' My question is why is this so? Simple, and I'll say it again - people are simply just not accustomed to being exposed to this sort of gay issue. Those who have are most likely closet-viewers/commentators. I'm not saying that we shouldn't, definitely not. I'm all for freedom of expression. The thing is that in pornographic terms, there are nowhere near as many male-male sex romps as there are female-female sex romps and this is purely because of the dominating male audience in the commercial porn industry and the stigma attached with gay sex. Sure we have the Mardi-Gras but is that an expression of gay culture or just an excuse to don as much make-up and costume as possible to parade down Oxford Street? The point is that, we know its out there, we just don't talk about it.

This film is a milestone and the fact that its based in the cowboy-yeehaww Western era is bound to make a statement. And the fact that these two actors are notoriously linked in hetereosexual relationships is bound to have fans and their partners alike question their tendencies. But that's just me speculating. Personally, I admire them for pushing themselves.

I hope this thing posts. iMacs are cruddy.