Posted on 02/27/2006 2:46:01 PM PST by prman
Considering the current hoo-hah over the movie "Brokeback Mountain" and whether it will win any Academy Awards brings into focus what the appeal of this movie might be for straights – heterosexual persons, that is.
While I am aware that there is a larger context for this movie in the social arena – a serious dramatic treatment of homosexual love – and that gay advocacy groups consider this another victory in their agenda to break barriers and normalize homosexuality, my personal reaction is to question why I would want to see a movie on this theme.
Because of the strength of the gay lobby and the widespread, stifling political correctness that inhibits frank public discussion about homosexual lifestyles, people who happen to disagree with the prospect of gay marriage, civil unions, employer- or taxpayer-sponsored health insurance for gay partners, or even gay pride marches generally do not receive any attention in the media. As a result, they keep their thoughts to themselves.
Now that Hollywood movies and television shows are officially "gay-friendly," and certain corporations bruit about how they are targeting the gay market in their advertising, and even metropolitan newspapers carry obligatory op-ed columns by gay and lesbian writers, contrary views are relegated to the mouths of fundamentalist Bible-thumpers who are routinely dismissed by the mainstream media.
Any criticism of gayness, reasonable or not, is judged as homophobic, a word that is as ridiculously meaningless (fear of man?) as it is knee-jerk. Many people, usually guilt-ridden liberals, fear being called this, since they equate it with the same force as being called a racist.
My speculation is that straights, even in their silence on the issue, still regard homosexuality as wrong, deviant and against nature. And all religions not revisionist consider it sinful. Further, they believe that widespread acceptance of homosexual behavior is a bad thing.
I am not saying homosexuals qua homosexuals are bad, only the practice of having sex with another of the same sex. Straights most likely also believe that gay practices should be private, not public, matters. Which is why the idea of gay days at Disney World, bathhouses and flamboyant gay pride marches in San Francisco is so repellent.
Several gay columnists have commended "Brokeback Mountain" because it wrestles with the issues that confront two men who love each other, yet find themselves overwhelmed by a straight society that generally disapproves. The writers identify with the emotional turmoil of the characters because, we must assume, they have gone through this themselves.
But that gets to the heart of the question. As a hetero, how can I identify with this situation? More importantly, why would I want to? I care no more about the love life of homosexuals than I do about the mating habits of aardvarks or why female praying mantises bite the heads off their male suitors. While these may be interesting as points of study, they have no relevance to my life.
As a straight guy, I want to be able to identify with characters who have a normal libido and show passion toward the opposite, not the same, sex. Becoming emotionally wound up with two male lovers just isn't in the cards, and I venture to say that most straight people feel the same way. And this attitude transcends politics, rights or social controversies. It's hard-wired into our beings.
In college, when I was younger, thinner and boyish-looking, gays from the music school – organists, violinists, pianists – were always trying to convert me to accept or even join their lifestyles. They assumed that a young "chicken" like myself was in some sexual identity confusion that could be solidified by more exposure to the homo life.
In a way, they were right, because when I went to a gay party and saw all these guys dancing together and fondling one another, I had to avert my gaze, feeling a wave of disgust that still reverberates today.
Today, the media serve up caricatures of gays, from comic sitcom characters to snooty, style-conscious, queer-eye types, in an attempt to make them more acceptable to straights. This may work on a surface level, but it is misleading.
In my experience, gays don't think like straights do. They're in a totally different world in their desires, their thinking, their reactions and their very being. No matter what laws are passed or what additional "rights" are claimed, the gay life is fundamentally at odds with straight experience. I do not feel comfortable in their world.
Barrett Kalellis is a Michigan-based columnist and writer whose articles appear regularly in various local and national print and online publications. He may be reached at kalellis@newsmax.com.
The author criticizes use of the PC term `homophobia', asking does it mean `fear of man'? Actually, the term `homophobia' is even more ridiculous than that, it being the bastard child of `homosexual' (where the Greek `homos' means `the same' (not Latin `homo, hominis', meaning `man' as in mankind) and `phobia' (from Greek `phobos', meaning fear).
`Homophobia' is used as a cultural weapon, but it means `fear of homos', half street slang and half psychobabble.
If the term `homophobia' were interpreted according to its Greek roots, it would mean
"An irrational fear of those who are similar to or the same as oneself."
Me, I'm not afraid of other Christian heterosexual conservatives who own guns.
Most who were willing to be honest with me confided that they had been molested as children or near puberty, generally by family members or friends. Others admitted that their fathers had been distant and unloving.
I am convinced that traumatic sexual events or unrequited love toward a father are the two prevalent causes of homosexuality. These heartbroken men spend their lives searching for the male love that either was denied them as children or falsely demonstrated as sexual activity, confusing their very identities.
Although I believe we cannot accommodate their perversion, they nonetheless deserve the respect we would give to anyone who has been victimized at a tender age.
Lastly, I believe that every person rejected by their father or molested in childhood will not necessarily turn to homosexuality. It is one of many outcomes that are pathological and self-destructive.
Bingo!
"What Straights Think About Gays"
I think they realy suck.
Do you remember "Brokedown Palace" with Claire Dane!? Where do they get these names!
I am not saying homosexuals qua homosexuals are bad, only the practice of having sex with another of the same sex.
Well, I will say it. Not only is doing it a perversion, the one' doing it are perverts. Can't serarate the persversion from the one doing it in my book.
I don't watch slasher flicks because I don't care to "peer into the mind of a killer". It's stupid and it's gross. All I need to know about serial killers is that they should be shot in the head when caught.
And frankly, people who enjoy those types of movies give me the creeps.
Gay-themed movies are the same. Gay people have a mental problem. That's not to say they're bad people, or that their mental illness renders them unable to function in modern society, but they have a mental problem none-the-less and I don't really care to know the ins and outs about it.
I've got my own mental problems. The difference is, I don't make movies glorifying my problems and expect everyone to fawn over me for it.
While there may in fact be psychological reasons to account for borderline cases, my "gaydar" (which you develop in the Bay Area whether you want to or not) suggests that there are physiological causes as well.
The lisping (for lack of a better term), effeminate gait and gestures are not an affectation. They are real.
Admittedly, while certain outward signs (muscle shirts, shaved head with mustaches, chaps, etc) are obviously under the control of the homosexual male, there are others which are not.
I think it is a fact that heterosexuals who are molested as children will grow up to be heterosexual molesters (or abusers, or self-abusers) whereas homosexuals who are molested as children will grow up to be homosexual molesters (or abusers, or self-abusers).
I would beware of taking someone's word as to the "cause" of his homosexuality.
I have never met a homosexual who was happy. And living in the Bay Area, I've met a lot of them."
My views on homosexuality are largely forged by my own personal experience with alcoholism and recovery. Both conditions describe deviant behaviors, and I say that not (necessarily) in a negative way, but merely in that both behaviors "deviate" from a baseline of normalcy. Even if both behaviors were not manifest in self-destructive behavior, they would still be deviant.
What I have learned, and think most homosexuals would do well to learn, is that the behavior arises from a manner of thinking which in turn, arises from a spiritual void. The whole "nature vs. nurture," argument is of little consequence, and proponents of either view (and there are many on both sides) will either place blame on others for the behavior, or reinforce the hopelessness and resignation that comes with the belief that, "I can't do anything about the way I was born."
Frankly, whether or not alcoholism is genetic, behavioral or a mixture of the two is of little consequence or concern to me. What does matter is that by adopting and embracing certain principles, one can short circuit the thinking that leads to the behavior and return a deviant to the mainstream. I cannot be certain that this is the case with homosexuality, but over time, as I observe the behavior of homosexuals and compare it to my experience, and behavior as a practicing and, later as a recovering alcoholic, I cannot help but observe an ever growing number of similarities.
The Gay Community Quotes
Where would modern American culture be without the current craze for all things homosexual? We think these quotes are super!
Uncle Jimbo: These shoes don't say I pound butt.
Mr. Garrison: No, those shoes say you take it in the butt.
Mr. Garrison: Hey, guess what everybody? I'm gay!
Principal Victoria: Mr. Garrison?
Mr. Mackey: What?
Mr. Garrison: I'm as gay as a gymnast on shore leave!
Principal Victoria: You admit it? You admit it!!!
Mr. Mackey: Oh, that's great, Mr. Garriosn. You've finally come to terms with yourself!
Mr. Garrison: Yeah, it feels really good!
Principal Victoria: Well, congratulations!
Mr. Mackey: Yeah, congratulations!
Mr. Garrison: You know, I feel like I can start anew. If it's not alright with you, I'd like to go back to teaching the third grade.
Principal Victoria: Oh. I'm sorry, we don't hire gay people.
Mr. Garrison: Gay people, well, gay people are EVIL. Evil right down to their cold black hearts which pump not blood like yours or mine, but rather--a thick, vomitous oil that oozes through their rotten veins and clots in their pea-sized brains; which becomes the cause of their Nazi-esque patterns of violent behavior. Do you understand?
Cartman: Speaking of pounding a$$, here come's Stan's little homo dog.
Butters Dad (to his wife): Ok, you win the bet. Butters didn't turn out gay.
Terrance: Wow. Scott really hates us, Phillip.
Phillip: Yes, perhaps he's homophobic.
Terrance: But, we're not gay, Phillip.
Phillip: We're not?
Stan: OmiGod, you guys are not gonna believe what happened to me last night!
Cartman: What? tell us!
Stan: So, I'm watching the season premiere of 'Boy Meets Boy' on television, right, and then 'Queer Eye For the Straight Guy' comes on! So I fall asleep in front of the TV and when I wake up, I see that I've spilled the Coke I was drinking, ALL over my satin pajama top.
Cartman: OmiGod! Are you serious? That was the cutest top ever!
Stan: I know!
(Kenny mumbles)
Stan: Oh, tell me about it Ken Doll.
Chef: You know what they say: You can't teach a gay dog straight tricks.
Wise Man: You must find the answer yourself by taking an inward journey.
Stan: An inward journey? That sounds kind of gay.
Big Gay Al: I'm super, thanks for asking.
Mr. Garrison: Anyway, children, as I was saying, the Hare Krishna's are totally gay.
Big Gay Al: Oh look! It's a big gaggle of gooses. Hi fellahs!
Big Gay Al: Ohh, my carrot cake!
Big Gay Al: Me, kicked out of Scouts?
Studies have shown that hetrosexuals do not fear homeosexual, but rather that homosexual behaviors disgust hetrosexuals.
I don't care about the flamboyant gay pride marches in Sin Freaksicko. It's when they hold their flamboyant gay pride marches in Jerusalem.
I never met a happy homosexual either, except for my hairdresser seems rather content, he ought to be with how much money he is making, but seriously, 90% of them have severe problems. Of course, homosexuals would just say they are frustrated and it comes out in their personality.
** I do not feel comfortable in their world.**
A lot more people would be dead in their world if we permitted gays to shape society.
Do we have a broken society?
Yes...
That is the best summation I've ever read! Outstanding, xcamel!
It's my understanding that while Broke-back Mountain wasn't a total box office loss, it wasn't exactly a blockbuster either. I think if not for the browbeating from the media, it would have lost a lot of money. It's just not a movie I want to see, and dear hubby puts it in even less polite terms.
They can keep pushing their agenda all they want, but I think at some poing (perhaps we've already reached it) the majority of the US will start shoving back.
I think that 'Pokeback Mountain' would have been better. Sort of gives new meaning to 'being back in the saddle again'.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.