Brokeback Mountain: The Cowboy Version of Romeo and Juliet

Ashley P.

April 10, 2017

Brokeback Mountain: 

The Cowboy Version of Romeo and Juliet

Well, this was quite an interesting movie to watch. From the smut-filled romance scenes to the underlying themes of homophobia, this controversial film has much more hidden content below the surface. While the overwhelming amount of sexual content threatens me to impulsively give Brokeback Mountain a thumbs down, the film as a whole might as well receive a thumbs up.

Nothing gets past this guy. Absolutely nothing.

Although the first half of the film was difficult for me to watch without me looking away from the screen in a desperate attempt to protect my innocence, the last (and more chaste) half of the film displayed an extraordinary example of how society used to view homosexuality. A theme to describe this concept may go along the lines of, “If a relationship is altered and blemished by the values of society, the forbidden love is destined to evolve into a tragedy.”

Romantic tragedies ending in premature death sound familiar...

          Once Ennis and Jack left Brokeback Mountain, they began to lead their own lives. Ennis married himself to Alma and raises two daughters while Jack married Lureen and had a son. If Ennis and Jack never met each other and fell in love, these two, family-oriented lives might have flourished. However, since they had an affair behind their wives’ backs, it ended to be quite the opposite. The two men were already breaking social norms when they were cheating on their wives. But when Alma found Ennis playing tonsil hockey with Jack outside of the house? That had to be absolutely brutal for her to cope with. I was astounded by how she kept her pent-up rage under wraps throughout their marriage. It was clear that she greatly valued family, but sooner or later she had to put her foot down and stand up for herself against her cheating husband. Her morals, which were heavily influenced by the setting’s opinions regarding homosexuality, helped Jack and Ennis’ relationship spiral downwards.

 It was at this moment when Alma realized she made a horrible mistake.

Theme: “If a relationship is altered and blemished by the values of society, the forbidden love is destined to evolve into a tragedy.”