"Broken" from the Stereotypical Mold

A person might say, “There have been many movies over the years which have depicted gay relationships, and those movies didn’t encounter nearly the controversy that Brokeback Mountain has been subject to. Why is that?” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why Brokeback Mountain has caused such fierce debate among Americans. Brokeback Mountain graphically and explicitly details a homosexual relationship between two men at a time when laws legalizing same-sex marriages and their rights are being wared over in the political world with an amazing level of ferocity. Every week the news reports about issues concerning homosexual rights and people’s opinions about them. So, one might say, “Okay, I recognize that Brokeback Mountain came out at a time when homosexuality is heavily debated, but what about other recent movies that have contained homosexuality? They didn’t cause such controversy!“ Previous films have always been able to get away with showing such a controversial issue because they portray the gay couple in a way that causes the audience to poke fun at the characters and their lifestyle. However, Brokeback Mountain forces the audience to address homosexuality from a totally serious standpoint. Homosexuality is not used as a tool for comic relief. Homosexuality is the movie.
Another reason that so much argument has arisen from the film is that it broke from the stereotype of homosexuality so drastically. The typical mold of homosexuality is a person whom dresses, talks, and acts similar to the opposite gender. Brokeback Mountain has taken two opposite ends of the spectrum and combined them to make their homosexual individuals. It has taken not just two ordinary men, rather two cowboys, and combined them with the lifestyle of homosexuality. Cowboys are stereotyped as tough, macho, masculine, men, and homosexual males are stereotyped as the ultimate feminine male. Should Brokeback Mountain have taken a less extreme combination, such as two midpoints on the spectrum, and combined those into its characters, perhaps a little less controversy would have been provoked.