Jonathan Kay writes on the National Post website:
Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger's masterpiece, has been Youtubed, South Parked, Family Guyed and Saturday Night Lived so many times, that it is sometimes difficult to recall what an astonishingly good film it was. Had Brokeback been the only film Ledger had ever made, we would still properly be mourning the loss of one of the world's great actors.
And Alex Altman reflects at Time magazine online:
Though the late actor had taken on other roles since, it was his Oscar-nominated performance as Ennis Del Mar, a sheep rancher who discovers his homosexuality in Brokeback Mountain, that mourners referred to again and again. His death was particularly poignant to gay New Yorkers. "He is a gay icon," says John Lopez, 22, who works in a gourmet food store that Ledger frequented. "To support us, he broke a lot of taboos." From overseas, the film's director Ang Lee said in a statement, "He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined - a thirst for life, for love, and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking."
Of course, couldn't you just predict this.
Addedndum. A look back at Hollywood hypocrisy and more from our Brokeback archive.
26 Comments for “In Remembrance”
posted by Bobby on
He didn’t break any new ground, that’s bullshit. Lot’s of straight actors like to play gay roles now, it’s a fad, it’s the perfect thing to put on your reel, women love you for it and want to screw you to see how straight you really are, the media will scream what a great actor you are, and focus a lot on your straight relationships. When was the last time a gay actor was celebrated or called courageous for having to kiss women on the cinema? In fact, while openly straight actors can play gay roles, it’s a lot harder for openly gay actors to get straight romantic leads.
I’m sick of straight actors playing gay roles and being treated like goddamm heroes. Ian McKellen was a far superior actor than Heath Ledger ever was, So thank you Heath for not being a homophobe, for not being an asshole, but forgive me if I don’t start crying like a baby over your strange death.
Only the straight actors from the 1981 movie “Making Love” are heroes. They played gay roles and never got to work in Hollywood again. And their scenes where a lot hotter than any Brokeback Mountain crap.
posted by Avee on
What a mean-spirited and petty comment.
posted by Karen on
I agree, Avee.
I was shocked and saddened to hear of this. It’s easier than it was in 1981 to play a gay character…. yeah, I should HOPE so. But it’s still tough and risky and it’s still nice to see. I’m so sorry that his family is going to have to put up with the Phelps scum’s antics in the midst of their grief.
posted by Leo on
So we have a new Ash?
While I agree we tend to get carried away with our celebrity worship here are a few observations:
It doesn’t take bravery to play a straight role because straight roles aren’t stigmatized like gay roles. So the point you’re making is kinda ? pointless.
For a gay actor to be praised for his bravery as a gay actor he/she needs to be identified as gay and there are damn few who are out. McKellen, Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, that other Brit who’s name escapes me, Alan Cuming, Foster (now maybe?). The field is small. An no, none of these actor’s baliwicks tend to be romantic roles.
Last time I checked the romantic relationships of straight actors get plenty of press attention. Playing gay doesn’t appear to be a requirement for this.
Harry Hamlin went onto a lucrative career. LA Law?
posted by ColoradoPatriot on
Although I didn’t like BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN or Ledger’s performance, it certainly was a brave move on his and Ang Lee’s part to make the film. I love the bitchy and queer-ass post by bobby though, that guy just gets funnier and funnier (especially since ND30 seems to be laying low with his comedic performance-art as of late). For a laugh ask bobby for his opinions on witchcraft and demonic possession…hilarity will ensue.
posted by Regan DuCasse on
This is a tad bit personal for me. I liked “BBM” because I’d read the story (I’m an Annie Proulx fan) and I’m always eager to check the movies based on books I’ve read.
I had a bit of a moment with Heath Ledger at a coffee house in Silverlake in Los Angeles. We were standing in line and he was behind me. This was years ago, about seven or eight years ago. He gave me a compliment and I remembered that he’d starred in a tv series with a friend of mine called “Roar” and I mentioned my friend. Mr. Ledger seemed shy and we both are the kind of people who ain’t human much before we have some caffeine.
But may I say, he was gorgeous, had a great speaking voice and I’m so sad that he’s gone like this.
My husband and I lost a young, talented friend named Brad to an accidental drug interaction, not overdose. Brad was 26, and it’s not hard for some of this stuff to cause heart failure.
I suppose it’s better than a horrible violent death, like what happens in car accidents or homicides.
This is a loss of a fine talent, really. Whatever you thought of BBM or Ledger as an actor, I wonder if there is anything that can be done about such tragedies.
posted by Harke Ploegstra on
I wholeheartedly agree with you Bobby. I did like Heath Ledger in BBM, but while should I feel more sorry for him than for murdered Iraqi child #123.983?
posted by CPT_Doom on
For a lot of us, and I count myself among those feeling a big impact from the death of Heath Ledger, it was not that Ledger played gay – that is too commonplace now to matter – but that he and Jake G. played real characters who happened to be gay. They were neither defined by their sexuality, nor were they desexualized in a Will and Grace kind of way. Both actors, but particularly Ledger, turned in amazing performances, full of sensitivity but grounded in reality. The entire movie featured stellar performances.
While BBM was still a tragic movie featuring gays, it was the first time that a major picture, embraced by a huge swath of the populace, showed gay romance and love as equal too, and just as powerful as, straight relationships.
When I saw the film, I could not understand how they pulled it off – how did a straight director, straight screenwriters and straight actors pull of such a nuanced understanding of closeted gay men? Then I found out Ledger’s uncle was a real gay cowboy, rejected by his family for being gay. Ledger used his uncle as a foundation for his performance, which is likely why it rang so true.
posted by Ashpenaz on
I grew up in and live in Brokeback Mountain. This was the only movie I’ve seen which spoke to my experience as a gay man–two men, secure in their masculinity, not drawn to flamboyant, exotic behavior, who fall in love. They don’t define themselves as gay–in fact, they both get married. They are simply two men in love who don’t want to move to the Big City and it’s gay enclaves. If their story had not been tragic, they would have ended up ranching together.
I’ve lived this story. I had a similar experience when I was their age, and through the years, I’ve been in similar unsatisfactory relationships. I suspect I am a lot like Ennis–not entirely ready to act on my deepest feelings. I truly related in every way to his understanding of himself as a man and his reluctance to truly embrace his homosexuality until circumstances force him to. I like to think of him, like me, in a sequel where he is more comfortable in his sexuality and finds a similar gay, and they have the courage (with the support of their local UCC or ELCA church, of which there are many, and which Ennis went to) to ranch up together.
I don’t think the gay community got Brokeback Mountain. Nathan Lane wanted to do the musical. The gay community wanted Ennis to move to Denver, buy an condo, put up a rainbow flag, and put some sequins on his boots. But Ennis was a man, like me, comfortable in his masculinity and comfortable in rural America and traditional values. This was a breakthrough movie which showed the gay community something it hadn’t seen before, as well. And it gave me an image of a gay man like me. Thanks, Heath. I’ll try to find the happy ending you didn’t.
posted by Bobby on
“What a mean-spirited and petty comment.”
—The truth hurts, doesn’t it? It’s so much easier to tell each other lies. BM is yet another movie about a fucked up gay relationship, just like Total Eclipse with Leonardo Dicaprio. Self-hating homos have been making movies about fucked up gays for a long time. Just watch any of the films by Gus Van Sant and you’ll see I’m right.
Ang Lee is straight, so why does he care about portraying masculine gays as closet wife-cheating freaks? Maybe their definition of a romantic movie is a lot different from my own.
I got no beef with Heath, but don’t make him a goddamn hero just because he french-kissed a guy in a movie. The real heroes are those gay actors that come out of the closet and lose lucrative career opportunities just because they don’t want to act once the camera stops rolling.
Rosie O’donnel and Ellen Degeneres had to endure far worse for being openly gay people. Now that’s people I admire, even if I disagree with them politically.
posted by KamatariSeta on
Harke, dead iraqi child never made any contribution to the world.
posted by Randi Schimnosky on
Take a valium Bobby. Sure out gay actors may suffer more discrimination, but Ledger did suffer discrimination for his willingness to portray a gay. He sacrificed some of his reputation to do something he thougth was good for gay people – to display the harm that oppression of gays causes.
posted by Doc on
This wasn’t even Ang Lee’s first gay love story, that was ‘A Wedding Banquet’ which was also groundbreaking as the first popular gay-themed movie in Taiwan.
All his movies examine relationships (gay or straight) that aren’t so happy go lucky.
posted by Bobby on
I think A Wedding Banquet was a lot more positive, although ironically, the Chinese guy marries a woman, has sex with her, and gets her pregnant. Which contributes to the notion that gays can be straight if they try. But still, the gay couple there was very realistic.
“Ledger did suffer discrimination for his willingness to portray a gay.”
—What discrimination? Yesterday O’reilly covered his death and didn’t say a single negative thing about him. In fact, he chastised the rest of the media for speculating that it was drugs without knowledge, and he said that Ledger didn’t have any record of drug use like other hollywood stars. In fact, a lot of straight people admire Ledger for playing a gay role. Even the people who hate Brokeback Mountain and gay cowboy movies aren’t against the actors that play them. Everyone knows actors have to make a living and are not responsible for the roles they play.
Do you have any evidence of discrimination against Ledger? Hate mail? Death threats? Getting the cold shoulder in hollywood? Organized boycotts against him?
“He sacrificed some of his reputation to do something he thought was good for gay people – to display the harm that oppression of gays causes.”
—He didn’t do it for gay people, he did it for himself. Don’t be so naive, I’ve known actors, they’re the most selfish self-absorbed people in the world, and the ambitious ones are always looking for groundbreaking roles. No actor wants to stay on the B-list forever.
Are we that desperate for heroes? Do we have to make him one?
posted by Jorge on
My first reaction was “Oh, another young star died, wonder if it was a Kurt Cobain.” I wasn’t even sure it was a young actor.
I’ve always thought of Brokeback Mountain as an ordinary good movie that people keep labeling as the gay movie, and that’s about what I think of Heath Ledger’s role in the movie too.
posted by Throbert McGee on
The scorching HAWT sexual chemistry between Ledger and Gyllenhall in Bareback Mountin’ reminded me of Steve Martin attempting to kiss Bernadette Peters in The Jerk. Or Gilda Radner and Bill Murray as Lisa Loopner and her boyfriend Todd. Oh, oh, or Dr. Phibes and his embalmed wife Victoria!
(I did like Mr. Ledger in The Brothers Grimm, though.)
posted by Pat on
I get the point of why Heath Ledger’s death should be more important than anyone else’s death. But it was still tragic and a big shock when I heard it.
The gay community wanted Ennis to move to Denver, buy an condo, put up a rainbow flag, and put some sequins on his boots.
Really? Didn’t hear that one. I wanted both of them to come clean with their wives, make amends. Then live together on a ranch, and hope they didn’t get the shit kicked out of them or murdered for doing so.
But Ennis was a man, like me, comfortable in his masculinity and comfortable in rural America and traditional values.
I guess we saw a different movie then.
so why does he care about portraying masculine gays as closet wife-cheating freaks? Maybe their definition of a romantic movie is a lot different from my own.
I thought it was a romantic movie myself. But the fact that Ennis and Jack felt they had to be in the closet and be “wife-cheating freaks” made it tragic for them, and of course, for their families.
Everyone knows actors have to make a living and are not responsible for the roles they play.
Up until very recently, that was true if the role they played was a murderer, a mobster, a serial adulterer, or drug addict, but not if they played a gay person.
Are we that desperate for heroes? Do we have to make him one?
Maybe. No.
posted by Randi Schimnosky on
Bobby said “What discrimination”.
Having a fox Television personality make fun of your death on air, having the Westboro Baptists picket your funeral and say your life was nothing of consequence and the only important part of it is the joy they take in thinking you’re being eternally tortured.
Having Bobby on Independent Gay forum rant about what a nothing you are.
Ledger did the gay community a service its TFB for you if you are too small to admit it.
posted by Bobby on
Randi, I watch O’reilly everyday, O’reilly opposes Fred Phelps, he did not make fun of Heath nor speculate about his death, only resported the facts and you don’t go to hell for playing a gay character on a movie, no fundamentalist christian would accuse Heath of anything. The fact is, you like most fox haters probably don’t even watch Fox, you’re just reading lies about Fox in leftwing sites that don’t give a shit about the truth. Sometimes I force myself to watch MSNBC just so I can hear them bash republicans and reaffirm my views.
“Having Bobby on Independent Gay forum rant about what a nothing you are.”
—Discrimination is certainly not being criticized. If that’s the case, Bush should sue the media. Real discrimination is being denied opportunities based on who you are. Heath is straight, so unless he wanted to work for a gay director that didn’t hire straights, he wasn’t been discriminated against.
Heath didn’t do me nor anyone in the gay community a service. How can you say that when there ar people working for next to nothing in AIDS charities, community centers, gay newspapers? Since when is acting an act of heroism? I mean, dude, I love Judy Garland, Bette Middler, Arnold Schwartznegger, but they’re no heroes if you ask me.
posted by Jorge on
Hmm. I think Randi might be talking about John Gibson.
Not that there’s any good reason why I should know that. I don’t watch him either.
I think O’Reilly almost said something inappropriate but caught himself the other day.
Anyway I get a little perplexed at the idea that Brokeback Mountain had any kind of effect on attitudes toward gay people or what gay people think about themselves. I always thought it was the other way around: it could only be made because of the progress that’s already been made. It says something very positive about how far American culture has come. No need to give a couple of Hollywoods all the credit, but if they want the money they can take it.
posted by Marc on
“watch O’reilly everyday, O’reilly opposes Fred Phelps, he did not make fun of Heath nor speculate about his death, only resported the facts and you don’t go to hell for playing a gay character on a movie, no fundamentalist christian would accuse Heath of anything”
It was John Gibson who ridiculed HL, not O’Reilly.
But I mostly agree with Bobby. Some posters characterize his life as a hagiography; now he’s some kind of a saint who gave up his privileges as a handsome straight actor in order to stand up for gay people and honor his “gay uncle” or whatever, with a performance that, while great, would jeopardize his career… or whatever.
posted by Randi Schimnosky on
Yes, I was talking about John Gibson making fun of ledger’s death because he played a gay.
Bobby, no one’s denying that there are others who’ve done more for gays then Ledger, but the reality is that he did something good for gays and many are rightfully grateful for that.
And I’m not a dude Bobby.
posted by Bobby on
I thought Randi was a guy’s name. That’s why I said “dude.” It wasn’t disrespectful. Only word I don’t like is “bro.”
I don’t watch John Gibson, I think he’s an evangelical, one of the reasons so many people watch Fox News is because you get real ideological diversity, not just the moderate left debating the extreme left. But ALL political viewpoints. Ask Kucinich and Code Pink, they’re always welcomed to debate on Fox, and they keep coming back because debating someone that challenges you is more fun than someone who agrees with you. If you watch Keith Olberman on MSNBC, you’ll see he only talks to liberals that hate Bush, and yet they dare call us rightwing. Gibson is part of that diversity that makes Fox great.
As for Heath Ledger, so what? Tom Selleck who is very conservative played a very positive gay character in the movie In & Out. And I’m sure some of his friends on the right gave him grief for it.
“but the reality is that he did something good for gays and many are rightfully grateful for that.”
—How has Brokeback Mountain improved our lives? Has it made people less homophobic? Has it made them more supportive of gay marriage? Just because the movie made you happy, and made you feel great, doesn’t mean everyone else had the same experience. And if lots of gays feel like you and think Heath is some great guy, well, that’s nothing more than celebrity worship. Sports fans act the same way when the Yankees win. They’re stupid, those jock lovers are so bored that they need to celebrate over billionare athletes winning a stupid game. By the same token, some gays are so desperate for role models that they’ll even celebrate some straight actor playing a gay role.
posted by Hank on
On Fox News you get “real ideological diversity”? And your example for that is Dennis Kucinich?
Come on Bobby, you’re a smart guy. Fox News exists to support the conservative, Republican agenda. And there’s nothing wrong with that – but why can’t they – and you – be honest about it?
As to Heath Ledger, I think anytime you can reach the straight world with accurate portrayals of gay life, it’s a good thing.
And as to the movie “Making Love”, Harry Hamlin anyway has had a pretty good career.
posted by Randi Schimnosky on
Bobby, I don’t know what Fox news you’ve been watching, but I’ve seen a fair bit of it and it is anything but diverse. Not too long ago Fox had a debate about atheism and they never invited an atheist to participate. The had three right wing religionists ranting about how evil atheism was – anything but balanced.
Movies like Brokeback mountain don’t change things from night to day, they chip away at the bigotry bit by bit by showing the harm that it causes to force gays into the closet pretending to be heterosexuals. And don’t assume the movie made me happy, personally I thought it sucked.
posted by Bobby on
I watch the same Fox you do, Randi, But I guess you notice things I don’t while I notice things you don’t. Yes, sometimes it’s Fox News Commentator vs. 2 liberals, or vs. 2 conservatives, or vs. 1 liberal. It’s not a perfect formula. However, the president of Americans United for the Separation of Chuch and State, as well as the man who sued to remove “God” from the pledge of allegiance have been invited many times to explain their views. So the balance and fairness is there.