Brokeback Mountain and America's Bankrupt Values
Topic: Movie Reviews
Go ahead and call me closed-minded. I don’t plan to see this movie—no matter how many awards it wins.
Hollywood has gone bonkers over director Ang Lee’s new film Brokeback Mountain, the story of two rough-riding ranchers who fall in love and then try to hide their homosexual relationship from their wives and families. This week the movie won the Golden Globe award for Best Picture in the drama category, and it will probably sweep the Oscars later this spring.
It’s the movie “everybody” is applauding. And it’s considered politically incorrect for anyone to criticize it—lest they instantly be labeled a bigot or a homophobe.
I never considered going to see the film because I don’t believe the Holy Spirit approves of my watching two men have sex with each other in a pup tent. I don’t care how beautiful the Wyoming scenery is.
Film critics (the majority of whom have praised Brokeback Mountain for its “artistry” and “poetic dialogue”) have informed us that the film is rated R because it contains nudity, sexual content, plenty of cowboy profanity and, by the way, a “graphic gay sex scene.”
I am sure I will be branded a prude for bashing a film I haven’t seen. Even some Christians will say I’m giving the church a bad name for rushing to judgment.
But in this case I really don’t mind wearing a fundamentalist label. Some things don’t need to be analyzed. You couldn’t pay me to sit through a movie in which I have to watch two cowboys kissing, fondling each other and reaching sexual climax.
God help us.
I don’t know what is more tragic about Brokeback Mountain—the fact that American audiences are watching soft-core gay pornography at the local suburban multiplex or that the film industry is giving its highest honors to a movie that glorifies sodomy.
I pray that President Bush—a cowboy at heart—doesn’t bow to political pressure and allow this film to be screened in his personal theater in the White House.
In the film, the two main characters, Jack and Ennis (played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) bury their gay affections for each other, choose to live in denial and then marry their respective wives. Later, they meet up again and rekindle their illicit relationship. So Brokeback is a film that not only explores homoeroticism but also celebrates adultery.
And Americans are paying to watch it.
Christian film critic Ted Baehr, founder of Movieguide, did a six-year study of homosexual content in mainstream films. He discovered that movies with strong homosexual content make 20 times less money than films with a conservative, Judeo-Christian viewpoint. Yet Hollywood executives seem determined to keep pumping out garbage until they can train us to pay big bucks for it.
Baehr reviewed Brokeback Mountain and called it “a boring, pointless work that not only promotes a leftist, homosexual agenda, but also mocks Christianity in one scene and portrays heterosexual men and fathers as hateful, domineering, violent, repressive and weak.”
What bothers me most about the movie is that Christians who want to be relevant to society—and who don’t want to appear judgmental—will shell out $8.75 each to support this “artistic” film. Besides polluting their souls with images and sounds we shouldn’t see or hear, they’ll pump millions more dollars into a film company so it can launch another moral assault on the country next year.
Surely there’s a sequel planned.
What are you going to do about it? I’m not asking anybody to stand outside America’s theaters with placards—although in this case it seems some Jeremiah-style warnings are in order. But I am going to plead with every decent American to send a clear message to Hollywood.
Please don’t buy a ticket.
Brokeback Mountain reminds me of those X-rated e-mails that sometimes slip through our Internet filters. You’re minding your own business one minute, and the next minute you realize that somebody has attempted to molest you sexually with cyberporn. When that happens to me I hit the delete button immediately.
I don’t “review” X-rated spam. And in the case of Brokeback Mountain, I don’t care if the musical score is breathtaking or the dialogue is poetic. This movie is the equivalent of a cinematic sexual assault. Please don’t help pay for it.
'Brokeback' Conviction
Topic: Movie Reviews
by Gary Schneeberger,
SUMMARY: The "gay cowboy" movie everybody is talking about
is a reminder of what we're called to do as Christians --
and how we're called to do it.
It's been a little more than a month now since I saw
"Brokeback Mountain," the "gay cowboy" movie that
continues to generate headlines -- on front pages as well
as entertainment pages -- and I've been feeling morally
superior ever since.
Why? Mostly because of one scene, in which the lead
characters reunite several years after their initial tryst
atop the mountain of the movie's title. Ennis (Heath
Ledger) runs to greet Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), and is so
overcome that he pulls him into a stairwell and kisses him
passionately. Even though the duo thinks they're out of
eyeshot, Ennis' wife catches a glimpse of their embrace --
and director Ang Lee's camera lingers on her devastated
reaction.
That reaction, in the Denver theater in which I saw the
film, was greeted with a mix of laughter and applause from
the largely-gay audience that shared the auditorium with
me (and I've heard and/or read similar reports from across
the country).
That's been the fuel for my feelings of moral superiority.
How on earth, I've wondered, could anybody find that scene
funny or -- worse -- something to cheer? Is adultery, and
the punch in the gut it delivers to the one being cheated
on, perfectly acceptable so long as the adulterer is
"being true to himself"? Is fulfilling their own selfish
desires, no matter who gets hurt, the only thing
homosexuals care about? I mean, gay, straight, sideways,
diagonal, convex -- I don't care what your orientation is,
if you respond to a scene like this in a manner like that,
you've forfeited your claim to the moral high ground in
any cultural argument. Ever.
It's only been in the last couple of days that I've
realized where this kind of thinking had illogically led
me: to the conclusion that I have all the moral high
ground. And it's only been in the last several hours, as
I've wrestled with getting these thoughts out of my head
and onto the computer screen, that I've realized how
dangerous -- and shameful -- such thinking is.
In the cultural and policy battles we fight every day,
particularly on issues like the normalization of
homosexuality and the availability of abortion, it's easy
to take on airs of superiority like those I've been
wearing. Maybe it's because we have the truth of Scripture
on our side; maybe it's because we're fallen human beings
prone to arrogance and pride and every other sin under the
sun -- just like those on the other side of the
ideological aisle. Most likely, it's a combination of the
two.
Whatever causes it, though, there is no disputing it
cripples our witness for Christ -- no matter how we wind
up faring on the Culture War scorecard. A victory won
gracelessly or gloatingly is no victory at all; even if we
eventually succeed in making abortion no longer legal,
what have we really accomplished for the Kingdom if our
tactics and attitudes drive the people who most need God
further away from him?
To watch a film like "Brokeback Mountain" and react the
way I did does not please the Lord. He loves those who
laughed at that tragic scene I described earlier precisely
as much as He loves me. He longs to heal their hearts. If
I hope to be a tool He uses to do so, and that ought to be
my goal as someone who has felt called to work at a
Christian ministry, I've got to do more than sniff at the
insensitivity and immaturity of those gay men and women I
watched the movie with. I've got to do more than be
disgusted at the subject matter of the film. I've got to
consider why they laughed -- and, in the larger context,
why they view this film as such a watershed moment for
themselves and their movement.
I am fortunate to work each day alongside men and women
who grasp these basic, but crucial, truths better than
most. The Love Won Out team, led by Mike Haley, reaches
out daily to scared and confused people like the
characters in "Brokeback Mountain." Sometimes it's men and
women struggling with their own same-sex attractions;
sometimes it's the friends and family members of those men
and women. But every time, the counsel and the prayer Mike
and his team offer is authentically, unrelentingly
Christlike. They extend love and hope to those told by the
world their only choice is to love a life of hopelessness.
I've always admired my Love Won Out friends, but I've been
convicted of my need to better emulate them now that I've
seen "Brokeback Mountain." It'd be a lie to say that I
enjoyed the movie, but an ever greater one to say I'm not
grateful I saw it.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about Love Won Out,
visit the ministry's Web site.
love won out.Do you need God?
Thoughts on the Chronicles of Narnia
Topic: Movie Reviews
by
Jason DollorThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is fascinating in its imaginative quality and overall appeal. To create a different place, indeed a different world altogether, and then bring to life the supreme fight between ultimate good and absolute evil, is nothing short of amazing. Many of us in Birmingham were honored with a sneak preview of the movie last night (Thursday)! Here are a few of my thoughts, for whatever they are worth.
* The movie is mostly faithful to the book. Considering the number of people (believers and unbelievers) working on this, offering advice and criticism, it is amazing that the story is as close to the book as it is. The major themes are certainly there.
* The production itself is one of the best ever. I have never actually seen talking beavers, but if I did, I am sure they would look exactly like Narnia’s talking beavers. Oscar may be calling.
* This movie is an outstanding witnessing tool. The sacrifice of Aslan, and the correspondence to the work of Christ, is crystal clear to anyone who has any familiarity with the Gospel at all. Thus, I encourage you to take an unbelieving friend or family member to see the movie. It will start a conversation about what Christ has done to save guilty sinners (like Edmund and me). It may make the work of Christ make sense in a way some people have never thought of before.
* The winter of Narnia and the enslavement of Edmund are strong pictures of the ravages of sin and death. The stark contrast between the evil and the good in this movie unmistakably parallels reality. In the real world, however, the lines are far too often blurred. We must help people see that life apart from Christ, no matter what it may seem to be on the surface, is enslavement to sin and the wages of sin is death.
* There is a theological problem demonstrated in the movie, however, of significant proportion. Aslan pays the ransom for Edmund’s life to the White Witch. Is Lewis saying that God pays the ransom for guilty sinners to the devil? Biblically we know that the death of Christ is an appeasement of the wrath of God, that is, the payment goes to the Father, not the devil. It is the Father who has been offended. “God set [Him] forth as a propitiation by His blood…to demonstrate His [God’s] righteousness” (Rom. 3:25). But then again, Lewis may have a more accurate vision for the atonement in mind, because Aslan speaks of a wonderful and mysterious magic behind the magic. In other words, maybe the ransom paid to the White Witch is actually part of a bigger plan wherein the payment is ultimately made to God. This point is worth thinking through in more detail.
* Here is an important point: Narnia depicts a war between the forces of Aslan and those of the white witch. They are using traditional weapons such as swords, arrows, and spears to engage the battle. But it is vital to understand that as believers in Jesus Christ, our weapons are spiritual. That is to say, we wear the armor of God and wield the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:14-20). Thus, the parallel of the battle for Narnia occurs whenever a Christian shares the Gospel of Jesus Christ with an unbeliever. We are waging the war when we tell others the truth about Him. Imagine yourself a soldier when you witness. Imagine overcome the barriers (like shyness) as a way of fighting for the honor of King Jesus. Whenever you speak accurately about the person and work of Christ, it is akin to a victory over the evil one and his minions.
* Finally, a note to parents: kids below the age of 6 or so might be scared by the White Witch’s minions and the mean, scary dogs.
I do encourage you to go see the movie. It does what an allegory (if that is the right word for it) is suppose to do, show the truth in a fresh way. It is highly entertaining, but those who know Christ as Savior will find it difficult to walk away without a sense of awe about our Aslan (this name is the Persian word for lion), the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen to the story of Narnia, this is a good explaination of the movie it is about 16 Minutes.
Brokeback Morality
Topic: Movie Reviews
by Gary DeMar
Can we ever sing “Home on the Range”[1] again without the lyrics being spoiled by images of the latest in homosexual propaganda, Brokeback Mountain, a story about two cowboys in love—with each another? As expected, Hollywood is gushing over the latest finger in the eye of the movie-going public. There have been homosexual-themed movies before (Philadelphia and Boys Don’t Cry). Tom Hanks and Hillary Swank each won an Academy Award for their performances, but neither movie won Best Picture. The buzz around Brokeback Mountain almost assures that it will be in Oscar contention. The folks in Hollywood are desperate for homosexual characters and movies to be featured prominently across the Silver Screen. Why? It’s not that most of Hollywood is made up of homosexuals, although there is a disproportionate number in the entertainment field. Divorce, multiple remarriages, children out of wedlock, drugs, alcohol addiction, sexual exploitation, and just plain bad behavior are common features of the Hollywood in-crowd. If the worst of sexual behavior—homosexuality—can be tolerated and even accepted by the general public, then these other behaviors won’t seem bad any more.
Today’s entertainment and political propagandists have, in the words of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “defined deviancy down” so that what was morally shocking twenty years ago is acceptable, or at least tolerated, behavior today. Robert Bork, no stranger to moral degradation, having been “Borked” on national television, explains the phenomenon:
Emile Durkheim, a founder of sociology, posited that there is a limit to the amount of deviant behavior any community can “afford to recognize.” As behavior worsens, the community adjusts its standards so that conduct once thought reprehensible is no longer deemed so.”[2]
At the same time, these same moral misfits are defining their own brand of moral deviancy up. What was considered morally normal thirty years ago—two-parents of the opposite sex married and living together, participation in the Boy Scouts and being protected from homosexual predators, rejecting a pro-death culture, and stay-at-home moms—is now “portrayed as oppressive and shot through with pathologies. “As part of the vast social project of moral leveling,” [Charles] Krauthammer wrote, “it is not enough for the deviant to be normalized. The normal must be found to be deviant.” This situation is thoroughly perverse. Underclass values become increasingly acceptable to the middle class, especially their young, and middle-class values become increasingly contemptible to the cultural elites.”[3]
Americans have become desensitized to moral degeneracy. Immoral acts that were once only spoken of in hushed tones thirty years ago are now included in the curriculum of our nation’s government schools.
