Tony Deyal
ZANE GREY must be turning red and in his grave at the same time. Luke Short has to be shedding long tears and Max Brand must be on fire with righteous indignation. Undoubtedly, those three famous exponents of the art form called the Western novel would have been mortified if they were not already dead.
In their books the cowboy kissed his horse but always in front of his girl, and sometimes kissed the girl when the horse wasn't around, but he never kissed his sidekick. Now, the sidekick has become a back kick and a new Western movie, Brokeback Mountain, which has a homosexual theme that casts serious doubts about the Lone Ranger and Tonto and who really says, "Get um up, Scout!" to whom and when. People are also asking what was behind Cassidy becoming 'Hopalong'.
TRINIDAD REFUSED
In fact, these authors would undoubtedly have commended the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, which refused to sponsor the national première of the film through its National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC). It seems that a group called Red Initiatives approached the NACC in early January to sponsor the film. The group's founder, Leo Lokai, said that the decision to withhold sponsorship was relayed to him two weeks ago.
According to the story in the Trinidad Express newspaper, "He said he was promised an official letter stating the reasons and was still awaiting it. He said he expects the letter to be filled with a lot of junk though, since NACC had said that the première was a good idea but maintained that approval was needed from the Office of the Prime Minister with respect to the dispensing of funds. Lokai said the premise for the non-approval was that the film had nothing to do with HIV/AIDS."
DEEPEST SYMPATHY
While I feel sorry for Mr. Lokai and his group, my deepest sympathy is reserved for my favourite and best known Western writer, Louis L'amour, and the genre he represents - the strong, silent, self-contained hero on horseback who won the West long before 'Hondo' became Honda and 'Four Guns to the Border' became 'Four Buns to the Border'. Certainly, Brokeback Mountain represents a new direction for amorous, l'amourous or even glamorous pursuits. There are those who insist that the movie is proof that we are now witnessing a complete reversal of roles and that the Western is going backwards. In the old days, only a dirty, double-crossing, lily-livered polecat would shoot a man in the back.
Comedian David Letterman lists among the top ten signs that you are a gay cowboy:
You enjoy ridin', ropin' and redecoratin'.
Native Americans refer to you as Dances With Men.
Instead of a saloon, you prefer a salon.
You love riding, but you don't have a horse.
It is a sad day for the Western when the 4:10 to Yuma and the Last Train to Gunhill head straight for Brokeback Mountain. I am not sure what will happen to L'amour's work in future film translations. Will some gay cowboy take in vain the name of the famous gunfighting clan and say to his partner, "Sackett to me baby!" What will director Ang Lee of Brokeback fame make of The Last Stand at Papago Wells or The Broken Gun? Would it be Reilly's Luck to be where the long grass is not the only thing that blows? Whose Comstock Lode will the Iron Marshal discover in his Night Over the Solomons? Will there be complaints from other cowboys because the Dutchman's Flat? Certainly, it would seem that in future some sort of sexual screening process will separate The Quick and the Dead, and Tucker might also change his name to eliminate any female reference in front of it, including 'mother'. How will The Fastest Gun Alive be judged? And by whom?
LANDMARK FILM
Brokeback Mountain is a landmark film which is competing for the new moral high ground with the powers-that-be in Trinidad and Tobago and elsewhere. Does it reflect prevailing community standards, or is it pushing too far, too deep, too much and in the wrong direction - back to front? Will the success of the movie carry over into other genres? Already, according to one report, midway through designer Valentino's fashion show last week in Milan, two cowboy models decked out in denim, cowboy hats and leather jackets, strolled down the runway, hand in hand. I can see a remake of the Sound of Music where a Jules Andrews playing Sister Mark will Climb Every (Brokeback) Mountain, making the hills come alive with the sound of gay abandon.
In fact, I heard about a remake of the classic movie about a gorilla that falls in love with a human being. In this version, instead of a woman, the huge ape falls for a man. The movie ends with the gorilla on the top of the Empire State Building with the male love of his life. He is then shot down by fighter jets. His body is a twisted mangled mess. He is paralysed. The classic ending line is the same: "Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast." The only difference is the name of the movie. It is no longer King Kong. It is Brokeback Monkey.
Tony Deyal was last seen longing for the days when Westward Ho was a woman.
