From the Wilderness into the Closet
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or succeeds because of the emotions it evokes; and that unreliable stereotypes of
the vanished West include not only savage Native Americans and kind-hearted
prostitutes but cowboys without emotion and without an ability to express
themselves through language and through touch. Simply stated, Jack and Ennis
stand in sharp contrast to many prevalent stereotypes of the contemporary
American cowboys.
The Portrayal of Same-Sex Love
Reviews that followed the release of B r ok e b a c k M ountain sometimes
highlighted the homophobia of journalists and editors. In a statement without
support and without context, Sean Smith wrote (in a review published in the
March 6, 2006, issue of N e w sw ee k ) that B r ok e b a c k M ountain “could get a boost
if it wins Sunday night [Oscar night], but for some Americans, it seems a samesex love story is still too much, no matter how many trophies it wins” (8). And
under a photo of Ledger and Gyllenhaal in the January 30, 2006, issue of Time
magazine is the following phrase: “exactly the type of scene most straight guys
usually don’t want to see” (60). What follows the phrase is an analysis of gay
themes in B r ok e b a c k M ountain entitled “How the West Was Won Over.”
Even if we allow for editors who need to find a clever phrase to captivate
readers (“How the West Was Won Over”) and if we allow for the straight men
in America who might not want to see two straight actors portraying same-sex
desire, it still bears askin