Wednesday night, at Game Night, the table banter turned (as it has for the past few months) to making "Brokeback Mountain" jokes. I haven't seen the film, have no desire to. Perhaps that makes me closed-minded, perhaps that makes me unwilling to further reward artists for making movies I don't want to see. I mean, other than topping off the pop-culture tanks, I have zero curiousity to see this film.
Now, that may have something to do with the fact that I might be the only person on the planet who didn't think that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was a masterpiece. Yes, visually stunning, but the story seemed disjoint.
Anyway, the only woman at the table (and one of only two people at the table who've actually seen the film) offered her opinion of the film, at one point saying, "it's a good story". I was stupid enough to try arguing with her, on the grounds that you can't evaluate the goodness of the story without considering the viewer (beauty and the beholder, anyone?) To wit, there is no story that is absolutely good (or absolutely bad), just on its own merits. I finally got her to admit that it was her opinion that it was a good story, but she seemed peeved that I'd even argue the point. If I'm offended by, or at best, disinterested in a story about a homosexual affair between two ranchers, it's not a good story for me. I won't say it's a bad story, but I'm under no automatic obligation to see it just because you think it's good. There've been many stories that I've suspended judgement on until I've seen them. "Brokeback Mountain" won't be one of them.
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