Brokeback Mountain

“Brokeback Mountain”

26 March 2006

I just finished watching the controversial movie that everybody expected to win the Oscars but was not really sure it was “the” Oscar movie. True enough to the reviews, watching the movie opens up a lot of emotions. There is the feeling of nostalgia, empathy, excitement, apprehension, elation and fear, to name a few. The movie travels the same path as the movie The Lion King. It’s all about taking your place in the circle of life. Was it Aristotle or Socrates? I don’t remember very well who but one of those philosophers thought about it and paved the way to a whole lot more discourses on the matter. Anyhow, it’s all about who you are and who you are supposed to be. The philosophy goes that each of us has a role to play in the circle of life. There are people whose path has been paved early to carry out a certain mission. They are the lucky ones. Their purposes are so defined that they need not look any further to realize it. There are however those who might have known of their purposes, deny themselves of it and carry out recklessly in the hope that their fate would go away. They are the wayward ones. Another group contains those who do not have a clue at all as to what life is all about for them. They are the hopeful ones. And as these three groups of people move on in their paths, they affect each other’s lives. A lucky one at some point will meet a wayward. And in the course of their interaction, they stumble upon some truths about their existence; truths which are challenged and put to test. The character is tested and the outcome, not as predictable as one could imagine, eventually brings a whole new meaning to the truth about each other’s existence. New truths are created, some rediscovered. And when the lessons are learned, life moves on, on the same path for some but not for all.

I feel for the characters in the movie and I think that it tackles a myriad of issues other that the homosexuality aspect of human psychology. It’s about control, wanting to take risks. Of challenging society and standing up for what you believe in. It is about the sense of denial that each and everyone does when confronted with difficult decisions. You deny yourself of a choice for the very reason that you do not want to decide otherwise. You see two people living normal lives but looking forward to that occasional tryst in the woods if only to rekindle the feeling of wholeness and acceptance. They had a choice but not willing to take it. And they had to live their decision in utter loneliness, sad, indeed. And not all of us would brave through the storm for a glimmer of light in the same manner that not all are cut for the long wait. And so we move one, in the same circle travelled by kings and slaves, literal and figurative beings of all times and we wait for our turn to be tested. For some it might be a very long process, very quick for a few. Doesn’t really matter, so long as lessons are learned and earned. And our purposes vindicated. Then, we have served our purpose.