Cultural Touchstone

Film Spurs Culture of Gay Cowboy Jokes

In the continuing effort to talk about Brokeback Mountain constantly, it's time to start talking about its cultural impact. You can see a lot of it in the article linked above, which includes movie posters based on the now-familiar pair of cowboys against a Wyoming landscape that feature Bert and Ernie and the characters from Masters of the Universe.

Another, more risque chronicle, found here, includes other parodies, among them one for Kickback Mountain featuring Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, and the tagline "Greed is a Force of Habit," and another, Dumbfuck Mountain, that switches out Jack and Ennis for Bush and Cheney. (Cheney's the bottom, in case you were wondering.) And, of course, there's Pokeback Mountain, featuring Gumby and Pokey and the tagline "Love is a Force of Pudding."

As the article points out, all of this is a sign that Brokeback has entered the culture and has a great chance of Oscar success: "Beyond the box-office boost, such attention also bodes well for Brokeback's Oscar chances in a year where heavy issue-centric contenders reign. Heard any good Munich jokes lately? Didn't think so."

Hopefully folks who are actually seeing the movie are remembering its impact more than all of these parodies do, though. It would be a shame if a movie that quietly makes plain the obstacles that face gays and lesbians were out-shouted by those who see it as just another way to make fun of Bush and Cheney.