Brokeback Mountain Banned in Various Countries

[DaveKOTW]

The Bahamian Plays and Films Control Board ruled the film should not be shown because it features "extreme homosexuality, nudity and profanity".

The Rainbow Alliance called it "a farce" that a small group of people should try to "provide the moral compass for the entire country".

The film has also been effectively banned in China.

The government there refused to put it on a list of approved foreign films to be shown in Chinese cinemas, preventing it being shown in public.

Making choices

The film, which won director Ang Lee an Oscar, follows two cowboys as they embark on a long and complicated love affair set amongst the backdrop of conservative America.

Lee himself, who is from Taiwan, said the film tackles how gay men and women have found love denied to them by society.

The Bahamian film board said the film was of "no value for the Bahamian public".

But a theatre director from the islands, Philip Burrows, said: "You have a group of people who are telling grown men and women what they can and cannot watch.

"I cannot understand denying people the right to make their own choices."

Edited April 6, 2006 by DaveKOTW

[ClaRK! Kent]

The movie has "no value to the Bahamian public" apparently. Really?!

I'd say it's got a damn sight more value than half the shit that Hollywood turns out. How the fuck is it of less value than, say, The Ringer or The Pink Panther?

Unless the Bahamian Film Board has banned them too, in which case I'll stand corrected. Doubt it though.

It's sad, really, that a film that deals with homosexuality so tastefully and with artistic integrity, and portrays homosexuals as something other than the typical Hollywood "camp hairdresser/model" stereotype can cause all this controversy. It's not even remotely obscene.

[DaveKOTW]

The movie has "no value to the Bahamian public" apparently. Really?!

I'd say it's got a damn sight more value than half the shit that Hollywood turns out. How the fuck is it of less value than, say, The Ringer or The Pink Panther?

Unless the Bahamian Film Board has banned them too, in which case I'll stand corrected. Doubt it though.

It's sad, really, that a film that deals with homosexuality so tastefully and with artistic integrity, and portrays homosexuals as something other than the typical Hollywood "camp hairdresser/model" stereotype can cause all this controversy. It's not even remotely obscene.

[SeanDMan]

They jump off a cliff into water naked. Not only is that nudity, it's also reckless endangerment, and possibly public drunkeness. What kind of example do you want to set for the Bohemian people? That gay people can go jump off a cliff?

[DaveKOTW]

They jump off a cliff into water naked. Not only is that nudity, it's also reckless endangerment, and possibly public drunkeness. What kind of example do you want to set for the Bohemian people? That gay people can go jump off a cliff?

[ClaRK! Kent]

They need a damn good homosexual whiplashing, if you ask me.

[DaveKOTW]

This is hillarious

Some commentators have voiced concerns about the coverage of the movie's homosexual theme in the mass media both in advertising and in public events, such as press conferences and award ceremonies. Several journalists, including New York Daily News writer Wayman Wong, Dave Cullen [25], and Daniel Mendelsohn [26], have complained that the movie's director, lead actors, and publicity team all avoided using the word "gay" to describe the story, and pointed out that the movie trailer does not show the two male leads kissing each other but does include a clip from a heterosexual love scene.

[ClaRK! Kent]

And the fact that it was roundly hyped as "the gay cowboy film" before it even came out. Do these people live in a bubble?! Geez.

[Kaney]

I'm going to stab Rk in the eyes with a rusty butter knife until he apologies for insulting The Pink Panther. Peter Sellers would kill you in a fight, RK :@

[ClaRK! Kent]

I meant the Steve Martin version, luddite.

Sellers is God, yes, this is a truism that doesn't need repeating.

[Laice07]

Peter Sellers would kill you in a fight, RK :@

[DaveKOTW]

Peter Sellers would kill you in a fight, RK :@

But Steve Martin won't (He was talking about the ghastly remake)

[Kaney]

Theres a remake? :|

[DaveKOTW]

Theres a remake? :|

[SeanDMan]

Actually, when it popped up an advert on TV, my dad said "thats one I won't be saying", to which I replied "looks like just another love story, but with cowboys." He said they were gay cowboys and I didn't believe him.

[Guest Ringmaster The Living Legend]

When I saw the movie, some guy did go "OHMYGOD THEY'RE GAY" when they first kissed and walked out.

[SeanDMan]

In protest or to masturbate?

[DaveKOTW]

In protest or to masturbate?

[ClaRK! Kent]

That's always my excuse.

[damhausen]

You see Anne Hathaway's boobs for like a second in Brokeback Mountain.

But besides that, anyone who is offended by this is pretty stupid. Maybe they should watch the movie and realize that there are about 5 minutes which are really "gay" and the rest is just them struggling with it. It almost makes homosexuality look like a bad thing to have. Use it as propaganda homophobes, to show the evils of homosexuality.

Sorry for the mini-rant. I hope I got my point across though.

[Quom]

I'm 50-50 on this one. As a pseudo-fag I'm not a big fan of Eternal misery of the spotless fags, as I saw it as a slap in the face. But I'm just as strongly against nearly all forms of censorship (except when it comes to kid fucking etc.) I don't think the movie did a lot to help the gay cause. In fact if I were a considering coming out of the closet and saw this film, I think I'd lock myself in the closet for good and hide behind the coats. So at the end of the day I could hardly care less, either they will be spared the pain of seeing what is basically an anti-gay movie which is a good thing, or they can see it which would probably work better in those countries anyway, as the basic moral seems to be become a fag and live miserably for the rest of your life due to an unaccepting public, something that one would imagine may have deep resonance in a country that is considering banning the film.

[Lowerdeck]

Seriously. The Bahamas are like 50 miles from Florida. All someone needs to do is get some money together and get the movie on DVD shipped over to the islands. It's relatively easy if you can afford to do it. Or better yet, download it off the internet.

As for China, well, they're fucked anyway.