I’ve never been afraid to ask hard questions here on The Movie Blog. I’ve also never been afraid to give my opinion on something when I know it’s not a popular one. When I praise Fahrenheit 9/11 as a great documentary I get labeled by Right Wing drones as a flaming liberal. When I say Brokeback Mountain was a good film… but seriously overrated I get labeled by Left Wing drones as a Slave of the Right. I can’t win… so I don’t even bother to try winning.
But this morning, the day after the Golden Globes, the results FORCE us to ask a question, even if we don’t think there’s anything to it… it’s a question that should at least be asked…
“WAS THERE A PRO-GAY POLITICAL AGENDA AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES THIS YEAR?”
Now, keep in mind that I don’t think there was at all. Yes, I think Brokeback Mountain is overrated. Yes, I would have given Best Actor to Russell Crowe for Cinderella Man (but Hoffman deserved to be nominated and I have no problems with him winning for his fantastic performance).
Gay themed, or gay character driven films took the 5 top awards last night (Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain, Best Director: Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain, Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote, Best Actress: Felicity Huffman for Transamerica, Best Screenplay: Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain).
So if I don’t think there was a pro-gay agenda at the awards last night… why am I asking the question? Because if all of the above films were shut out last night and no pro-gay themed films won anything, then thousands of sites (including The Movie Blog) would have asked this question instead:
“WAS THERE AN ANTI-GAY POLITICAL AGENDA AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES THIS YEAR?”
So to be fair, when the pro-gay themed films sweep up at the awards, the opposite question has to at least be asked.
Even though I thought Crowe should have won, I have ZERO problem with Hoffman winning, he was magnificent in Capote. Felicity Huffman… meh… I think that one was ify at best… but there weren’t any really stand out female leads this years either. In my opinion Brokeback gets way too overhyped and I do personally feel (and no less than two major film critics have admitted this to me) that a lot of critics praised it because of fear of being labeled homophobic if they didn’t proclaim it as a wonderful film (which is what happened to me when I first said it didn’t deserve to be nominated for Best Film).
To me, a great film is a great film. I don’t care if it’s about straight people, gay people, Mexican, Italian, short, skinny, fat, left wing or right wing people. If it’s great… then it’s great. But if it’s not… then it’s not.
So what do you think? Does the fact that all the top 5 awards went to pro-gay themed films at least make you raise an eyebrow and wonder, or does it not even make you think twice?
**Oh, and when giving your opinions please try to be mature. Say what you think and why you think it, while respecting that other people may have different opinions than you. Thanks.**
