It was about time.

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2005)

I am so happy a film like this is finally OUT (no pun intended) in the mainstream. I have lived in NYC for the past two years after fleeing my country in South America in 2003 and being granted asylum in this country for being a gay man. So I have to smile when I read about gay people being angry because the actors in Brokeback aren't gay in real life, or angry because the studio just wants it to be bankable, or insulted because it's been unfairly dubbed the "gay cowboy movie"... people, don't you realize that just the fact that it was MADE by a mayor studio is a huge achievement just by itself? That it's on absolutely everybody's mouth? That it's being shown on multiplexes as opposed to just a couple of art houses? That it's the most HONEST and unapologetic interpretation of love between two men on the big screen EVER??? I lived for thirty years, and until two years ago, Ennis del Mar's life in Venezuela. Constantly afraid, constantly lying and constantly hiding who I really was, in a society that considers a homosexual no less than a criminal. Do you know that the police there can arrest you if they see you in the slightest "homosexual apparent" act? Like holding hands, or kissing? Do you know that when applying for jobs, companies screen you with health exams to make sure you're not HIV+? I was fired from a job at an ad agency when by boss found out I was gay. I was also kicked out of my condo apartment by the board after they found out. I could never be "straight acting" enough. The police ransacked a previous apartment I had shared with two other closet gays after complaints were filed by one of our neighbors, that we were running a "homosexual sex service"... I guess we just had too many male friends... I'm sorry; I don't want to go on about my life. The point is I come from a place like the US was in the 1950's and 60's. Only it was the 2000's. I'm just happy I'm here now and live in a place where a film like BBM is being raved about and getting awards, and it's out there for everyone to see. And that it is the amazing love story that it is. I was one of those people who were wiping off tears coming out from the theater, and I still get teary-eyed when I talk to people about it a week later. Last night I downloaded the score from the movie and I was practically bawling by the last song "The Wings" (that corresponds to the tragic ending of the film). But you know what? I wasn't crying because I was sad; it was because I'm happy that I still have a chance to truly love before my time runs out. Love without fear. Brokeback Mountain is reminding us all that if we want a change in our lives we have to take that risk. And not wait until it's too late. So people, stop whining and bickering and criticizing, and just try to see this film as I see it: a heroic and historic event in the long fight for our basic human right... to love.