Is Brokeback Mountain a Hit? Or is the media trying to make it one?

First of all, I couldn't care less if you want to watch Brokeback Mountain, just as I couldn't care less if you want to watch King Kong, or Cheaper by the Dozen 2, or any other movie out there. But it seems that someone really wants Brokeback Mountain to be considered a "hit." Consider this blurb from the AP wire service:

The Ang Lee film [Brokeback Mountain], which follows the 20-year forbidden romance between two roughneck ranch hands, earned $13,599 per theater, compared with $9,305 for weekend winner "King Kong" and $8,225 for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

This blurb is under the headline: 'Brokeback' a Box Office Success So Far

Well, the headline is strong, and the statistic of amount-per-screen is certainly interesting. However, does that statistic really tell us how successful the movie is? Truth be told, it tells me absolutely nothing about how much the movie has actually made, in total, or how many people have actually seen it. Check the entire story out for yourself. You won't find this information anywhere. Oh, sure. There's lot's of information about creating a "buzz" and getting people "interested" in the movie, but the movie's been out for about a month now, and this story about how "successful" the movie is doesn't mention how much it's made.

Now, consider this top ten list from last week:

1. "King Kong," $31.4 million.

2. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," $30.1 million.

3. "Fun With Dick and Jane," $23.5 million.

4. "Cheaper by the Dozen 2," $14.8 million.

5. "The Family Stone," $10.9 million.

6. "Memoirs of a Geisha," $10.2 million.

7. "The Ringer," $8.4 million.

8. "Rumor Has It," $7.5 million.

9. "Wolf Creek," $5.9 million.

10. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," $5.7 million.

I'm not seeing Brokeback Mountain in there, are you? If Brokeback is so successful, why is it not appearing in the top ten, after having been released for less than three weeks?

In fact, if you look at the daily box office chart, while Brokeback is in the top 15, it's only made a little more than 9.3 million in 20 days. To be sure, that's in 217 theaters, but doesn't that limited release suggest a limited appeal? (And, to compare, Munich has been out only 6 days (in a little more than 500 theaters) and has earned 8.3 million bucks.)

The point is this: I don't care what movie you go see. But I believe that it's horribly manipulative for the Hollywood powers-that-be to try to turn the movie into something that it's not, and that's a film with mass audience appeal.

I know that the Hollywood elite really want us to go see this movie. I've heard it suggested that this campaign by Hollywood is to help further the "normalization" of homosexual relationships, but I don't accept that premise at all. I believe that the majority in this country is far more accepting, far more tolerant, and far more understanding of the reality of homosexuality without having to create fear that we're being "coerced" to attend a movie about it. I do believe, however, that the campaign to make "Brokeback" a hit (or at least claim that it is one) is an example of a certain segment of the Hollywood intelligentsia wanting to be on board with a movie that's a "big hit" and that is "important" because it is making a "statement" that everyone should hear.

Let's be real. No matter how well the movie is made, no matter how touching the love story is, no matter how big the "statement" is, "Brokeback" has no mass appeal. I don't think that that's a bad thing, or a good thing. It's just a fact of life -- a gay cowboy story is simply not a big draw for the majority of people, regardless of how talented the actors in the movie are, or how gifted the director may be, or how "important" the message is.

I believe that a majority of the people understand that two men can fall in love, and have a long lasting and deeply felt, loving relationship. I just don't believe that we all must see a movie about it, anymore than I believe that we must see a movie about an elementary school student participating in a spelling bee, or a biography about a country-western legend (which, by the way, has earned close to a hundred million bucks).

"Brokeback Mountain" is a high-concept movie, with limited appeal, that tells a sweet story and carries a strong message. It is, however, a niche movie, and even with all the help in the world, the Hollywood powers-that-be ain't gonna move that mountain into the mainstream. I wish they wouldn't try, because their efforts are as strained as they are misguided, and they serve to detract from the movie itself.