“Brokeback Mountain”
On average, I travel to Atlanta twice each year. This past weekend, I went for the following:
1. To visit with Brent J. who flew in from seminary to attend a friend’s wedding;
2. To visit with the other friends who also traveled to Atlanta to see Brent;
3. To do all my Christmas shopping with my sister so she could give advice and opinions;
4. To buy my annual fountain pen; and
5. To visit with Hunter.
You may remember Hunter from a previous post: he’s my ex-b/f who has been living in Atlanta for a few years. On average, we meet up for coffee or lunch about once every 18 months. I love him and can’t think of a reason I shouldn’t, although by God’s grace my love for him has grown beyond (and deeper than) what it once was.
After my recent post about RENT, I forwarded it to Hunter because I wanted him both to know that I mentioned him in a post and to read my current thoughts about RENT. He replied, saying that my description was just like he remembered it. Since I was planning to be in Atlanta, I suggested that we grab lunch or catch a movie while I was in town.
I suggested Brokeback Mountain because I knew it wouldn’t be playing in Athens any time soon, if ever. If you haven’t heard about this movie, you probably will. It is generating some of the biggest buzz any movie has received in years, and critics seem to be in a competition to outdo each other in expressing admiration and awe at Ang Lee’s latest film. It has been nominated for and/or won a number of awards, and critics are already saying it is a strong Oscar contender for Best Picture, Best Director (Ang Lee), and Best Actor (Heath Ledger).
You may want to ask the obvious question at this point: why would I go see a movie that approvingly and unflinchingly depicts the very lifestyle, or at least one expression of it, that God has called me to leave? And that’s a good question. My reasons for wanting to see it are complex, even to me, so I sought God’s face about it and asked others to pray and ask for God to give them wisdom regarding whether I should see it.
I am glad I saw it so that I can give an honest warning to others: do not see this film. Of course, those of you who allow your rebellious nature to lead you to see it just because I said not to, then my warning means nothing. But, if you are willing to listen to someone who has learned of Satan’s ways through experience and God’s grace, then read on.
The movie is based on a short story, and that short story is very well crafted. Unfortunately, it is well crafted so that the reader will sympathize deeply with the two main characters’ struggle to express themselves with each other homosexually. It is not about the deep love between two male friends. It is about their sexual attraction to each other.
And the audience bites, and bites hard. There is a scene where the two men reunite four years after their first encounter while herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain. They are both married with children at this point, and when Jack shows up at Ennis’ door, Ennis runs to greet him. Realizing the danger they face if anyone sees their embrace, they push each other between two buildings and passionately kiss. Ennis’ wife opens the door and sees them, but they don’t see her.
The audience’s reaction at that moment was to laugh uproariously. They were clearly rooting for the two men, despite the characters' marriages or their children.
Five years ago, I might have laughed along with them, thinking her a fool for getting in the way of her husband’s true self. But God’s grace was with me, and I sat in shock and sadness as I watched the scene unfold through God’s eyes. Perhaps my own experience with my father cheating on my mother played a part, but that would just be God’s grace in using sin done to me to let me see things the way He does.
And it makes Him weep: not because He can’t change things, but because these things are necessary in order for His glory to be magnified.
One of my concerns about seeing the movie was that I would succumb to the sympathy that the story intends to generate. It is a powerful story and takes advantage of the culture in which it stands. The sympathy is made more poignant because the characters’ lives are very bleak. Jack is murdered because he is homosexual. Ennis ends up divorced and never remarries, living alone and isolated.
We should be the first to rise up against people who hate and murder others, no matter their reason. We should weep with those who feel alone and abandoned. We should mourn the deep effects of sin in the lives of others, and with true compassion. But compassion without personal confession is mere condescension. Critics of Christianity (and Christians) are right to reveal and proclaim the hypocrisy or arrogance of Christians who hide their self-righteousness behind clichés like “love the sinner but hate the sin”.
But we should be very wary of allowing the collective sin of our culture to affect us, especially in subtle ways. Consider what happens as you watch the TV show “Will & Grace” and laugh at Jack’s effeminacy or Karen’s pretentiousness. Consider how you are affected as you root for Will to fall in love or at least find a partner to end his loneliness. It is small compromises that slowly kill our willingness to hear God at every moment. It is the small disobediences that open gateways to the larger.
So my plea that you not see this movie is lovingly protective: you will be affected. I was. I still am.
But after I walked Hunter to his car, I left and spent the ride back to Athens crying for the millions who are living bleak lives and feel that there is no hope. For people like Jack and Ennis (and me) who feel a longing for intimacy but know that it won’t be met as fully as they hope. For people who desperately want to be loved but won’t look to Christ. For people who struggle with homosexual feelings and don’t love the Truth.
God confirmed His call for me on the way home, and I literally felt Him keeping the enemy at bay. Thank you for those of y’all who were praying. He heard. They both heard.
If you see the movie’s promo poster, the tagline reads, “Love is a force of nature.” I hope you see the agenda in that. But even if you don’t, know that nature is a force of God, and only He can define what is True about it. All creatures must submit, and one day all will.
For His glory alone!
1. To visit with Brent J. who flew in from seminary to attend a friend’s wedding;
2. To visit with the other friends who also traveled to Atlanta to see Brent;
3. To do all my Christmas shopping with my sister so she could give advice and opinions;
4. To buy my annual fountain pen; and
5. To visit with Hunter.
You may remember Hunter from a previous post: he’s my ex-b/f who has been living in Atlanta for a few years. On average, we meet up for coffee or lunch about once every 18 months. I love him and can’t think of a reason I shouldn’t, although by God’s grace my love for him has grown beyond (and deeper than) what it once was.
After my recent post about RENT, I forwarded it to Hunter because I wanted him both to know that I mentioned him in a post and to read my current thoughts about RENT. He replied, saying that my description was just like he remembered it. Since I was planning to be in Atlanta, I suggested that we grab lunch or catch a movie while I was in town.
I suggested Brokeback Mountain because I knew it wouldn’t be playing in Athens any time soon, if ever. If you haven’t heard about this movie, you probably will. It is generating some of the biggest buzz any movie has received in years, and critics seem to be in a competition to outdo each other in expressing admiration and awe at Ang Lee’s latest film. It has been nominated for and/or won a number of awards, and critics are already saying it is a strong Oscar contender for Best Picture, Best Director (Ang Lee), and Best Actor (Heath Ledger).
You may want to ask the obvious question at this point: why would I go see a movie that approvingly and unflinchingly depicts the very lifestyle, or at least one expression of it, that God has called me to leave? And that’s a good question. My reasons for wanting to see it are complex, even to me, so I sought God’s face about it and asked others to pray and ask for God to give them wisdom regarding whether I should see it.
I am glad I saw it so that I can give an honest warning to others: do not see this film. Of course, those of you who allow your rebellious nature to lead you to see it just because I said not to, then my warning means nothing. But, if you are willing to listen to someone who has learned of Satan’s ways through experience and God’s grace, then read on.
The movie is based on a short story, and that short story is very well crafted. Unfortunately, it is well crafted so that the reader will sympathize deeply with the two main characters’ struggle to express themselves with each other homosexually. It is not about the deep love between two male friends. It is about their sexual attraction to each other.
And the audience bites, and bites hard. There is a scene where the two men reunite four years after their first encounter while herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain. They are both married with children at this point, and when Jack shows up at Ennis’ door, Ennis runs to greet him. Realizing the danger they face if anyone sees their embrace, they push each other between two buildings and passionately kiss. Ennis’ wife opens the door and sees them, but they don’t see her.
The audience’s reaction at that moment was to laugh uproariously. They were clearly rooting for the two men, despite the characters' marriages or their children.
Five years ago, I might have laughed along with them, thinking her a fool for getting in the way of her husband’s true self. But God’s grace was with me, and I sat in shock and sadness as I watched the scene unfold through God’s eyes. Perhaps my own experience with my father cheating on my mother played a part, but that would just be God’s grace in using sin done to me to let me see things the way He does.
And it makes Him weep: not because He can’t change things, but because these things are necessary in order for His glory to be magnified.
One of my concerns about seeing the movie was that I would succumb to the sympathy that the story intends to generate. It is a powerful story and takes advantage of the culture in which it stands. The sympathy is made more poignant because the characters’ lives are very bleak. Jack is murdered because he is homosexual. Ennis ends up divorced and never remarries, living alone and isolated.
We should be the first to rise up against people who hate and murder others, no matter their reason. We should weep with those who feel alone and abandoned. We should mourn the deep effects of sin in the lives of others, and with true compassion. But compassion without personal confession is mere condescension. Critics of Christianity (and Christians) are right to reveal and proclaim the hypocrisy or arrogance of Christians who hide their self-righteousness behind clichés like “love the sinner but hate the sin”.
But we should be very wary of allowing the collective sin of our culture to affect us, especially in subtle ways. Consider what happens as you watch the TV show “Will & Grace” and laugh at Jack’s effeminacy or Karen’s pretentiousness. Consider how you are affected as you root for Will to fall in love or at least find a partner to end his loneliness. It is small compromises that slowly kill our willingness to hear God at every moment. It is the small disobediences that open gateways to the larger.
So my plea that you not see this movie is lovingly protective: you will be affected. I was. I still am.
But after I walked Hunter to his car, I left and spent the ride back to Athens crying for the millions who are living bleak lives and feel that there is no hope. For people like Jack and Ennis (and me) who feel a longing for intimacy but know that it won’t be met as fully as they hope. For people who desperately want to be loved but won’t look to Christ. For people who struggle with homosexual feelings and don’t love the Truth.
God confirmed His call for me on the way home, and I literally felt Him keeping the enemy at bay. Thank you for those of y’all who were praying. He heard. They both heard.
If you see the movie’s promo poster, the tagline reads, “Love is a force of nature.” I hope you see the agenda in that. But even if you don’t, know that nature is a force of God, and only He can define what is True about it. All creatures must submit, and one day all will.
For His glory alone!
posted by Jason at 8:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home