Brokeback Mountain vs. Weekend: The Difference of Time and Intent
Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New) meet at a gay club one Friday night in Nottingham, England in Andrew Haigh’s 2011 indie romance Weekend. The two men have a one-night stand that unexpectedly grows into something much more profound over the course of a weekend. Russell, the romantic who harbors a secret shame of his sexuality despite being out to his friends, and Glen, the heartbroken artist who’s comfortable in his sexuality but afraid of being hurt again, come together for a fleeting, finite time to impact each other in ways that extend far beyond their time together, and their eventual goodbyes.
Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, released in 2005, is a
film set in the 1960s in primarily Wyoming and Texas. Jack Twist (Jake
Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) are ranch hands who meet on a
sheep herding job. Over their time working together, the two men develop
feelings for each other and eventually begin an illicit affair together that
spans years and miles and remains intact through both of their respective
marriages to women. It’s a rocky and tumultuous relationship that ultimately
ends in tragedy.
These two films, in large part, are vastly different from
one another. However, both were stories of gay men that were released roughly
within a decade of each other. Despite their differences, it’s an interesting
game to compare and contrast one film that is wildly popular and influential,
and another that is much more niche. To compare and contrast these films is to
analyze how they operate as queer media, and how they go about telling their
respective stories contributes to the discussion and even conceptions of gay
men.
Considering the plot of Weekend only takes place
over, well, a weekend, the romance between Russell and Glen feels authentic,
the chemistry between them is palpable, and the progression of the relationship
feels natural. This film gives its romance the same respect a heterosexual
couple would get without sanitizing itself. One of its true strengths is that
it is undeniably a gay love story. Throughout the film, Russell struggles with
self-acceptance in a way that is intrinsically tied to his sexuality. It
showcases the sex culture of the community. Multiple times throughout the film
Russell and Glen talk about sexuality and uniquely queer experiences. Because
of this, the film is impossible to replicate as a straight love story because,
and I’ll say it again, it is a gay love story. It’s a queer story for
queer people, and I admire it so much for not shying away from that.
Brokeback Mountain is similar to Weekend in
that the development and chemistry between the two main characters feel
natural. I would say that it is also undeniably a gay love story. It deals with
issues of toxic masculinity and external and internal homophobia. These are
issues tied intrinsically to sexuality. Like Weekend, this story cannot
be recreated with a heterosexual couple. However, I cannot say that this film
is a queer love story for queer people. The purpose of Brokeback was to
push the envelope, to bring forth people to mainstream media who were forced to
exist either in the shadows or in one-dimensional stereotypes. Its purpose was
more to get straight people to watch this and force a very necessary
conversation. Making this film a Western was internally intentional, seeing as
it’s a genre that is all about masculinity and machismo displays of manhood.
It’s also no coincidence that there were posters featuring Jack and Ennis with
their respective wives as a way to sort of “trick” straight people into the
theatres (or straight-baiting if you will, which, as a queer person who has
been queer-baited before, I think is kind of funny, but that’s not really the
point). Anyway, the point is that, while I don’t think this film excludes queer
people, I do think that a big intention of it was to get straight people to
watch and force conversations of sexuality and performativity outside of the
LGBTQ+ community.
Both films also showcase how other queer people affect each
other. Weekend does so in a much more positive way. While Russell and
Glen have obvious sexual and romantic desires for each other, their impact on
one another reaches beyond their romantic entanglement. As two gay men, they
have insights into the queer world that cannot get from their straight peers.
One of the biggest issues Russel faces as a character is the shame of his
sexuality, and I think it has something to do with the fact that Russell’s
friend group is (presumably) comprised of straight people. Russell is out to
his friends and they’re accepting him, but his body language and facial
expression give the impression, that despite how much he loves his friends and
how much they love him, he feels lonely. Being around Glen helps Russell come
to a more accepting place. It’s essentially saying that it’s important for
queer people, whether it’s romantic or platonic, to have other queer people in
their life. It’s a story about two gay men falling for each other, but it’s a
story about two queer people having a lasting positive effect on each other.
Brokeback focuses on romance and how a
heteronormative and homophobic society affects their ability to be together.
The lasting impact that Jack and Ennis leave on each other is nowhere near as
positive as in Weekend. In fact, it’s tragic. Jack and Ennis end their
relationship, with Jack developing feelings for another man, Randall (David
Harbor), and Ennis is left alone still refusing to accept his sexuality. It
isn’t implied that Ennis accepts himself, at least to some degree, and his
relationship with Jack until he finds out Jack is dead, and weeps into one of
Jack’s jackets. Ennis weeping so freely over Jack represents him shedding this
ideal of masculinity that he clutched onto for so long and embracing that softer
side he’d been denying himself. In Weekend, Russell and Glen are better
off for having known each other, and despite their separation, are headed
towards a brighter and promising future. In Brokeback, it’s hard to
argue that they ended up in a better place, considering that Jack was murdered
and Ennis ended up grieving all alone.
Overall, I’m fond of both of these films. I love Brokeback
Mountain. It was the first queer movie I ever watched as a teenager who was
just figuring out her own sexuality. It made an impact on me because of that.
Not to mention it’s beautifully acted and directed, and it also had a huge
impact on queer media in mainstream media. It kicked open a door not just for a
conversation but also for more queer media to be made. However, I can
acknowledge that it does have problems. People often criticize it for feeding
into the “bury-your-gays” trope, for adhering to queer tragedy without
exploring queer joy, and for perpetuating an idea of violence – all of which
are valid criticisms and ones I agree with.
As for Weekend, it isn’t as imboiled in controversy,
in part because it’s not as well known, but also because it caters to a queer
audience. It handles sexuality and masculinity in a more subtle, intricate, and
less dramatized way than Brokeback. It also ends on a positive note, in
which both characters are at peace and neither of them dies. However, it
has its issues, mainly with concerns of consent (Russell and Glen’s sexual
encounters involved both of them getting high and/or drunk beforehand) which
was, unfortunately, fairly typical for a romance film that’s set in the 2010s.
While both parties seemed happy the morning after, it’s still something
that is worthy of questioning.
It's fair to compare and contrast these two films, but It’s
unfair to do so without acknowledging that both are set in different cultures
in completely different time periods. Of course, a film set in the 1960s
through 1980s in western and southern America is going to deal more heavily
with toxic masculinity and homophobia, than a film set in Europe in the 2010s.
One kicked the door open for more opportunities, and the other existed in a
time after that door was kicked open. As I said before, both serve different
purposes and different target audiences. While criticism is entirely fair, I
also think they deserve their praises for portraying queer love in a world that
was far too hesitant to accept it.
Works Cited
Brokeback Mountain. Directed
by Ang Lee, Focus Features, 2005.
Weekend. Directed by Andrew
Haigh, Peccadillo Pictures, 2011.
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