THE MACLEOD GAZETTE — Wednesday, June 9, 2004, Page 5

DETAILS NEEDED ABOUT MOVIE

The Editor:

I, like so many other people in town, was excited to find out that Fort Macleod had been chosen as the site for the filming of a major motion picture.

What a boon to the community, both in terms of economic spin offs, as well as a boost in community pride. From the articles in the newspaper, I started building a mental picture of what the story to be portrayed would be like, and I was quite comfortable that what I imagined was befitting of the residents of this area.

I, like so many others, was also excited at the prospect of being an extra in this movie, and was prepared to go and stand in line with my wife and children just to get the opportunity to do so. However, the night before the casting call, I did a little research on the story line. A simple search of Brokeback Mountain on the Internet gave me enough information to decide to change my plans for the next day.

The first website I looked at was a Hollywood news site. On the page for upcoming releases was the headline, “Brokeback Mountain: Ang Lee’s controversial gay western.”

The Yahoo movie page gave a synopsis of the story. It spoke of two male cowboys who meet and fall in love while working together on a sheep farm in the early 1960s. It also talked about the backdrop of intolerance, hatred and violence that the two lovers’ tale was set against.

Another article talks about the end of the story in which both men leave their wives to be with one another.

I’m not angry that this is a movie about a homosexual relationship. Hollywood seems bent on pushing that particular agenda on the world, and will continue to do so, I’m sure. Besides, in light of recent changes to Canadian law, I would likely be courting legal action if I were to speak negatively about such things.

What has really been bugging me is that the production company was not upfront with our community in regard to the story line. They could have let us know and I’m sure many still would have gone out to the casting call. How many people, however, stood in line for hours, hoping for a shot at their five minutes of fame, only to find out later (or perhaps now) that they unwittingly compromised their own morals and values? How many business owners signed contracts without knowing the whole picture?

I guess what bugs me most is that the “wholesome, rural looking faces” that the casting company was looking for will become the backdrop of “intolerance, hatred and violence” that will help movie-goers sympathize with the protagonists. I guess if I were to choose my five minutes of fame, I’d want my family to be doing some thing more honourable than being portrayed as a bunch of homophobic rednecks.

Were we not perceived to be intelligent enough to deal with such a sensitive issue? I’m quite certain that people would have made up their minds one way or the other and the show would have gone on.

We, however, were not given the opportunity to make such decisions ahead of time, unless we checked things out on our own. We were given half-truths and less, and a halftruth is generally as good as a lie.

What did we do to deserve such deceit? I think we deserve better.

Rev. Noel Wygiera

Fort Macleod

[Reprinted with permission.]