Editor:
Larry Miller always struck me as a no-nonsense kind of guy. I was therefore surprised and disappointed to hear of the last-second decision to pull "Brokeback Mountain" from Jordan Commons. Refusing to carry the film in the first place demonstrates close-mindedness; previously agreeing to do so and then violating that agreement couples bigotry with bad business sense.
My wife and I saw "Brokeback Mountain" on Friday night. The story is not unfamiliar: two people, thrown together by circumstance, fall in love. They know that the world in which they live will not accept them, and they try their best to conform. But their love is undying, and they spend year after tortured year trying to express it while hiding it from those around them. Formulaic, really-only the two people are men.
"Brokeback Mountain" is a high-quality, well-made film. The sex scenes between the protagonists are far less explicit than in some PG-13 fare that I have been unfortunate enough to see.
The story itself cuts through stereotypes about homosexuality and poses difficult questions through brilliant directing and Oscar-worthy acting.
If thinking about the way our society either stigmatizes or refuses to deal with homosexuality makes you uncomfortable, perhaps you should go see another of the fine films currently playing at Miller's establishment.
Jordan Commons is currently carrying the number one film in the country, "Hostel," which includes scenes of torture so graphic that many moviegoers have grown ill and left theaters-a fact the moviemakers have heralded.
And if you are not in the mood for torture, you might try another high-class Jordan Commons feature, "Grandma's Boy," a "comedy" in which elderly women and young men spend time doing drugs together in between scenes of "strong crude and sexual humor."
Apparently, in Miller's view, these films deserve a screen at Jordan Commons more than "Brokeback Mountain." And I thought I knew this guy!
Steven Burt
Second-Year Law Student
