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Article: Not a gay cowboy movie? Brokeback Mountain and the importance of genre.(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- Journal of Popular Film & Television
- Article date:
- March 22, 2009
- Author:
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Abstract: Many critics refused Broke-back Mountain's narrative image as "the gay cowboy movie," challenging both its "gayness" and its status as a Western. Using genre theory, popular criticism, and the work of Frederic Jameson, this article explores the progressive work accomplished by the film's genre classification as a Western.
Keywords: Brokeback Mountain, gay studies, genre, Frederic Jameson, Western
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Long before its release on December 9, 2005, Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain had what John Ellis calls a "narrative image"--"an idea of the film" that is the "cinema's anticipatory reply to the question: 'What is the film like?"' ...