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It’s not like Hollywood hasn’t been willing to show or imply same-sex sex.  They’ve been doing it for decades. Unfortunately, it’s all been rapes or other forms of brutal sex, in movies like Deliverance, Q&A, Pulp Fiction, Fortune and Men’s Eyes, Prick Up Your Ears, Cruising, American History X, The Prince of Tides, Mystic River, and many, many other movies.

One of my big pet peeves is that so few people in Hollywood see the irony of an industry that is completely comfortable showing vicious gay rape scenes, but which goes absolutely bonkers over the idea of showing two men actually making love.

In 1982, Hollywood finally dared to go where they hadn’t before, in Making Love, which did, in fact, show the main characters make love (though the shadowy silhouettes were reportedly two hustlers hired by the producers, not the film’s actual male leads).

The few other movies in recent years with notable gay male sex scenes include My Own Private Idaho, Latter Days, The Lost Language of Cranes, Maurice, My Beautiful Launderette, and Priest (though this last film, a British production, had to be trimmed considerably for its very controversial stateside release).

Needless to say, these were all low budget, independent films.

Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee claims that his movie is a low budget, independent production too.  But Lee, the director of The Ice Storm and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, is about as A-list as directors get.  Meanwhile, Brokeback Mountain stars two red-hot up-and-coming male leads.

The talent involved with Brokeback Mountain, not to mention a considerable promotional budget, guarantees that it will get lots of attention.

Are American audiences ready for gay male sex scenes that don’t involve someone getting raped?  Can the movie break out beyond its blue-state/urban-area target audience, where at least a modest success seems assured?

The evidence suggests that there’s a market for films with implied or explicit gay male sex. Pay cable television has had big hits with programming like Six Feet Under and Queer as Folk, which, ironically, are far more explicit than almost anything you can see in the movies.

But the real answer will come upon Brokeback Mountain‘s limited release in December, and its wide release in January 2006. If the movie is a hit, expect to see lots more gay love stories on film (and expect to see lots of exploding heads on the Christian right).

But if the movie tanks, well, banish all thoughts of ever watching Jude Law get it on with Ashton Kutcher.  We might not see Ewan McGregor’s penis again for another ten years, which is really saying something.

I know that’s a lot of pressure to put on the reluctant, sun-burned shoulders of one little cowboy movie.  But hey, this is my column, so as usual, I get the Last Gay Word.

Visit our Brokeback Mountain section for more news and commentary

Brent Hartinger is the author of the gay teen novel, Geography Club, which is currently being adapted for the movies. The sequel, The Order of the Poison Oak, is in stores now.  Explore “Brent’s Brain,” his website, at brenthartinger.com.

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