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In 2004, Variety and The Advocate both published stories pondering whether playing gay had become not just acceptable, but even sought-after by A-listers, and whether Hollywood’s mainstream film industry was posed to undergo a similar queer representational revolution to the one we’ve seen happen on television over the past few years. David Rooney’s article “Film: It’s a Queer Eye for the Straight Thesp: Playing Gay Loses Stigma Among H’wood Actors,” published in last March’s issue of Variety, noted that “high-profile homosexual roles [are] being actively vied for by top talent,” mentioning Gyllenhaal and Ledger on a list of stars not afraid to play gay.

But Rooney also lamented that the fear of career suicide that keeps gay actors in the closet is far from over. Rooney quoted Kinsey’s director Bill Condon, explaining that “[t]he anxiety about coming out and losing parts because of it is still there, so it seems easier for undeniably heterosexual actors to play gay.” The Advocate’s September, 2004 article “The New Degaying of Hollywood,” admonished Lee among other directors, such as Andrew Davies and Oliver Stone for seeming to be “making gay movies without the ‘gay,’” downplaying male-male physical intimacy in films with queer content. Movies like De-Lovely and Alexander went on to do just that, with mixed success.

Is Brokeback making the same mistake? The answer seems to be no, as reports of steamy scenes of physical intimacy surfaced shortly after filming started. Gyllenhaal was quoted saying that Ledger nearly broke his nose while filming a kissing scene. "He grabs me and he slams me up against the wall and kisses me. And then I grab him and I slam him up against the wall and I kiss him. And we were doing take after take after take. I got the shit beat out of me.”

But will scenes like these make it into the film? In addition to cutting extraneous goodies like full frontal shots of Ledger’s jump into a lake, it has been suggested that Lee has cut some of the love scenes central to the prose version of the story’s plot, as well. Producer James Schamus told the Calgary Sun that the sexual aspect of the film’s content would be “modest” and geared towards viewers who enjoyed “romance.” Furthermore, Schamus said “there won’t even be any (explicit scenes) to show up on the DVD.”

Gyllenhaal remarked to the Malaysian Star that “clearly it’s pretty challenging material, but Ang said two men herding sheep was far more sexual than two men having sex on screen.” Perhaps the onscreen erotic punch of sheep herding just didn’t translate well to the Cannes judges; perhaps Brokeback, though based on a story all about heat, ends up lukewarm.

But confidential sources close to the film say gay viewers have nothing to worry about. "There are absolutely scenes of lovemaking between two men," reports our source, who has seen the film and says many studio executives were "moved to tears" at a recent screening of it. "It's a great American love story," says the source, and unabashed about the gay relationship that is central to the film.

The judges at Cannes reportedly don't particularly like Lee, either, so the film's rejection from the lineup may have nothing to do with the movie itself and everything to do with who's directing it.

Will Brokeback be bold enough to satisfy the gay community? Does that even matter, given that the subject matter itself is so ground-breaking? American audiences will have the chance to judge for themselves when the film hits theaters in December.

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