Thumbs Down: Roger Ebert Takes on the Brokeback Mountain Controversy

AfterElton.com: Let's cut to the chase. Do you think homophobia played a part in Brokeback Mountain's upset loss to Crash?
Roger Ebert: Okay, here's my position. First of all, I believe Crash was the best picture of the year. And I believe that Brokeback is a great picture. And so was Munich. All three were in my top five. Did some people vote against Brokeback Mountain because of homophobia? Yes. Was the Academy homophobic and that was why they didn't make it best Picture? I don't think so. I don't think that was the deciding factor. I think that it was probably third among the motives.

I think a lot of people voted for [Crash] because they thought it was the best picture. Some people voted for it because [unlike Brokeback Mountain] it was a Los Angeles production, and in the business, that actually does control votes. And there were probably some people who voted against it because they don't like gay people.

AE: So you don't think Hollywood is terribly homophobic?
RE: The membership of the Academy, and the working population of the Hollywood branch of the industry, is less homophobic than almost any other group you could name. But they are xenophobic. And given the choice of a movie that has dozens of actors in it and was shot in Los Angeles with union crews, and what is perceived as a runaway production [Brokeback Mountain], [that] didn't even shoot in Wyoming, but Canada, there are people who might have voted for the local picture because they are thinking of their own paychecks and [wondering] why should all that money go in Canadian pockets?

AE: But that has been the case for a long time. Lord of the Rings was all shot in New Zealand, but that didn't stop the Academy from rewarding it. There have been plenty of other films shot overseas.
RE: But the third one won [Lord of the Rings], the other two didn't.

AE: So for you, those reasons explain away all of the historical precedents that predicted Brokeback Mountain should have won? I'm talking about the fact that Brokeback Mountain had a combination of factors—awards, box office, critical acclaim, Oscars nods—that no other movie has had and then not won Best Picture.
RE: Here is the thing that confuses me: All of the awards that Brokeback won would seem to indicate that those people were not homophobic. Did they become homophobic when it came to the top category for the Oscars ? They were able to vote for Best Director, but then they became homophobic when they got to the next category? I don't know. My two primary positions are Crash was the best movie, and you are not a homophobe if you think Crash is the best movie. Because that is the sort of email I've been getting.

AE: Has the reaction been bad?
RE: The emails have ranged from outright vitriol, to some of the most articulate, well-reasoned emails I've ever received on anything. A lot of feedback, most of the public feedback, has been negative. Not a lot of gay spokesmen, critics, commentator, not a single one said, “Oh, by the way I'm gay, but I thought Crash was a better picture.”

I've been told that I am evil. I've been told that I am behind the persecution of millions of Americans. That I have encouraged hate toward gays. I've received both very brief and obscene messages and very long and literate messages that tell me a vote for Crash was vote for homophobia. See, that is what I object to. It is not that I'm saying so much that homophobia didn't have anything to do with it. But I do believe that it is quite possible to prefer Crash and not be a homophobe. I've received a lot of email that doesn't seem to think so. You're either with us or against us. If you are not a homophobe, you will vote for Brokeback Mountain.

AE: I think many gay people would feel better if Crash had been running closer to Brokeback. Its win wouldn't seem so suspect. Even the Las Vegas odds-makers had Brokeback as a sure thing. To then have it lose has been hard for a lot of people to accept.
RE: You know last year my wife and I went to the Kentucky Derby and the horse my wife bet on she bet on because horse that had the same name as Sting's son and she is a Sting fan. The odds on it were fifty to one and it won, and we we're surrounded by a hell of a lot of pissed off people. How could the fifty to one long-shot win the Kentucky Derby? Occasionally your horse doesn't win.

AE: Not to repeat myself, but for gay people knowledgeable about the Oscars, what came as such a sucker punch—
RE: Where did this backlash come from? Is what you're wondering when it [Brokeback] was in the lead passing the far turn?

AE: Yes. Again, looking at all the historical precedents the Academy had used over the years as the guideline.
RE: But it didn't win the Editors Guild and no Best Picture in decades has won without winning the Editors Guild. [It Happened One Night, The Godfather II, Annie Hall and Ordinary People all won without the Editor's Guild award.]

AE: Even that doesn't explain how Crash could have won.
RE: I know exactly what you're saying.

AE: Based on all of that, is it not possible that homophobia played a larger role? And I'm not talking the kind of I-hate-all-gay-people homophobia, but--
RE: More of the academy sending a message about itself.

AE: Exactly!
RE: Sort of like, we make slasher movies all year long, but here is our typical product—Gandhi! The Academy does tend to nominate movies that they think will reflect favorably on it. But this year, the Academy nominated five movies that were criticized in many circles for not representing the taste of the public. The top movies of last year included Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Wedding Crashers and these pictures were not nominated. The Academy's choice of pictures were pretty sound.

Let's back up a second. Of course, the Academy is not exactly the same people who are the Writers, Producers, [and] Directors guild, but they'll vote for it [Brokeback] for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Score but they won't vote for it for Pest Picture. Why won't they? Is it because they're afraid people will think Hollywood is now catering to or supports gay people? I suppose that there were some votes cast on that basis. The Oscars are not a very perfect process.

AE: So because Brokeback Mountain won most everything but the Oscar for Best Picture, it proves that Hollywood isn't homophobic?
RE: It proves that the people who voted for it for everything else are not homophobic.

AE: I guess for a lot of gay people, giving Brokeback Mountain the other awards, but not Best Picture is just what Kenneth Turan said, that it feels like a very safe choice to do.
RE: Well, this of course is all open for debate. The Academy doesn't have a meeting to decide these things. I have gone to a lot of meetings with people over the past few months because I've been on a book tour. I've talked at bookstores, talking to whomever you can peddle your books, and those people I talk to in those groups overwhelmingly--and I'm not saying this because I think so--thought Crash was the Best Picture of the year.