Annie Proulx’s short story
From Written Word to Oscar Winner To Opera
Everyone knows about Ang Lee’s 2005 film Brokeback Mountain. It’s the one about two ranchers in the Wyoming mountains starring Jake Gyllenhaal and the late, great Heath Ledger. In the film, the two start a budding affair while out in the wilderness. They suggest it’s just a one-off thing to cope with the loneliness of the venture. But as the two grow closer, they realize it’s a deep-seeded, seemingly forbidden love.
That film, and its many nuances, was major. It was pretty much the first movie to take gay love out of the arthouse circuit and into a more mainstream market. It wasn’t successful at first, only grossing about half a million dollars in its opening weekend. Since then, the film has experienced a new surge in cinema with people appreciating its art and impact.
But did you know it’s also a short story?
The 26-page story by Annie Proulx was released in 1997. The film mirrors the story in the way the romance is set up: It kind of comes out of nowhere. For those who know nothing about Brokeback Mountain and haven’t seen the movie poster, nothing about the name suggests any kind of love story.
Proulx wastes no time jumping into the sexual relationship between Jack and Ennis. By page six, she describing their first hand and blow jobs by the campfire light: “Ennis ran full throttle on all roads whether fence mending or money spending, and he wanted none of it when Jack seized his left hand and brought it to his erect cock. Ennis jerked his hand away as though he’d touched fire, got to his knees, unbuckled his belt, shoved his pants down, hauled Jack onto all fours and, with the help of the clear slick and a little spit, entered him, nothing he’d done before but no instruction manual needed.”
Like all love stories, it didn’t go as planned. They tried to suppress the feelings they had for one another and to live their separate lives, but that didn’t work. Friendship led to affairs to heartbreak. Divorces happened for the both of them, and Jack died. The beautiful thing is he wanted his ashes spread on Brokeback Mountain where their story began.
Proulx’s beautiful story highlights the internal difficulties the LGBTQ community faces, especially in regard to conservative places where there is a social norm that is to be met. It has resonated so much that it was even transformed into an opera. Through the stories dialogue and descriptions, we can look forward to a time when people don’t feel the need to hide who they are. They can love who they love and keep the people who accept that in their lives. So as Pride Month comes to a close, read the short story and celebrate your identity with those you love most.
Click the link below to read “Brokeback Mountain.”
