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Wednesday, December 7, 2005 12:00 AM

All quiet on the gay western front

Not wanting to give their foes free publicity, right-wing Christian groups say they won't boycott or picket "Brokeback Mountain."

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  • Thursday, December 8, 2005 06:45 AM

    Ghost of Westerns Past?

    'But Knight is really fired up about the affront to the ghosts of westerns past: "I think this shows that Hollywood can pervert anything. Part of the enduring appeal of westerns is the display of brotherhood, unhindered by sexualization. ... The western was a morality tale, so to make immorality the heart of this western is to violate the code of westerns. That's why it's not going to work." '

    This passage suggests that Christians like Knight understand neither the strength of Christianity's critique of social structures nor their own attachment to American mythology. The genre of the western is neither sacred nor inherently Christian; it is an American genre that reflects American ideas. Christianity, like Judaism before it, takes the mythologies of the nations it inhabits and turns them inside out. So for Knight and Co. to be upset about that BBM inverts the genre shows they are more deeply wed to the American mythos than to Christianity.

    And as for Sandy Dixon, someone should inform her there are enough gay cowboys to make up a gay rodeo circuit....

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