I read that whole article. I wasn't impressed with all the attitude the guy had. I'm going to withhold true discussion till I see the movie (this weekend) but I get the impression that BBM is different from most gay or gay themed movies.

Well, that's kind of David's point. It's really not that different and there have been more groundbreaking movies. At least, from his perspective. He seems annoyed by the perception that this is the first "gay movie" that's ever been made and I have to admit that I've gotten a sense of that attitude from the reviews myself.

The only difference I can see between this and a dozen other movies in the last decade is that this one takes on the iconography of the American Cowboy, something that's grossly overvalued in this society anyhow, but that's a different rant.

Other than that, the reviews I've read all have that same coy air of, "look how straight men can play gay so bravely!" that's annoyed me in reviews of other movies. In addition, many of the reviewers seem to think they deserve kudos for seeing, enjoying, and reviewing a movie with a gay love theme.

Either they're astonished that Ang Lee made a good movie, which is insulting to Ang Lee, or they're astonished that there are people in Hollywood who can play characters quite unlike their own personalities, which is insulting to all good actors.

Or are they saying it's an incredible movie and you should see it? If they are, why keep harping on the gayness of it all and the astounding heterosexuality of the actors?

It's 2006 and I'm annoyed that anything touching the subject of homosexuality is still being treated like the appearance of an alien race on the planet. If an actor can play a deranged, chainsaw-wielding psychopath without comment, why can't he play a gay character without comment? No one ever finds it necessary to say that the actor does not, in fact, relax with a well-sharped chainsaw in his spare time. (The President does, but again that's a different rant.)

This isn't to take anything away from the movie, which I haven't seen because I have enough problems right now without a sad love story breaking my heart. I'm talking purely about the reviews.