"Brokeback Mountain" Pulled in Utah (choices, choice, hell)

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by Ðanisty

Well, that was exactly my point earlier in this thread. If he did not pull the movie because Mormons wanted him to, then why did he do it? It was my understanding that as a Stake President he was a representative of Mormons at least to some extent and that was exactly why he shouldn't be showing the film in the first place!

Every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should be a representivtive for good for their faith, but as a stake president he in now way has any official bit on how the Church feels as a whole.

It was just his opinions and his ideas.

[jonny]

Originally Posted by Ðanisty

Well, that was exactly my point earlier in this thread. If he did not pull the movie because Mormons wanted him to, then why did he do it? It was my understanding that as a Stake President he was a representative of Mormons at least to some extent and that was exactly why he shouldn't be showing the film in the first place!

I really have no idea why he pulled it and he hasn't said. If, as a Stake President, he felt it was his duty, he's got a lot of changes to make in his business practices. If he didn't feel comfortable with the industry, he shouldn't have got involved in the first place.

[Eynah]

Does this surprise me? No. Does this make me happy? No.

From the BBC article on it:

Gayle Ruzicka, president of the conservative Utah Eagle Forum, was in favour of the film being cancelled.

"I just think (pulling the show) tells the young people especially that maybe there is something wrong with this show," she said.

This really upset me the most about this whole thing. It's rated R. Most young people won't be able to see it. All it's doing, if anything, is making people who are homosexual more upset, and also in some cases afraid. I think what Ms. Ruzicka really meant to say is "This sort of thing is wrong" not the movie.

I don't understand why Larry H. Miller pulled it, from all that I've heard it's done tastefully. The gay sex scene is done better than the marriage sex scenes. I would have to see it to judge for myself, but the person who saw it I do trust.

As to people deciding what other people get to watch. I find that wrong and very annoying. If we were to only watch the movies I like to, then well, there wouldn't be very many new videos coming out to the movie theaters. There would be very few chick flicks, violence, religious, or anything else. Instead it'd probably be 90% repeats, Monty Python and all that. This is why it's good I'm not in charge of what movies people can and cannot see.

Larry H. Miller, please allow me to use my own money to purchase my own tickets to see the movie which I am allowed to see. It's not up to you, and I'd thank you to stay out of it next time.

[FFH]

Originally Posted by Ðanisty

Well, that was exactly my point earlier in this thread. If he did not pull the movie because Mormons wanted him to, then why did he do it? It was my understanding that as a Stake President he was a representative of Mormons at least to some extent and that was exactly why he shouldn't be showing the film in the first place!

I live just 15 minutes away from the theater that the movie was pulled from. I live in South Jordan and the movie was scheduled to show at one of his theaters, the Jordan Commons theater, in West Jordan. Only one of his theaters was going to show it, the one in West Jordan. Then just two hours prior to the showing he made the decision to cancel it. He turned away people and apologized for any inconvenience. I am not sure if he did this in person or not. He was on the news today and they showed him behind the concession stand of his theater. They said he owns 80 businesses now, including the Utah Jazz.

One thing you have to understand is that this West Jordan/South Jordan area, where the film was scheduled to be shown, is a bit different than the rest of the Salt Lake and surrounding areas. There are NO liquor stores, OR bars, OR restaurants that sell liquor. Only grocery stores sell liquor. This is a local ordinance, in South Jordan and West Jordan. Alcohol is not allowed to be sold, in any of the restaurants, in this area, and there are no state liquor stores, and absolutely no bars. There is absolutely no way that you will see any establishment, in the South Jordan or West Jordan areas, selling any alcohol, except in the grocery stores. This is my understanding. I just moved into the South Jordan area about a year ago. It's quite a bit different than Salt Lake and the surrounding areas.

If the movie had been shown in Larry's other theater in Sandy, then I think there MIGHT have been a different reaction. I am not sure. Sandy/Draper is directly east of the West Jordan/South Jordan area. The OTHER side of the tracks. The EAST side is the so-called, wealthier or older side of town, where I have spent 38 years of my life, and where Larry lives. The only person wealthier than Larry, in Utah, is John Huntsman, who lives on the east side, as well. I went to High school with his daughter. He has a very good family.

I think Larry Miller didn't realize that the people in the areas surrounding his theater, in West Jordan, would object to this movie, after all it was scheduled to be shown. I think the local community is a bit different here than the surrounding areas. Everything is not about money, it's about living a certain lifestyle. This may have played a role in the film being pulled.

We can overlook Larry Millers flaws, cause we all have them too, but when it came down to this movie I guess he seemed to push some people's buttons. He must have gotten complaints. Personally, I rarely go to the theater and did not hear about this until it was posted here in the forum by Jonny.

I also think Larry had to make a political/business decision, either offend the LDS community by showing it, or offend the BLGT community by not showing it. What would you do? If he shows it, then he may lose credibility with his LDS friends, if he doesn't show it, then he may lose many other friends in the community.

I think his decision was a personal decision, based on his moral obligations in the community, as a church leader, or Stake President, along with SOME local pressures. Maybe someone called Prsident Hinckley and complained to him about Larry's actions. I think this is what happend, and he was faced with losing his position or standing as a church leader.

I will look to see if there are any comments in the local news on this.

[nutshell]

My wife and I were talking about Brokeback Mountain today and we came to the conclusion that (at least for us) the most offensive/controversial part of the movie is that at least one of the characters is having an affair while he is married. This breaks the marriage contract/convenant and may have disasterous consequences for his children.

To clarify, it's not the homosexuality we have trouble with, it's people making the marriage commitment and then breaking it.

On Oprah, Heath Ledger defended this, saying the characters were in love and his character was unhappy in the marriage. My response: Selfish, selfish, selfish. Whether you're gay or not, marriage comes with a bundle of challenges and (again, in my opinion) unless there is some form of abuse, the committment must remain to the marriage, regardless of personal feelings and especially if there are kids involoved.

And no. Denying a married person's urge to a homosexual relationship is not abuse in my opinion. He freely entered the marriage and now he has a responsibility greater than himself to live up to.

Just my opinion.

thanks for reading', partner.