Vandalism hinders tolerance

Random thoughts Joshuah Marshall Commentary Editor

I was at a friend’s house a few weeks ago during the whole buzz about “Brokeback Mountain.” We were debating about whether or not to go and see it. You see, I’m lazy when it comes to going to movies that have a reputation for being good and long. I tend to become apprehensive about the possibility of having to sit through them, not because they are bad, but because emotionally draining movies just take so much effort.

During the decision-making process, I asked her why she didn’t invite her roommate to go instead (I had made the decision that I was too tired to invest in a movie). She said, “he didn’t want to go watch two guys make out.” She quickly followed by saying that he isn’t homophobic. At first I was somewhat perplexed by this answer, and chucked it up to this guy being who he is.

Later on that night, as I sat watching television, my mind turned to this subject and it became just plain baffling. Why would someone need to follow a statement about not wanting to see a movie about gay people with the comment that he is not homophobic?

Then again, I thought, I might be reading too much into this. After all, I am not really all that fond of this friend of a friend. If he does not want to see a movie that has won accolades across America, and chooses to miss out on something that the whole nation is talking about, it’s his loss, right? And if his rationale is that he does not want to see two guys making out, so be it.

Not really. I could understand if this movie was solely about guys making out. If the majority of the two-and-half hour movie contained passionate scenes of Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger engaged in tongue aerobics — maybe. But it isn’t. Instead, it is a movie about unacceptable love. How many times has this been a theme of so many movies involving a man and woman? The issue at hand with this movie is the same thing, only this time with two men.

My issue with such comments is not that people don’t want to see the movie in general. They could not like cowboy movies, Westerns, dramas or romances. They might not even like one of the settings of the movie, my hometown of Riverton, Wyo. These are all legitimate reasons to not see any movie. The idea that one would not want to see a movie because the two characters in love are gay, yet claim to not hold certain prejudices, seems a tad bit queer.

Before I weather the slings and arrows of people saying I advocate the creation of “ultra” political correctness even in private lives, and that I am not being tolerant of other people’s views, I would ask when are we so tolerant we tolerate intolerance? In the end, the movie is not about gay cowboys, but it is a Western movie about love. Dislike it for the right reasons, not for the wrong ones.

The last issue with my friend’s friend deals not with him, but rather with the fact we allow the statement, “I am not a homophobe, I just don’t want to see a movie about two gay men” to go unnoticed but take arms against, “I am not a racist, I just don’t want to see a movie about African-Americans.” Such examples illustrate the need for closer self-examination of our feelings and preconceived opinions toward the relevant issues of our day.

We all have our comfort zones, and certain things will make us feel uncomfortable. However, in college we should be pushing those comfort zones, challenging ourselves to think about tough issues, to look at things in a new light and to put ourselves in as many uncomfortable situations as possible. Not seeing a movie, reading a book, watching a show, going to an event or taking a class because it deals with issues that we “dislike” or make us uncomfortable should be unthinkable on a liberal arts campus.