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The Food of Brokeback Mountain
I wrote about how this weekend I saw the movie Brokeback Mountain on DVD and I liked it. Most people think that this is a movie about two gay cowboys or the social influences and pressures of poverty and conformity in rural America. But in fact I sort of see it as a movie about food. There is not five minutes in the movie where they do not talk about food. These guys had a high fiber diet where they eat massive amounts of beans. These guys ate and drank the most manly macho way possible in a movie about a gay romance between cowboys.
They either show or talk about.
Cold Cheap American Beer in a bottle
There is something about a perfect cheap american beer in a bottle that makes it
Canned baked beans cooked over a fire
They had almost nothing but canned beans to eat up in the mountain originally. It looked like a classic Pork and Beans, Simple beans in a can or Baked beans. A nice thing is when you cook then over a wood fire they can get a bit smokey and it really kicks it up a notch.
Powdered Soup Mix
They wanted some dehydrated soup mix but never got it.
Sheep eaten by a wolf
A wolf had a nice dinner out of a little fluffy sheep.
Elk Venison steaks cooked in a pan
This actually looked damn good in a manly cave man sort of way.
Bud in a bottle and in a Mug
I personally can't freaking stand Bud and I would rather drink water
Warm whiskey right out of a flask or bottle
Jack and Ennis are are often seen downing a bottle of whiskey at room temperature and straight out of the bottle. It does not get any simpler than that. That is so hillbilly that it is almost zen.
Two Roast Turkeys with manly men carving
Jack sort of puts his father in law in place at thanksgiving dinner while he is carving and serving the roast turkey that his wife cooked. There is something super macho and primal caveman-ish about a guy cutting up the meat of a roasted animal and serving it. In the next scene Ennis is over at his ex-wife's place and her new husband is cutting up the bird with an electric knife. That is something that hard working and dirt poor Ennis would never buy and it disempowered him in the presence of his ex-wife's new guy.
Fresh water fish fried in a pan
Ennis and Jack we supposed to be fishing up in the mountain together but they never seemed to catch any fish. I used to love to go fishing with my dad in the rivers of eastern Washington and trout that you caught tasted incredible when cooked over a fire out in the woods. It is a damn shame that most of the rivers that my dad and I fished on are polluted to the point where it would be a bad idea to eat the fish.
Ketchup and condiments
The store manager points out that Ennis does not understand the word condiment but he understands catchup. My grandpa puts a thick layer of catsup on just about every thing of meat that he eats these days
Coffee and a slice of Pie
There are few things that are more iconic than a cup of coffee and a slice of pie at a rural diner. Makes me wish I had a nice slice of pie as I type this out.
Coffee and Cherry Cake
Jack's Mom offers Ennis a slice of home made cherry cake and a cup of coffee towards the end of the picture.
The director Ang Lee made a movie before called The Wedding Banquet where food was very important. But if Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger had to eat all the beans and meat that their characters did I would not want to share a tent with them regardless about how cold and lonely it got on the mountain.
Jake at April 26, 2006 
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Comments
And this is exactly why I read this site.
Posted by: Robert at April 27, 2006 1:58 AM
My city hasn't seen this film yet because there weren't enough film reels in NZ to satisfy demand.
Posted by: Matt at April 27, 2006 12:41 PM
That is freaking nuts Matt. It is a story about herding sheep for the first half of the film. Sure there is some man-kissing but the shepherding should be right at home with the Kiwis. At least it is out on DVD now.
Posted by: Jacob Metcalf ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.8bitjoystick.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 27, 2006 4:41 PM
Being from rural Montana there wasnt anything too abnormal to me about this film, well except for the whole gay homo sex thing of course. Nice observations on the food though.
Posted by: phoric at April 28, 2006 12:08 PM
The movie is definitely about the food.
The other emotional part of the film is just a decoration for the personal advertising for favorite food and drinks of the director.
Posted by: Marina loves pictures at May 10, 2006 5:14 AM
