In Brief

Here in the land of the gay cowboys (or at least, the land of the gays who really want to meet cowboys) we've taken the Best Picture award particularly hard. There are articles in the Chronicle ("SF Gays saddened over 'Brokeback' loss") and a general sense of melancholy regarding the whole affair. Probably a big part of it is that the Academy Awards have no bigger supporter, usually, than the gay community, and they sort of feel stabbed in the back by Sunday's outcome. I can't really say for sure whether they're justified, because I haven't even seen Brokeback Mountain. I have seen Crash, however, and that's what I wanted to mention (if you haven't noticed by now, "brief" to me is three paragraphs; I need help).

Lots of people hated Crash. I'm not really sure why, as it had lots of suspense, really intricate characters, and an interesting plot. The big criticism, from what I've gathered, is that (and this is quoting from Fish's blog--even though she liked it too) "it's a heavy-handed lecture on racism". Well sure, and don't see Star Wars because they totally overdo it on the outerspace stuff. It's not heavy-handed: it's what the movie was about. Yes, the movie's opinion about racism was blatant. It wasn't subtle at all. It wasn't supposed to be.

Some think that Crash sets us back by showing that every race can believe in stereotypes, and that knowing that somehow makes it "okay" for everyone to be racist. I don't think the movie implies that at all--in the film, everyone who is racist is largely incorrect in their racist beliefs. If you think the movie gives you a free pass to distrust blacks, whites, hispanics, or anyone else, you need to look at yourself and ask why you were waiting for such a "free pass" in the first place.

Anyway, if you didn't like Crash because it lacked in subtlety, I think you need to realize that's exactly what made it an excellent film. It said--loudly--what many of us often think, and then made us uncomfortable by showing how stupid we are when we think those things. Of course, if you didn't like it because you think it had plot holes or bad acting or was boring, more power to you.