The "Yuck" Factor

[piasharn]

I know, I'm a bit late in jumping on this bandwagon, but this article is just begging to be made fun of. Besides, finals are coming up next week, and this works well as a stress-reducer.

There is a lot of critical buzz preceding the upcoming Ang Lee film Brokeback Mountain (known alternately in most circles as The Gay Cowboy Movie). By now, predicting this movie will dot critics' year-end best in film lists is like predicting Tom Cruise will say something loony in the next six months. No, the real speculation on Brokeback Mountain is how it will be received by audiences.

I'm predicting it will not do very well, relatively speaking. It will likely make more at the box office (and on DVD and in the foreign market) than it cost, but regardless of how they spin it, I'm guessing American audiences will stay away in droves. Why?

The "yuck" factor.

For all of our modern cultural "enlightenment," and despite the pervasiveness of gay characters and stories all over American media, and regardless of the success of shows like "Will & Grace" and "Queer Eye," by and large Americans -- blue state, red state, Christian and non -- innately find homosexuality repulsive.

Someone needs to introduce this guy to slash and yaoi. Or at least point out all the girl-on-girl themed porn in this country that indicates at least some attraction to homoeroticism. Then again, in this guy's world, "homosexual" seems to apply exclusively to gay men and not gay women. (Oh, wait... I forgot. Lesbians don't really exist. They're just experimenting or waiting for Mr. Right to come along.)

It's part of our makeup. It's biological, it's conscience-born, it's part of the imago dei. It's part of a "moral aesthetic" most everyone bears latent. To be blunt, we know anal sex is gross, and we especially know anal sex between men is repulsive. Even for most of those who have no basis for which to call it a sin find the act itself "gross."

Of course, this obviously has nothing to do with cultural influences. That's why all societies that have ever existed have been unanimous in their disgust of homosexuality - especially the male/male variety. Just look at the ancient Greeks, Romans, Japanese, and Native Americans for perfect examples of how people everywhere despise gayness.

And anal sex is always icky. That's why you will never, ever find straight pornography that features it. Only icky gay people think anal sex is fun. Certainly not good, wholesome, Christian Americans.

It must be biology in action! No one could ever think that two men having sex is erotic.

Brokeback Mountain may win awards, but it will not have an audience who is not attending either out of perverse curiosity or some sense of liberal duty. The young ladies who are fans of Gyllenhaal and Ledger do not want to see them making out.

Of course they don't. That would be yucky.

Comments

[travellyr.livejournal.com]

*giggling madly* You're my hero, you know that?

Some people are incredibly... well, they have their heads up their butts to prevent anyone from anal sexing them while they're not looking.

[lyria.livejournal.com]

XD

Wordy McWord.

I'd think of something more intelligent to say, but I think you've covered all the bases.

*grins*

[antiquitydreams.livejournal.com]

My friend Steph sent me the link to this and I must say, it's bloody well hilarious! Well done indeed. XDD Poor guy, someone should introduce him to the legions of yaoi fan girls via buying him a ticket to yaoi-con.

[lee17.livejournal.com]

I found this article highly amusing...you might too.

And what is he thinking about not wanting to see Jake and Heath hook up? That's probably one of the best guy/guy hook ups of all time. Only thing better might be Ewan McGregor and Johnny Depp. (and has anyone seen Velvet Goldmine?) Plus, cowboys? HOT. (And I'm straight!)

[hiyami.livejournal.com]

The young ladies who are fans of Gyllenhaal and Ledger do not want to see them making out.

I think this definitely gives away the article's writer as someone who definitely hasn't talked to a lot of girls since, oh, 1950...

On the other hand, from the look of it, he may not even know that girls actually talk and have opinions of their own.

(Oh, wait... I forgot. Lesbians don't really exist. They're just experimenting or waiting for Mr. Right to come along.)

*laughs* Well of course. Don't you know that every girl needs a penis in her life? They can't LIVE without it!

[piasharn.livejournal.com]

*bows* I do my best to please...

In all seriousness, the article was so stupid (not to mention unresearched) that the rebuttal practically wrote itself.

[piasharn.livejournal.com]

I'm still not sure why so many people in this culture choose to ignore (or condemn) slash/yaoi. Is it due to the homophobia that is triggered by the male/male sexuality, or is it because of the misogynist attitude that women cannot/should not be sexual. Could it be both?

Or is it that some people are just idiots?

Re: *grins*

[piasharn.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

However, if I had the money to buy him a ticket to Yaoi-Con, I'd go instead. Why waste something that good on that guy? ^_-

[piasharn.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link; that's a great article. I'll have to pass it along.

I think slash/yaoi is hot, and I don't even like guys to begin with! (Although I must admit that Johnnt Depp is very sexy. I might make an exception for him.)

[piasharn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it certainly doesn't seem as if he believes that women are sexual creatures too.

And if I ever get a chance to go back in time, I think I'll go punch Freude in the nose for the whole "penis envy" crap he came up with.

[travellyr.livejournal.com]

Give 'im one for me too, dear. ¬_¬

[lyria.livejournal.com]

I think that, for a lot of people, slash/yaoi is still off the radar. And even if it is, the whole subject is met by most "outsiders" as something strange and a bit creepy. I mean, the thought of girls finding male/male sex hot is a little weird for those who don't understand anything about the genre.

I really think there's a lot of latent homophobia surrounding the subject, too.

And people are idiots. ^^

[lee17.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I noticed the slash thing from your artwork of Remus and Sirius (very smutty!). Hehe.