I decided to see "Brokeback Mountain" because I had been questioning Marquette's decision to show it. Though some would claim the movie's previews satisfy a critical analysis (c'mon, they're gay), I know the overall message is more important than the topic matter.

Marquette's showing "Brokeback" implies more than the movie is well-made. The Office of Student Development must not approve every good flick Hollywood spits out, lest we be stripped of our catholic identity. To feature this movie is to endorse it as either falling within a catholic realm (endorses, accepts, or informs Catholicism or its values) or as an analytical necessity, a movie that evokes discussion worthy of our values.

I feel the issue of homosexuality is not black and white even within the Catholic Church. I therefore decided "Brokeback" would have to be significantly one-sided in order to receive my disapproval. Many would argue that such an approach makes acceptance too easy. However, I would argue two points: Political debate regarding homosexuality is so pervasive that to deny either voice would be an injustice to us scholars (even on a Catholic campus), and the Catholic Church feels homosexually-inclined persons "must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity" (#2357).

The first sexual encounter between the characters was rather brutish. The characters Ennis and Jack neither kissed nor embraced and are clearly influenced by their sexual drives alone. To further this point, both reasserted their heterosexuality the next morning.

After this rather distasteful scene, the film went in a direction I did not expect. Homosexuality became a side issue in the complicated layer story of love, personal responsibility and consequence. "Brokeback" did not seem to have an agenda. Rather, it became a truthful depiction of the anguish created under the stress of multiple love partners.

The Catholic Church teaches the sanctity of a sexual relationship and the boundaries within which it may exist. The film's pitiful standards on sexual justification became a strong argument against my endorsement. For instance, that Ennis and Jack were in love was sufficient for a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, the men continued relations with their wives. By definition that love exists between two people alone, "Brokeback" is then declaring that love is not a necessary requirement for sex.

Nevertheless, "Brokeback" was a love story. Rather than being a vehicle for homosexual marriage or accusing modern society of homophobia, it depicted the suffering created when two men abandoned personal responsibility for their own forbidden love. It also called attention to different members of society, some of whom empathized with their plight, and some of whom maliciously enhanced it. Though I feel the movie over portrayed the tendency toward homophobic violence in the 1970s, I agree with its motive for further understanding.

Displaying the perpetrators of irresponsible love as inflictors and receivers of pain serves to encourage discussion rather than merely propagate a viewpoint. Though it falls very short of existing within a Catholic realm, it contains important values worthy of discussion on a Catholic campus. I have decided "Brokeback Mountain" is an important piece of work which Marquette was justified in showing.