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Other Columns by Doug Patton
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Many thanks to film critic Michael Medved for his review of Hollywood's latest piece of social propaganda, "Brokeback Mountain." Medved has spared 98 percent of American males what he calls "the eww! factor" by warning us of its graphic scenes of homosexuality.

This "love story" is set in 1963 between two young, married sheepherders who seek regular fulfillment of their lust for each other by engaging in homosexual adultery while their unsuspecting wives sit home believing they are off together on "hunting trips."

Medved compares the film, which is skillfully directed by Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") to "Triumph of the Will," Leni Riefenstahl's 1934 documentary of Adolf Hitler: a brilliant, convincing bit of filmmaking, the sole purpose of which was to promote a political and/or social agenda.

Many believe that money trumps all else in Tinsel Town, but if that were true, why would Hollywood continue to make offensive movies no one wants to see? In the 1980s, Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" was a box office bomb. Critics loved it. Moviegoers hated it. Yet, did the moguls conclude that instead of Scorsese's vision of Jesus as some sort of flawed pervert, the public might prefer to see a portrayal of Jesus Christ that depicts His noble suffering for the sins of all humanity? Of course not. That vision took another fifteen years to bring to the screen, and when it did, Mel Gibson had to finance, produce, direct and promote "The Passion of the Christ" all by himself. Hollywood hated it. Critics panned it, attacked it, snubbed it and ignored it on Oscar night. Moviegoers gave it four stars and two thumbs up by spending more than a half billion of their hard-earned dollars to see it.

One might believe that numbers like those would have gotten someone's attention. Yet, have you seen "The Passion, Parts 2, 3 and 4" yet? No, and you won't, unless Gibson produces them.

Examples abound of overreaching Hollywood box office stink bombs meant to serve as propaganda. A couple of years ago, they gave us "The Day After Tomorrow," a global-warming-is-going-to-kill-us-all movie so ridiculous it caused audiences to laugh out loud. "Syriana," currently in theaters, rails against the American oil industry. "Jarhead," an engaging but incomplete view of the 1990 build-up to the Gulf War, robs U.S. Marines of their humanity by reducing them to sex-crazed killers.

Hollywood's obsession with deviant sex has become almost a cliché. Loving, monogamous sexual expression between a man a woman committed to each other and to their marriage vows has been relegated to its classic movie vaults. Today, human relationships rarely are explored onscreen sans freewheeling, irresponsible sex. Of course, any pain caused by such behavior is inevitably blamed on the repressive attitudes of a puritanical society that simply will not allow human beings the freedom to explore their true sexuality. "Brokeback Mountain" is no exception. The message is a ham-fisted attempt to persuade us that same-sex marriage would benefit us all. If only society would allow these two frustrated lovers to marry each other, the message goes, then everyone would live happily ever after. Yeah, right. Tell that to their humiliated wives.

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