Brokeback Mountain and the ‘Gay Western’ Oscars Legacy

With the 97th Oscars fast approaching amid controversy surrounding frontrunner Emelia Pérez, it’s pertinent to look back at another major LGBT Oscars candidate that received its fair share of criticism – Brokeback Mountain, a film approaching its 20th anniversary. Receiving controversial comments from senior Oscars members at the time, a similar air of homophobia continued to plague the awards ceremony sixteen years later with Power of the Dog, this time coming from an outside source. Both films raise a key question about the nature of masculinity and homoeroticism within a genre made famous by stoic American heroes of few words.

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