And both had to deal with criticism from notable actors as to the combination of the Western genre and homosexuality. Brokeback Mountain was a critical success and Oscar front-runner. And the film's receptions are very similar too, beyond the themes they share. While critically acclaimed, it didn’t really sell many copies until 2001, when it was republished with a new forward by Annie Proulx.Īnnie Proulx was the author of the story that was adapted into the film Brokeback Mountain, and Savage’s work, specifically The Power of the Dog, was massively influential to her. He spent a lot of his life in the closet, and he wrote about these experiences with bigotry and strife in his books, specifically The Power of the Dog. He wrote most of his work within the Western oeuvre, and he used these writings to explore his own sexuality and the repressive nature of the Montana he grew up in. Thomas Savage was the author of the original 1967 novel from which the film is adapted. It’s a self-defense mechanism, but one that comes at the expense of others. Phil concealed his homosexuality to fit into the hyper-masculine world of ranching, and he’d cover any perceived hint of his true being by ridiculing anyone who acted outside the rigid gender norms of the time, such as Peter. They would pretend to be straight or just never be in a relationship, to keep from being ridiculed and ostracized. They would erase someone's sexuality to make history easier to digest and to hold the status quo.īut more to this film's point, the gay people of the time would often hide, making it easier for them to seem like they didn’t exist.
One was that the straight people who would document history didn’t want to acknowledge something often seen as immoral and unnatural. But they were often erased from history, for a few different reasons. Gay people have existed as long as people have existed.
Until the gay rights movement in the 1960s and 70s, gay people weren’t open about their true selves, as it was a taboo subject and often illegal too. Phil, after a period of time, warms to Peter and begins showing him certain ranching skills.īut Sam Elliott complaining about these allusions, about how this wasn’t the American West, is exactly what the film is intending to prove. Phil antagonizes Peter for his lisp and effeminate manner. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank, a typically masculine rancher whose brother George meets and marries a woman named Rose and moves her and her son Peter onto their ranch. The Power of the Dog is directed by Jane Campion, who also wrote the screenplay adaptation of Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel by the same name. While roundly criticized for these regressive comments, as well as other ridiculous comments about where the film was shot and how much director Jane Campion actually knows about the American West, Elliott accidentally proved the film’s central theme as to how gay people are often erased entirely from the mythos of the Old West. On Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Elliott complained that, among other things, the film contained “allusions of homosexuality” and spoke about his perception of some costumes to have some homoerotic overtones. Recently Sam Elliott made the news following comments about current Oscar front-runner The Power of the Dog.