Growing up in rural Alberta, I have had many opportunities to be a part of “the bigger picture” at times. First was being in a movie (when I was 13) called “Cowboys Don’t Cry”, then a part of the very cool flick “Getting Married in Buffalo Jump” in my later teens as they filmed some of the movie in and around our ranch in Pincher Creek. The latest movie tribute that I was able to share a small, yet pivotal part in, was Brokeback Mountain a few years ago when it was shot in and around Southern Alberta. I was, at the time volunteering at Assistant Rodeo Director for the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association in Calgary and was invited to come out and share my insights as a gay cowboy on the film.
If you are reading this Blog as your first introduction to Tim, then you’ll find there are many facets to my persona yet to discover in previous blogs, BUT if you already know me or have read my previous blogs... here is another facet of Tim that you may not know about me. :) Yes, I had the fortune of “holding the gate” for Ms. Anne Hathaway as she gallops out of the rodeo grounds in one of the scenes. Okay... so you need to freeze the movie a few times and keep a sharp eye out for me, but I’m there and got to meet her briefly on the set. But I digress...
Last night I was staying at my grandparents home in Longview, AB and Brokeback Mountain was being aired on television and even I was taken back a bit by all of the sex scenes and some of the hard-hitting angles the movie portrayed in the hard lifestyle of being gay in a non-gay-friendly environment. At one point my grandma noted that, “There sure is a lot of sex in this movie!” Where I promptly replied, “I think that was the last one.” ... no, there was more.
I then commented later on that I was so disappointed as I was holding the gate I totally missed out on all of these “going’s on” that was pretty hot (for girls AND guys) in this movie. I was gypped! Where was MY close-up Mr. DeMille?!? But we all had a good laugh and both my grandparents stayed up well past their bedtime to see the gripping and poignant ending that actually left me having a tear in my eye. Thank you Ang Lee for creating such an “out-there” reminder for us all about how fear and prejudice can shake up our world and how far we have come to welcome diversity into our lives. And thank you CBC for airing this movie as well... so that I can sit with my grandparents and discuss the finer points of sheep-herding, whisky drinking and old pick-up trucks in the Rocky Mountains.
...keep your pecker up!