Here is an interesting article about how the reaction to Brokeback Mountain compares to that of another controversial movie--1967's In the Heat of the Night. Turns out there are quite a few parallels between the two movies as well as the 1967 and 2005 Academy Awards. Here is some of the article.
It's a year where the Academy Awards are celebrating movies that openly embrace hot button social issues: a shocking relationship between two men, racial conflict, not to mention the questioning of all kinds of sexual taboos. The movies themselves are critical and box office hits, resulting in a slew of Oscar nominations.
Yup, 1967 was quite a year, no?
You thought I meant this year's Academy Awards. The confusion is understandable as the similarities are striking. Both 1967's Best Picture winner, In the Heat of the Night, and Brokeback Mountain have much in common. Both are about relationships rarely portrayed between two men: In the Heat of the Night is about the relationship between a white, southern sheriff, and a black detective from the north, while Brokeback tells of the passionate love between two men in rural America.
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