# Brokeback Mountain is not about gay cowboys . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 6, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236 "2006-02-06T14:45:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/1 "2006-02-06T14:45:45Z")
They are sheep herders, not cowboys! Get it right. Where I come from, calling a sheep herder a cowboy is fighting words (from both sides). Why is this obvious mistake so common in the media and reviews? Do people outside the agricultural culture really conflate the two? Don’t they know about the long history of range wars? Sorry, just a pet peeve. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/2 "2006-02-06T15:10:53Z")
True they were sheep-herding when they met but one of them also did bull-riding in rodeos. The other mentions more cow related stuff later in the film although the action is off-screen. (Personally if I hear sheep-herders I picture Australia …) ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/3 "2006-02-06T15:12:48Z")
Jack did suggest they have a cow and calf operation not a sheep and lamp operation, did he not? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/4 "2006-02-06T15:13:28Z")
And nor are they gay. I think most would classify them as bi-curious. Damn fine bi-curious shepherd movie though. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/5 "2006-02-06T15:25:40Z")
Bi-curious didn’t exist as a concept in 1963. I have no problem classifying Jack as gay. Besides being in love with Ennis, when he sought extra-marital sexual partners he sought out men (the rodeo clown, the Mexican man). Ennis is harder to classify. I could make an argument for his being gay, bisexual or heterosexual-but-fell-in-love-with-someone-who-happened-to-be-a-man. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/6 "2006-02-06T15:57:08Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Bi-curious didn’t exist as a concept in 1963. [Beer-curious did.](http://lileks.com/institute/perm/gallery3/7.html) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/7 "2006-02-06T16:01:17Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Why is this obvious mistake so common in the media and reviews? Nobody knows and nobody cares. > [@](#): > > Do people outside the agricultural culture really conflate the two? Yes, all the time. > [@](#): > > Don’t they know about the long history of range wars? Dude, they don’t know what’s going on outside their windows. > [@](#): > > Sorry, just a pet peeve. Welcome to my world. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/8 "2006-02-06T16:06:02Z")
Dude, there’s some over it to be got here. Is the guy in the Village People a cowboy? Is a guy in a big hat and tight jeans in a Western-“themed” bar a cowboy? It’s a reference to their lifestyle; their dress; their culture. Not their occupation. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/9 "2006-02-06T16:13:42Z")
Where do you get those sheep-hearing hats anyway? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/10 "2006-02-06T16:33:21Z")
> [@Nic2004](#): > > Where do you get those sheep-hearing hats anyway? I think you mean sheep [_shearling_](http://www.overland.com/scripts/ecatalogisapi.dll/Item?Item=118077&Template=9990000001000999&Group=467&VirtualGroup=hats-gloves-belts) hats. Unless you have a [sheap hearing](http://binas.unido.org/binas/show.php?id=188&type=html&table=news_sources&dir=news) coming up. But I say, two birds with one stone: wear the Nancy to your hearing. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/11 "2006-02-06T16:43:23Z")
And they don’t even eat pudding. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/12 "2006-02-06T16:46:45Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And they don’t even eat pudding. No; just pud. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/13 "2006-02-06T17:06:13Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Dude, they don’t know what’s going on outside their windows. Fortunately I happen to have a window to the 1870s Anyhow, I heard that Brokeback Mountain is one of the least homosexual cowboy movies ever made. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/14 "2006-02-06T18:44:17Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Dude, there’s some over it to be got here. > > Is the guy in the Village People a cowboy? Is a guy in a big hat and tight jeans in a Western-“themed” bar a cowboy? > > It’s a reference to their lifestyle; their dress; their culture. Not their occupation. Wait a second! You know what? Now that you mention it, John Travolta in “Urban Cowboy” wasn’t really a cowboy. Damn you, Hollywood! DDDDDAAAAAMMMMNNN YYYYYYOOOOOUUU!!! ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/15 "2006-02-06T18:54:16Z")
> [@archmichael](#): > > Wait a second! You know what? Now that you mention it, John Travolta in “Urban Cowboy” wasn’t really a cowboy. > > Damn you, Hollywood! DDDDDAAAAAMMMMNNN YYYYYYOOOOOUUU!!! Didn’t you hear? They’re renaming it: “Urban Person-With-New-York-Accent-Who-Works-At-An-Oil-Refinery”. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/16 "2006-02-06T19:12:54Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Damn fine bi-curious shepherd movie though. Well, as bi-curious shepherd movies go, I hear it’s right up there. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/17 "2006-02-06T21:55:16Z")
If only it had been a musical. \* The shepherd and the cowman should be friends, Oh, the shepherd and the cowman should be friends. One man likes to hear that bleat, the other likes to herd the beef, But that’s no reason why they cain’t be friends. Territory folks should stick together, Territory folks should all be pals. Cowboys dance with shepoherds’ daughters, Shepherds dance with the ranchers’ gals. \* ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/18 "2006-02-06T22:25:39Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > If only it had been a musical. > \*One man likes to hear that bleat, the other likes to herd the beef \* This is obviously from the upcoming musical version, called _Ennis!_ ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/19 "2006-02-06T22:34:20Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > They are sheep herders, not cowboys! But shepard sounds so gay. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236/20 "2006-02-06T22:36:21Z")
They WERE cowboys. They were both raised on ranches, Jack was a rodeo rider and aside from one summer spent herding sheep, Ennis spends his entire life working on cattle ranches and round-ups. Ennis is repeatedly shown working with and talking about cows. In one scene he has to leave his daughters with Alma at the store where she works because "the heifers are calving. This whole “they’re not really cowboys” meme is getting really lame. They were both most definitely cowboys who spent one summer of their lives herding sheep. "There’s even a line where the Randy Quaid character makes a comment about how “you ranchers” make lousy sheep herders. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brokeback-mountain-is-not-about-gay-cowboys/343236.md?page=2)