# Didn't Brokeback already win an Oscar, when it was called Wings? OPEN SPOILERS **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-brokeback-already-win-an-oscar-when-it-was-called-wings-open-spoilers/343638 "2006-02-09T01:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-brokeback-already-win-an-oscar-when-it-was-called-wings-open-spoilers/343638/1 "2006-02-09T01:40:28Z")
That’s right, all this ballyhoo about a gay movie gaining mainstream acceptance all the way to the Academy Awards overlooks the fact that the first best picture Oscar ever went to a gay movie. Even ignoring the gratuitous shot of the row of bare male asses in the background during the recruitment scene, that movie was also a love story between two guys in a macho profession (Air Force aviators). Funny story - I saw this movie with a friend at a repertory theater. It was interrupted because of a fire alarm, and the guy I saw it with was pissed because he wanted to know how it ended. I smarmily quipped, “It’s an Oscar-winning movie; it won’t surprise us. They’ll stop fighting over the same girl and each end up with the girls that like them, and they’ll live happily ever after.” He said, “Or - maybe instead they’ll forsake the women and profess their love to each other.” And that’s exactly what happened :eek: Near the end, one of the guys was fatally wounded, and the other stood over him on his death bed and caressed his hair in a way that I refuse to believe was ever acceptable in this country between platonically related males. At the end of a speech of regret (over their bickering over a girl) and sadness, the friend exclaims, “I love you!”, and dives into the dying man to kiss him on the lips. The dying man turns his head in time so that the other guy misses and kisses his cheek, though… Anyway, I know there aren’t many parallels between _Wings_ and _Brokeback_, but I just wanted to remind everyone that the first Oscar-winning movie ever was a gay one. ---
**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 9, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-brokeback-already-win-an-oscar-when-it-was-called-wings-open-spoilers/343638/2 "2006-02-09T01:46:24Z")
Yeah, but \*Wings \*could be read either way. It’s way more Rorschachey than BBM. _Wings_, for audiences of the time, was about the bonds formed on the battlefield, and no by “battlefield” I do not mean “bed.” There’s no question that it portrays a male-male friendship of far greater intimacy than’s ever depicted since, but such friendships do exist, and do not necessarily entail cornholing. All that said, it is indeed a very gay friendly movie, to a modern audience. Seen _Red River?_ or\* Rio Bravo?\* Couple of the greatest westerns ever made, and there’s plenty of BBM-friendly subtext to hoot over. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-brokeback-already-win-an-oscar-when-it-was-called-wings-open-spoilers/343638/3 "2006-02-09T01:48:12Z")
I loved Tony Shaloub as the cab driver. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-brokeback-already-win-an-oscar-when-it-was-called-wings-open-spoilers/343638/4 "2006-02-09T01:50:59Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I loved Tony Shaloub as the cab driver. Dude–those two guys were BROTHERS! That’s sick. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-brokeback-already-win-an-oscar-when-it-was-called-wings-open-spoilers/343638/5 "2006-02-09T05:06:32Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > Near the end, one of the guys was fatally wounded, and the other stood over him on his death bed and caressed his hair in a way that I refuse to believe was ever acceptable in this country between platonically related males. Yeah, but that was still the '20s, at a time when men could sing love songs to other men without changing pronouns – and most people didn’t think of it as gay. Hollywood’s Production Code didn’t go into effect until the '30s. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/didnt-brokeback-already-win-an-oscar-when-it-was-called-wings-open-spoilers/343638/6 "2006-02-09T12:47:22Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I loved Tony Shaloub as the cab driver. Thanks, you just made my morning!