The Mickster is still obsessing about gay sheep-herders. The movie has already made more then $50 million and it's well into profitability, and it isn't being rejected by mainstream audiences ... so now his point is that it's left-wing:
"The Best Picture nominees are four left-messaged political films, plus a movie about Truman Capote!"
I can see the left-wing message in some of the movies, but I fail to see it in "Brokeback." The movie is about two men in a star-crossed relationship. It's about impossible love and the limits of human happiness. Yes, it clearly aims for the two to be happy - but the pursuit of happiness is now "left-messaged"? Is "Romeo and Juliet" "left-messaged"? Is "Much Ado"? The two men are in love with each other, that's all. Love - even same-sex love - is not political. It's personal. There's no call for marriage rights or any political change or agenda in the movie (although I'd also question whether promoting marriage for gay couples is somehow "left-messaged" anyway). It's just a story about reality. Tackling reality - complex emotional reality - is not a political project. Ang Lee's movies have always transcended that kind of trap. But when Mickey sees "gay," he sees "left." Actually, when Mickey sees gay, he can't see anything but his own panic. Hence the notion that a movie about Truman Capote is also somehow politically suspect. Huh? Happily, Mickey knows he has a problem, and has written an email to Slate's own advice columnist. He should take her advice to heart.