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The little gay cowboy Oscar frontrunner that could seems to leave a trail of controversy wherever it goes. A round-up:
· Outsports.com reports on the matter of the NFL rejecting the filmmakers' request to use footage in the pivotal scene in which Jack Twist finally stands up to his overbearing father-in-law at the Thanksgiving table. The NFL insists they refused participation over the context of the scene and not the film's gay themes, to which Brokeback screenwriter and producer Diana Ossana responded, "What do you think? None of us are retarded." (Which suggests she might be better suited to telling sensitive gay stories than sensitive retarded-people stories.)
· Depending on what you read, the film's ovine stars were either callously abused or given more preferential treatment than Randy Quaid.
· Michelle Williams' ex-headmaster Jim Hopson beams with pride when he tells a reporter, "We don't want to have anything to do with her in relation to that movie. Michelle doesn't represent the values of this institution...Brokeback Mountain basically promotes a lifestyle we don't promote. It's not the word of God." We hope she wins, if for nothing else, the outside chance she might out her old teacher in her acceptance speech, Tom Hanks-style. [via Towleroad]