Brokeback trucks

Everyone’s raving about Brokeback Mountain -- the cinematography, the acting, the powerful raw emotions, and the pain of lost love. I finally saw the film, on Valentine’s Day, and I must agree with the critics: it’s a beautiful film and certainly deserving of its Oscar nominations.

But how come nobody is talking about the trucks. Yes, the trucks. The film is full of fine-looking pickup trucks. Old classic Fords. Big blue rugged Chevys. Even the two-tone numbers look good, in a rugby jersey kind of way. And tell me, is there anything sexier than a studly fella in tight Levis lounging on an old pickup truck?

Director Ang Lee clearly paid special attention to the pickup trucks, recognizing that in rural Wyoming and Texas the locals would likely drive beat-up old trucks and not new ones. I searched around online for anything interesting about pickup trucks in the film. I found the usual analogies about trucks and horses, but nothing about the pickup truck being a solitary vehicle (with its limited cab space) and how this is a symbolic of the two main characters’ loneliness and of society’s pressure on them to keep their feelings confined and to themselves. Impressed? Well, I did take a couple of film classes in college.

I did find a website devoted to miscues in Brokeback Mountain. There are two truck-related ones. The first miscue occurs towards the beginning of the film when Jack parks his truck before going in to inquire about a sheep herding job for the first time. He parks it head-in (facing the building.) When he and Ennis come down from the mountain at the end of the season and start the truck it is facing the other way. That’s when the second miscue comes in. Ennis helps Jack to start his truck, then improperly closes the hood (you can see it isn't properly latched). Shortly afterward, Jack gets in his truck to drive away and the hood is fully closed.

Who knew Ang Lee was so sloppy? More importantly, who cares about these things?

I mentioned the beautiful pickup trucks to my friend and artistic muse Aurelio. He and I share the same birthday and an appreciation for beautiful things like driftwood and daffodils. He didn’t remember the pickup trucks from the film, but he did recount for me how he used to own a small Datusun pickup truck back on the Dominican Republic and would give rides to his friends at the bars (they loved to jump in the back when they were drunk). One female friend (who will not be named because of a current important diplomatic position) used to jump out of the back and onto any hot man she saw. Of course, they would not pay attention to a drunk girl jumping from a truck and Aurelio and his friends would start screaming “Recójanla! Recójanla! (pick her up, pick her up) while she lay on the road. Sometimes she would just throw her panties at people. Aurelio had a chauffeur whom drove it. He was young and looked like Paul Newman and his name was Moisesito (little Moses).

Ay, everyone has a truck story...