BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN - GAY FILMMAKERS UNABLE TO LAND THEATRICAL RELEASES

Despite the success of Brokeback Mountain in theaters and Brothers & Sisters on television, gay-themed movies are "doing worse than ever" according to a report by the Reuter News Agency. The drop-off in attendance is being blamed on the proliferation of "gaysploitation" films that are easily available on Amazon, gay-oriented cable channels like MTV-owned Logo, cable pay-per-view, the Internet, and Netflix. Few of these films, however, are aimed at mainstream audiences, possibly because they are doing so well with gay audiences. Commenting on the trend, the Reuters article concluded, "Despite breakthroughs like Brokeback, gay films already are well down the same path as 1970s black films, where quality projects like Sounder were the exception and blaxploitation flicks were the rule."

17/06/2008