Topic > The problem of discrimination in the film 'Brokeback Mountain'

The problem of discrimination has developed over the last century and can be seen represented in a number of multimodal texts. Ang Lee's 2000s romantic western film Brokeback Mountain depicts rodeo cowboys, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar, who are hired as sheep herders in Wyoming in the 1960s. One night at Brokeback Mountain, the place where they were hired, Jack expresses his sexual and emotional feelings towards Ennis which are ultimately reciprocated. Over the course of 20 years, the two men carry on their secret relationship while pretending to live "normal" lives by having heterosexual relationships and families of their own. The film mainly focuses on the evolution of the characters and their complex relationship that they keep hidden from a society with traditional values ​​which shows how homosexuals were treated in the 1960s. The “Elevator” commercial is published by the Australian Human Rights Commission, a national human rights institution, and is part of “Racism. It stops with me." Both visual texts rely on multiple ways to reflect society's views and portray the issue of discrimination relevant to American society in the 1960s and Australian society in 2017, Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Brokeback Mountain represents the issue of discrimination, in this case against homosexuals through the use of setting and dialogue. The film reflects aspects of the historical context, such as the “Lavender Scare” that sought to persecute people accused of being homosexual for working in government, schools, the military, and many other occupations during the 1950s. The film's main setting is the iconic Brokeback Mountain which illustrates pure freedom of romantic and sexual expression. This is shown through the use of long shots showing the wide mountain range and lush vegetation showing the mountain as Jack and Ennis' place where they can express themselves freely and away from the conservative views of society. During a conversation between the men, Ennis says, "If we're nearby and this thing grabs us at the wrong time, in the wrong place, we're dead." The dialogue reflects homophobic attitudes of the time that if people had a sexual relationship with someone of the same sex, there was a possibility they could be killed, fired from their jobs and ostracized from society. The "Elevator" advertisement also represents the issue of discrimination, but is instead targeted at racial minorities through the combined use of close-ups, facial expressions, and cuts. It also developed in a different context, during the 2010s, where racism was fought through riots and protests such as the “March for Black Women” which took place in 2017 in Washington, America, and the Australian Racial Discrimination Act for protect those in the minority. The advert attempts to shed light on the 21% of complaints under the Racial Discrimination Act regarding employment as its setting is in a work environment shown through long shot of the building in which the advert is set. During the commercial, the camera focuses on the man holding the elevator for a white woman, and through the close-up of his satisfied facial expression, the viewer shows that he is happy to do so. Once the woman is inside the elevator, the scene cuts to another woman running towards the elevator, except this time it is a woman from a racial minority. Instead of reacting the same way, we see him enter the elevator with an expression"..