How to Market a Love Story

UNIVERSAL REMOTE

As I referred to in my earlier post, Brokeback Mountain is going to be a difficult movie to market. Normally, a western would be a "guy" movie but this is obviously a different kind of western. In fact, the movie's trailer is often snickered at by men when it plays in theaters. In a Newsweek article, producer James Schamus is asked "how do you get those guys to see the movie?"

You don't. "If you have a problem with the subject matter, that's your problem, not mine...It would be great if you got over your problem, but I'm not sitting here trying to figure out how to help you with it." In an early meeting, Schamus told Lee that, from a marketing standpoint, they were making this film for one core audience. "Yes, of course," Lee said. "The gay audience." No, Schamus said. "Women."

He then gives a facisnating bit of insight about the poster.

...Schamus didn't research posters of famous Westerns for ideas. He looked at the posters of the 50 most romantic movies ever made. "If you look at our poster," he says, "you can see traces of our inspiration, Titanic."

The result is certainly uncanny. Star Jake Gyllenhaal has an interesting theory about why men are soooo uncomfortable with a movie like this:

"I suspect it's a fear that they are going to enjoy it. They don't understand that you are not going to become sexually attracted to men by recognizing the beauty of a love story between two men."

So come on guys, strap on a set and see this film on December 9th when it opens. It's just a movie.