STUDY GUIDE 9
Week 9 Guide to Readings and Film Viewing: What You Need to Know
1. Define "The Western" as a genre in film and literature. What are the following:
- the Classical Western
- Spaghetti westerns
- Ostern
- Revisionist westerns
- Contemporary westerns
2. Which category does Brokeback Mountain fit into--if it fits at all? Who are some of the
famous Hollywood actors who specialized in westerns? What are the similarities or differences
between the characters they played with the portrayals in Brokeback Mountain?
3. How does Ang Lee frame this movie to create the atmosphere of the film's locale?
4. How has homosexuality been portrayed in film over the decades? What parallels can be drawn
between the tensions in Brokeback Mountain and The Wedding Banquet? What are the key
differences in the handling of homosexuality in Broke Back Mountain as compared to the
treatment in The Bird Cage or In and Out?