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Wal-Mart Won't Quit "Brokeback"
Brokeback Mountain just rode into Red State terrority.
Wal-Mart has begun selling the DVD of Ang Lee's gay cowboy flick this week, despite vehement protests from the ultraconservative American Family Association.
The world's largest retailer announced it will not only carry the Academy Award-winning film in all 3,900 U.S. locations, but the chain will also prominently display posters of Brokeback stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in its storefronts.
Such a decision has prompted the Tupelo, Mississippi-based AFA to launch a campaign accusing Wal-Mart of backing a pro-gay agenda. The organization posted a message on its Website asking "concerned Christians to let their local Wal-Mart managers know how they feel and that they are not pleased over the chain's decision to promote and carry the pro-homosexual movie."
"It wasn't even a blockbuster movie, so if Wal-Mart isn't trying to push an agenda, why would they put it at the front door?" Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the association, told the Los Angeles Times.
Apparently Sharp didn't get the memo that Brokeback was the most critically lauded film of 2005, won three Oscars, lassoed $83 million at the box office and became a cultural touchstone
"Wal-Mart is trying to help normalize homosexuality in society," Sharp said. "But how many copies are they going to have to sell to recruit the losses of customers who they've offended and will no longer shop at Wal-Mart?"
But Wal-Mart rejects that characterization. A rep for the company argued that stocking Brokeback is good business.
"Wal-Mart provides movie selections in our stores and online, recognizing that a broad segment of our customer base wants to buy the latest titles," company spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart said in a statement. "We serve a broad customer base and therefore offer an expansive assortment of movie titles to meet the needs of the diverse consumers that shop our stores."
The American Family Association, which claims a membership of 3 million and is one of the leading conservative Christian watchdogs, has a history of pressuring Wal-Mart.
And the retail chain has often been more than accommodating, refusing to carry funnyman George Carlin's bestseller When Will Jesus Bring the Porkchops? and canceling orders of Daily Show host Jon Stewart's America because both included supposedly offensive images that weren't in line with the chain's family-friendly policies. Wal-Mart has also pulled numerous magazines from its racks deemed too racy by the AFA and doesn't stock CDs and videogames that feature "mature" content.
Last month, the AFA issued an action alert against Ford, urging its members to boycott the car company because the car maker wanted to advertise in gay publications such as The Advocate.
Fighting against the American Family Association's anti-Brokeback initiative, the pro-gay Ultimate Brokeback Forum recently announced a Web-based campaign to place the Brokeback DVDs in 2,000 rural libraries in the U.S. and Canada, and has called on fans around the world to donate copies of the DVD to libraries in their area. Members of the online forum also ran an ad in the Mar. 10 edition of Daily Variety, hailing Brokeback as a work that's "transforming people's lives."
They can now add Wal-Mart to their thank-you list.
In keeping with its founder's vision of offering quality products at great prices, Wal-Mart--one of America's largest DVD retailers--is offering Brokeback at the bargain rate of $16.87.
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