BrokeBack Mountain, -while called a "GAY MOVIE" by the GAY MEDIA (& others who failed to engage their brains); -Was in fact a movie about BIsexual guys. The main characters each had wives. If the movie had been about 2 male-couples who each engaged in occasional mixed-gender affairs, -I doubt the GAY PRESS would've characterized it as a "STRAIGHT movie"! Touch'e? Enough said about BiSexual BrokeBack's real story-line as it related to "who did who".
In regard to the script/book, the most serious error with the plot was the way in which the Male/Male sexuality was portrayed: AnalSex. In the timeframe the book was penned, the fact was that ArseSex was a MINORITY PRACTICE -- even among "gay men". The prejudice that entered the public psyche about "what homosexuals do" centered around the minority fetish of AnalSex because of the general cultural disgust surrounding the practice. The author of the book (a woman) wrote the scene, -due to social biases, prejudices & a general ignorance of what usually went on in M2M relationships. And while today, gay-media is up to it's Arse in AnalSex: The fact is that most men find the concept disgusting & emasculating. Men who identified emotionally with the (2) main characters - lost that connection instantly when the "Arseplay" was introduced!
This observation is profound. While it may be the case that modern gay-male culture has embraced the paradigm of the buttphuck; -The acceptance of that fetish is a recently new phenominon (post 1970's). Ultimately, "Gay-Today" is a culture self-defined by the buttphuck fetish & men playing the female role. This is why most men shun it, & why men who might have connected with BrokeBack, -found it too far a reach -morally.
However, the fact is that countless men have developed intense relationships with other men that involved physical intimacy -while NEVER FOR A MOMENT wanting ArseSex (NoOne gets B1TCHED)! If this had been the script of BrokeBack, -it would have had much greater "male-appeal"