Ang Lee’s controversial movie, Brokeback Mountain, opened in theaters on December 16 amongst much adversity and turmoil. With a graphic homosexual love scene between stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, it is not a surprise that both movie fanatics and right-wing political activists collected outside movie theaters, but for very different reasons.

Over the years, the entertainment industry has recognized and even embraced homosexual relationships and celebrities in TV shows such as “Will and Grace,” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and movies like The Birdcage and Philadelphia. However, up to this point what Hollywood has ignored has been the “sex” in “homosexual.” What makes Brokeback Mountain so controversial is that it is the first mainstream film to blatantly display gay intimacy between two straight, A-list male celebrities.

A heartbreaking tale, the movie follows the soft-spoken Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) as they fall in love during a 1963 summer job herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain. Despite separate lives, the two maintain a secret long-distance relationship for many years.

The movie opens up many new doors, showing a homosexual relationship in a way that straight couples can relate to. "To me, it's a story about the illusion of love. That transcends being gay and being a cowboy and all that," Lee said to the Chicago Tribune. “Because they don’t know what love is, they spend the next 20 years trying to catch it.”

Obviously the movie has met widespread resistance despite its seven Golden Globe nominations. The host of Straight Talk Radio, Stephen Bennett, said, "In the end, don't be fooled. This movie is not a 'love story' at all. Ask the real wives, children and families whose lives have been destroyed, as they have 'lived' Brokeback Mountain."

Whatever your personal convictions are, no one can deny the sheer genius behind the movie. Lee seamlessly adapts the original story by Anne Proulx for the screen and Ledger delivers a brilliant, Oscar-worthy performance as a man torn between his two lives. In the end, Brokeback Mountain transcends political debate and controversy, presenting a story about longing, the American west, and true love.