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Over at Kausfiles, Democrat blogger Mickey Kaus questions the conventional wisdom that Brokeback Mountain has made any impact in "red state" film markets (I’m quoting the whole entry, because his blog doesn’t allow linking to one item):

Stick Clovis in your Plano, Brokeback-in-the-heartland spinners! Clovis, New Mexico is just the sort of heartlandish town that’s supposed to now be in a "swoon over the star-crossed gay cowboys of ‘Brokeback Mountain,’" according to [$] NYT columnist Frank Rich. Marlena Hartz of the Clovis News Journal reports on the film’s reception:

"Brokeback
Mountain" arrived in Clovis on Friday at the Hilltop Twin Theatre. It
has grossed $1,400 since it premiered, according to Hilltop employee
Stewart Neff. Even for a small theater, that’s a low figure, Neff said, especially for a film that has already pocketed a Golden Globe, leads in a number of Academy Award nominations, and is predicted to nab the Oscar for best picture. [Emphasis added]

I was wrong, so wrong, to predict Brokeback wouldn’t break the $50 million barrier [v]. But just because Brokeback makes a lot of money does not mean it’s accomplished the fabled "red state breakout," notwithstanding the press’ eagerness to buy its studio’s story line to that effect. You
can make a lot of money playing metropolitan centers and the coasts.**
The test of whether the film could "Move the ‘Heartland’"–the LAT’s
query, which prompted Rich to predict a "resounding yes"–was always
going to come when it went "wide" and expanded into smaller markets
like Clovis. …

P.S.–The 5.8% Oscar Bump: Last night (Friday) Brokeback did an estimated 5.8% more business nationally than the previous Friday,
although it showed 26% more theaters. In an ordinary week, that would
be a solid performance (given that the added theaters are probably also
smaller theaters). But am I crazy to think that 5.8% is not an
impressive gain in the week after a film was nominated for 8 Academy
Awards?

**:–Matt Yglesias points out to me [v] it’s not simply Hollywood’s films that skew "left." Hollywood’s audience–largely young people, in cities–skews left also. There’s
less of a mismatch there than Hollywood critics like Ben Stein like to
claim. But this natural congruence also means a film can succeed at the
box office without changing many minds in Bush country. … [Tks to reader S.B.] 8:59 P.M.

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