Cowboys and Penguins

It's funny how many people have become movie critics lately. If I read one more opinion about Brokeback Mountain, I'm going to vomit. Well, except for mine:

This weekend I saw two movies. You probably won't see these movies sitting next to each other on the shelf at Blockbuster, and I doubt many theaters will show it as a double feature. But as I got to thinking about it, I realized that they have many similarities. The movies are Brokeback Mountain and March of the Penguins.

Both have adorable protagonists that make you want to reach out and hug them. Both are about a pure, innate longing to find that special someone. Each subject leans on the other in the struggle to make that love work in a harsh, unforgiving environment. Both involve a torrid journey for this love to be fulfilled, and show, in detail, the rewards and sacrifices the subjects must endure to make this love work. Both subjects take this journey of the heart without question, repeatedly.

However, the penguins don't have unprotected anal sex (at least that I saw), and Ennis and Jack don't have a kid that they hide in their crotch. Neither Ennis nor Jack feed their young with regurgitated fish parts, and the penguins don't have awful accents. Jack and Ennis ride horses; the penguins ride on their bellies. The penguin's primary predator is the seal, whereas Ennis and Jack's primary predator is the redneck. Oddly enough, I did not feel compelled to have sex with the penguins during the course of the movie.

That being said. I liked them both.