History YMMV / BrokebackMountain

** The speech leading up to "I wish I knew how to quit you". Despite going memetic, the line in context was very emotional.

** "Brokeback" has pretty much become synonymous with "gay". For example, "No Brokeback!" is the battle cry of guys with man-crushes, while "Playing ''Brokeback''" has entered the modern UsefulNotes/HongKong vocabulary, meaning homosexual relationships.

** "Sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it"

* CommonKnowledge: Even if they've never seen it, everybody knows that the film is "the gay cowboy movie". Even though they're shepherds, not cowboys. And their sexuality is left ambiguous enough to leave open the possibility that they're bisexual rather than outright closeted gays. It could even be a case of IfItsYouItsOkay, considering that neither of them had any other homosexual relationships before each other, and never have any after. Jack could be gay or bi, considering he attempts to solicit a gay prostitute, but this could just be a case of missing Ennis, whereas Ennis never shows interest in any other man than Jack.

** Is Lureen telling the truth about [[spoiler:Jack's death]]? Does she genuinely believe that[[spoiler: her husband's death was because of an accident or does she know all along about Jack's sexuality and that his death was the result of a hate-crime]]? The fact that Creator/AnneHathaway claims that [[ShrugOfGod she herself didn't know]], they recorded the scene twice with two motivations in mind, and they mashed together the result as the final cut doesn't help.

** Likewise, [[spoiler: the scene in which Jack is beaten to death mercilessly by homophobic thugs, which may or may not have been the case (according to the viewer)]].

* FridgeBrilliance: When Ennis finds his and Jack's shirts hanging in Jack's childhood closet, Ennis's is tucked inside Jack's. By Heath Ledger's idea, they are reversed [[spoiler:when Ennis takes them home after Jack's death]]. The shirts can also be interpreted as each other's heart. Jack putting Ennis's shirt inside his indicates that Ennis has always been inside Jack's heart. [[spoiler:Ennis putting Jack's shirt inside his symbolizes that Jack will always be in Ennis's heart.]] Annie Proulx approved so much of this detail that, years later, she included it in the libretto for the opera adaptation.

** Is Lureen telling the truth about [[spoiler:Jack's death]]? Does she genuinely believe that[[spoiler: her husband's death was because of an accident or does she know all along about Jack's sexuality and that his death was the result of a hate-crime]]? The fact that Creator/AnneHathaway claims that she herself didn't know, they recorded the scene twice with two motivations in mind, and they mashed together the result as the final cut doesn't help.

** While it is unknown whether or not Jack's mother knew her son was gay, unlike her husband, she is kind and hospitable towards Ennis when he arrives (offering him coffee and cherry cake), allows him to keep the shirts from Jack's closet (which Jack kept all those years since their first time on the mountain), and even invites him to return if he wishes to.
** Ennis deciding to call off work for his daughter's wedding, and giving his daughter and her fiancee his blessing; "To Alma and Kurt!"