Student loads college hopes on “Brokeback” truck

By Danny Glenwright

TORONTO (Reuters) – A half-ton pick-up truck used in the
award-winning gay Western “Brokeback Mountain” is up for sale,
and the seller, a Canadian high school student, hopes the
proceeds will help pay his way through college.

Matthew Kennedy said he bought the black, 1950 GMC truck
last year at an auction of vehicles used in the movie because
he liked its looks, and only decided to sell when he realized
the amount of attention the film was garnering.

“The movie was getting a lot bigger and I thought I could
sell it and put away the money for school,” he said.

Kennedy’s eBay description of the vehicle says it was
driven by Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, when he meets
Ennis Del Mar, played by Heath Ledger, at the start of the
film.

Bidding has reached $15,000 so far, almost double the
$8,000 starting price, fueled by the ties to the film.

The movie, centering on the furtive love affair between two
cowboys, was shot in the Alberta foothills, south of Calgary.

“The only thing I knew about the movie was that it was
being filmed in my area and it was a cowboy movie,” he said.

Murray Ord, executive producer at Alberta Film
Entertainment, said it’s standard procedure to sell film gear
post-production. “Whether it be furniture, props, anything we
purchased, we try to recoup the cost,” he said.

Murray Pomerance, a sociologist and author of several books
about cinema compared the pickup truck with items such as
Dorothy’s shoes from “The Wizard of Oz” and prosthetic masks
from “Star Trek.”

“With certain films that are distinctive in one way or
another…this desire to imbed oneself in the context of the
film is huge,” he said.

“We’re actually taking the truck and marketing it. Young
people want to play at being characters…they’re going to want
to drive that truck…it’s the ultimate way to play the game.”

Bidding at

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4625292939,

closes on Thursday, March 30 at 11 p.m. EST.