Break my heart, no brokeback

Brokeback Mountain to stay queer clear of Malaysian borders
Malaysia has made the gay news. But it’s not positive press. Then again, when is it ever? I tell you, the way the foreign media has made us sound, it’s like we’re about to stone the next homosexual that steps off the plane. That’s why nobody every wants to
visit me.

Anyway… an AP news report via Advocate.Com, emphasis mine, says:

A film distributor in mostly Muslim Malaysia—where movies on sensitive issues are often banned—will steer clear of Brokeback Mountain but try to show Munich. United International Pictures, which has distribution rights for both movies, said Thursday it will apply to Malaysia’s state-run Film Censorship board for approval of Steven Spielberg’s Munich, which depicts the aftermath of the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.

UIP, however, will not even apply for approval of Brokeback Mountain, director Ang Lee’s award-winning gay cowboy romance, said UIP publicity manager Dawn Liew. “We believe there is a market for Munich here, but Brokeback Mountain is definitely not going to make it here because its themes wouldn’t be right for our local audiences,” Liew told the Associated Press.

Alright. Glossing over the question of who the hell made her the arbitrator of my movie tastes, let’s move on to Ms. Liew’s quote. I take it to mean violence = okay, love = not okay. Since that paradox is well and alive in the evening news everyday so no shock there.
I never really expected any different with regards to the fate of Brokeback Mountain in Malaysia. I just didn’t think the distributor, UIP, would resort to self censorship. Very symptomatic, however, of a country of people who will avoid controversy. at. all. cost.
But we all know how we’re going to get our hands the movie right? *cough*piratedDVDs*cough*