The Oscar for Best 'Brokeback' Parody Goes to ...

March 2, 2006 — -- On the Internet, computer nerds, time travelers, "Top Gun" pilots and SpongeBob himself have all had that "I wish I knew how to quit you!" feeling.

The Oscar-nominated kissing-cowboy saga "Brokeback Mountain" has provided comedic grist for some of the sharpest wits on the Web, where savvy amateur editors have created dozens of "mashups" and parodies of the film's trailer by slicing, dicing and splicing clips from other popular buddy films.

"I would guess that more people have seen fake 'Brokeback Mountain' trailers than the actual trailer," said Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at New York's Syracuse University.

Indeed, for all the chatter surrounding the film, its comic success is outpacing its commercial success. "Brokeback" has pulled in a relatively modest $75 million at the U.S. box office since its December release, but it has generated nearly three dozen trailer parodies and some 42.2 million Google page references.

And these trailers aren't trash. "Brokeback to the Future," created by members of Emerson College's comedy troupe Chocolate Cake City, is an artfully edited montage of scenes from the "Back to Future" film series that featured Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.

Bookended between modified title slates from the "Brokeback" trailer and laid over Gustavo Santaolalla's emotive "Brokeback Mountain" guitar theme, the parody suggests that Fox and Lloyd's characters were spending their evenings working on something a little more earthy than a time machine.

"We're not trying to trash the movie at all. We love the 'Back to the Future' movies and we love 'Brokeback Mountain.' It just seemed so right, and so ripe for a parody," said Jonathan Ade, who spent a few bleary-eyed nights at his computer editing the piece with fellow Emerson College junior Patrick De Nicola.

And the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe Mighty McPilgrim opens its parody, "Broke Mac Mountain," with Jakob White staring blank-eyed into the face of an iMac. Frustratedly tapping on his computer mouse, he utters the line that's become the film's "show me the money" phrase: "I wish I knew how to quit you." Andrew Wollman, in the role of an earnest and understanding IT guy, enters to say, "Just hit Open, Apple, Option and Escape."