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`Brokeback' fever invades Hong Kong's rugby sevens

Two spectators at the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby tournament wear outfits inspired by the gay romance Brokeback Mountain yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Hong Kong's famed rugby sevens tournament is known for its wacky outfits and party atmosphere on the South Stand. This year's new theme: the Oscar-winning gay romance Brokeback Mountain.

Teacher Roger Shuttleworth wore a white shirt with "Ennis" written on it, after the Brokeback character. His friend Bruce Campbell in black had the other main character's name "Jack" on his outfit.

Both wore cowboy hats adorned with pink feather boas. The words "Brokeback Boys" were inscribed on the back of their shirts.

Campbell, a 55-year-old native of Melbourne, Australia, said he's a fan of the film.

"What I liked about the movie is that it dealt with a sensational subject without being over-the-top. It was just very subtlely handled," he said on Friday.

Brokeback is the love story of two closet gay ranch hands in the US. It won three Oscars, including best director for Taiwan's Ang Lee.

The Brokeback-inspired outfits at the Hong Kong tournament is the latest example of the movie's invasion of popular culture. The film has been spoofed and the term "Brokeback" has become a hip synonym for references to homosexuality -- in both Chinese and English.

American Mario Cox, 23, hasn't even seen Brokeback Mountain but he was dressed in full Brokeback garb in the stands at the Hong Kong sevens.

He and his friends donned brown cowboy hats and white shirts with "Brokeback" in soccer jersey-style lettering on the back. On the front of their shirts was the movie's now famous exchange between its two characters, "I wish I knew how to quit you."

"You can't really not know what it's [the movie's] about. It's in the media all over the place," said Cox, a native of Atlanta, Georgia.

Cowboy hats with leopard-skin patterns are also in fashion this year.

Others in Hong Kong Stadium's boisterous South Stand this year dressed up as penguins and wore red devil horns. One group showed up in white lab coats and another in Queen Elizabeth II masks.
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