Brokeback Mountain is touching people everywhere.

lizard said:
okay I didn't know the dude gets murdered.

To spoil things even further:

The whole murder thing is barely brushed over. The director wanted to keep that part to a minimum. Since the real story is about the struggle these two cowboys have with their relationship and what to do about it.

The murder is almost an after-thought.
 
One cowboy is killed by a bunch of homophobes. It seriously gets only about 2 seconds of screen time. The only thing of significance is that he dies. The other cowboy then gets sad.
 
Nate The Great said:
I don't consider it a chick flick. A chick flick generally doesn't address such big social issues.

The Notebook = Chick Flick

Brokeback Mountain = Art House Cinema

Plus, the fact that the main character is murdered for being gay probably would completely put Brokeback out of the "chick flick" category. My wife walked out of the movie saying, "I thought they'd end up living together."

I said, "Then it would just be a chick flick . . . for homos."

dude, it's a chick flick