Op/Ed: The Good Shepherd of Brokeback Mountain

[Lynne]

This piece has a terrific analysis of Jack/Lover/Shepherd symbolism in Brokeback Mountain:

http://www.gayalliance.org/content/view/360/88/
http://www.gayalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=360&Itemid=46

Here's an excerpt:

"To present afresh the 2000-year-old image of the Good Shepherd, there could be no better convention than to hide him as a 1960s ranch hand who falls in love with another man. Hidden in the character of Jack Twist is the ancient image of the Good Shepherd.

And like the Good Shepherd, Jack Twist’s violent death becomes the main catalyst for conversion. In the aftermath of Jack’s death, his lover Ennis experiences a profound conversion experience which plays itself out in a shift in his relationship with his daughter. Like the Good Shepherd of our Easter celebration, it is Jack’s blood-stained garments which, as relics, come to embody and memorialize the love of these shepherds."

The author goes on to discuss the Lover aspects of Jack, parallelling the Bible's Old Testament figures of King David and Solomon.

-Lynne


--Modified to update link to the article. --Lynne

[Aussie Chris]

Hi Lynne, I'm actually a little surprised by this article.  The author going into somewhat romantic parallels and a desire to see Brokeback analogies presented in sermons.  Am I being a little too cynical when I say I seriously doubt they we will ever see a Brokeback reference in a Christian (or otherwise) church?

Lovely sentiments from the author though - and I love the poem.

[TJ]

Speaking (or more literally, typing) here as a formally educated thelogian who was a graduate theology student for 5 semesters at Oral Roberts University as well as the son of an Assemblies of God (AG - Trinitarian Pentecostal) evangelist/pastor and a person who has been Sunday School teacher and even preached, too, the "Good Shepherd" images in the text of the Bible itself are not the same as in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain.

Real shepherds, not just those in the Bible, lead their sheep, not drive them as in the movie. We never see Jack and Ennis in front of the sheep.

If one attempts to drive sheep, they scatter. While sheep might follow an individual lead sheep, when they are left by themselves, they wander off in all different directions.

All those guys had to do to get the sheep to follow them up the mountain is to take one of the spring-born lambs and carry it on his horse and ride in front of all the sheep. When the mother of the lamb walked to keep up with her off-spring, the other sheep would follow.

Also, a lot of the "shepherd" imagery in the movie is not even in the book. There's not that much emphasis on religion nor spirituality in the book. The total sum of any reference to religion in Annie Proulx's short story is when Jack favors the sad hymn, "Water-Walking Jesus," which his mother who believed in the Pentecost taught him. And, Jack sings it like one sings a dirge at a funeral or at a "Good Friday" church service.

Every person claiming to be a Christian and has attended church regularly literally believes in the Pentecost, even if the church which they attend is not Pentecostal or a Charismatic one. The Methodist Church like all Protestant chuches (the non-Baptists and non-Pentecostals) has the observance of Pentecost Sunday 7 weeks after Easter Sunday. In Pentcostal churches, denominational or independent, Pentecost is celebrated at every church service, not once a year as in Mainline (i.e. Protestant) denominations.

[TJ]

One has only to think of the Shepherd King David and his beloved, Jonathan.

I find the translation/interpretation of the names of David and Jonathan interesting.

Tradtional Christian Orthodoxy theologians and their lexicons say that "David" means "beloved." But, one of the Hebrew pronunciatons of David, which is spelled only with transliterated consonants in the Hebrew "DVD," is "dood" (sounds like "dude"). "DVD" also means "uncle."

Jonathan is the combination of "YH" and "NThN." "YH" (yah, Yeh, Yoh) is the short form of the name of the Divine, YHWH, which was pronounced by Jews, even orthodox ones, until after 70 AD. "NThN," (the "Th" is a different consonant that the letter "T" by itself but Th may be pronounced as "T" also) means "gift."

So, "Jonathan" can mean "God's Gift" in translation.

Both, David and Jonathan had wives and for a period of time Jonathan was David's brother-in-law. Jonathan was ten or more years older than David.

David had been anointed to be the king to replace Jonathan's father, King Saul; but, David was not a king when Saul and Jonathan were living.

[Lynne]

Hi Lynne, I'm actually a little surprised by this article.  The author going into somewhat romantic parallels and a desire to see Brokeback analogies presented in sermons.  Am I being a little too cynical when I say I seriously doubt they we will ever see a Brokeback reference in a Christian (or otherwise) church?

Lovely sentiments from the author though - and I love the poem.

Chris - First, you know I love you, so you know I mean no disrespect.     But... I *do* think you are being just a bit too cynical in this one, tiny, narrow instance.  I was all set to point you to a sermon I thought I'd posted here before...I've tried to find it with no luck.  So I will repost & hope I'm not being redundant.

Here is an article printed in a Presbyterian publication by Dr. David Jenkins, School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta.  The text alludes to it being delivered as a sermon during Epiphany, but I have not been able to substantiate the where and when of the sermon.  There are too many good parts to excerpt - IMO, it needs to be read in its entirety.

http://www.covenantnetwork.org/sermon&papers/jenkins.htm

"I believe that the official rulings and language of our churches about something  we call “homosexuality” only serves to strengthen homophobia’s hateful grip on our world. The recent United Methodist and Vatican rulings do not simply function as ecclesial decisions guarding ordination and church membership.  Like judgments from the Inquisition, they are as lethal as a tire iron in the hands of violent men, for these rulings continue to isolate human beings from communities which are called upon to be life-giving. Couple this isolation with language that dehumanizes men and women as “innately disordered” or worse, and the self-hate and desperation often lead to death. Gay and lesbian teenagers in the U.S. attempt suicide at more than five times the national average.  Annie Proulx noted the “fact that Wyoming has the highest suicide rate in the [U.S.], and that the preponderance of those people who kill themselves are elderly single men.”  Ennis and Jack managed to stay alive for each other as long as they could, the way soldiers do in war, not fighting for great causes or honor, but for those particular soldiers with whom they had become inextricably bound."

The note about the high rate of suicide among gay and lesbian youths is a point that speaks directly to me b/c of my previous experience working in that area.  It's pot & kettle for me to talk about you being cynical, because I frequently feel hopeless and discouraged in my quest to communicate why this movie has made such a big impact on me with the 'non-believers'.  I'm still pondering Jack as Old Testament/Biblical lover...that romanticized idea may be stretching the point.  However, the mere existence of this sermon gives me some hope that with open hearts we can eventually get to a place where homosexuality is accepted without footnotes.  I hope you feel similarly encouraged.

((Hugs))
-Lynne

[Lynne]

Every person claiming to be a Christian and has attended church regularly literally believes in the Pentecost, even if the church which they attend is not Pentecostal or a Charismatic one. The Methodist Church like all Protestant chuches (the non-Baptists and non-Pentecostals) has the observance of Pentecost Sunday 7 weeks after Easter Sunday. In Pentcostal churches, denominational or independent, Pentecost is celebrated at every church service, not once a year as in Mainline (i.e. Protestant) denominations.

TJ, I've been meaning to pop in and tell you thank you for posting here.  I truly appreciate your opinions and considered responses.  I think you can be our 'official' Biblical scholar b/c I am certainly not up to that task.   

I'm probably repeating myself, but I wanted to reiterate why I loved the 'Water-Walking Jesus' scene so much.  I thought that both Jack's and Ennis's relative innocence and inexperience were crystal clear in this exchange.  Jack's connfusion of the Pentecost with the Rapture, for instance, made me think that he had certainly been taught these ideas by his mother but that perhaps the finer points escaped him.    Similarly Ennis's assertion that 'his folks were Methodist' made me laugh because obviously the Pentecost is part of the body of Christian knowledge, but somehow Ennis missed this concept too.  I love these boys.

And just so you don't think I'm being naive, I will mention that beneath the humor here is that ever-present tragic theme;  you cannot see this scene (at least a second time) and not remember that both boys will live to be judged by themselves and by the world for being nothing more or less than they were created to be.

-Lynne

[TJ]

TJ, I've been meaning to pop in and tell you thank you for posting here.  I truly appreciate your opinions and considered responses.  I think you can be our 'official' Biblical scholar b/c I am certainly not up to that task.   

I'm probably repeating myself, but I wanted to reiterate why I loved the 'Water-Walking Jesus' scene so much.  I thought that both Jack's and Ennis's relative innocence and inexperience were crystal clear in this exchange.  Jack's connfusion of the Pentecost with the Rapture, for instance, made me think that he had certainly been taught these ideas by his mother but that perhaps the finer points escaped him.    Similarly Ennis's assertion that 'his folks were Methodist' made me laugh because obviously the Pentecost is part of the body of Christian knowledge, but somehow Ennis missed this concept too.  I love these boys.

And just so you don't think I'm being naive, I will mention that beneath the humor here is that ever-present tragic theme;  you cannot see this scene (at least a second time) and not remember that both boys will live to be judged by themselves and by the world for being nothing more or less than they were created to be.

-Lynne

Lynne, thanks for your support. I am not exactly an expert theologian; but, real students of the Bible, no matter how well formally educated, are willing to continually learn. I don't always agree with the gay theologians in their interpretation of the Bible either. I seem to get dogmatic at times; but, I am sort of inclusive when it comes to spirituality. I am gonna ramble a little here.

Oh, I like the way that the movie Ennis let Jack know that he actually enjoyed Jack's rendition of Water-Walking Jesus." They didn't make fun of each other in a negative way. The spirit behind Jack's singing was more important than singing on key. I can remember hearing a rather large muscular man sing in an independent Pentecostal church in a small community when I was 16 years old. The song was "When They Ring Them Golden Bells." While he did not sing exactly on key as the music for it was written, when I heard him sing it with his very masculine voice, I heard bells ringing in my spirit. The man had been a state Golden Gloves boxing champ in California. It does say in the Bible to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

I could make some comments here in how I could see the guys getting into a humorus discussion on the "Rapture Theology" which the majority of conservative Pentecostal churches and even the Southern Baptist Church accepts at gospel truth, although it was a doctrine thought up in the 19th Century. My late older brother, who was an ordained minister of a small denomination, did have minor contention with me in regard to the Rapture because I didn't interpret it the way that he did.  IMO, he got "raptured" first because he went to Heaven in September 1988 at the age of 48. 

In the movie situation when Jack asked Ennis if he saw something up in heave and Ennis said he was sending up a prayer of thanks . . . that Jack did not bring his harmonica with him, I think the part about the harmonica would have been implied, "Oh, I am a believer; but, Jack, I don't want to be thought of as religious." I have heard guys talk like Ennis did in that situation. I have known Methodists who could only pray silently which Pentecostals prefer to pray aloud. And their prayers still got answered.

I am on a tangent here about the language they used. At the reunion in Riverton in 1967, both of them said "son of a bitch" several times. They were calling each other that, they were just at a loss for words because they were so excitedly happy to see each other. I have known guys who could "cuss a blue streak;" but, they would not eat a meal without saying grace first (and hearing them say it was equal to being in church because of the spiritual uplift I got from it).

I do see the guys' times together as spiritual experiences. Because their inexperience and lack of maturity, I do see them as innocents when they are alone up on the mountain in 1963. There's really only one sin that will keep a person from a heavenly eternity and that is the sin of rejecting the Creator's salvation.

[Toast]

oops
I had to go back to the top of the page to remember what the thread was about

I usually like to go down through a page before i follow the liinks. but this time I forgot what the link was.
So while I was up there I followed the link
and it is a beautiful analysis of the movie.
nothing carved in stone, but another opinion.

Thanks Lynne

" Like the Good Shepherd of our Easter celebration, it is Jack’s blood-stained garments which, as relics, come to embody and memorialize the love of these shepherds."

cool !!

[Lynne]

Thank you very much for posting here, Toast.  I'm glad you enjoyed the article.

I heartily agree with your 'nothing carved in stone, but another opinion' note.  To me, the single quality that moves Brokeback Mountain from merely good into the realm of truly great is that it inspires thought and introspection, raising more questions than it answers.  It gives us permission - even demands - that we bring our own interpretation to it...view it through the lens of our own experience...and we are left forever transformed by that gift.

I've been thinking more about the Lover Jack vs Shepherd Jack but haven't really had any great insight.  Very little Biblilcal Old Testament theology feels relevant in my world.  Aussie Chris mentioned that he loved the poem, which seemed to depict Lover Jack in a true sense:

"A lonely young shepherd toiled, unaware of pleasure and contentment,
His thoughts fixed on another shepherd… his heart wounded by love.
He is in tears, not from the pain of love…
but more from knowing he’s been distanced.
One thought— that he is kept at a distance by his beautiful shepherd—
is of such great pain that he travels to another country to be misused,
his heart wounded with love.

Says the young shepherd: “It’s agonizing that you draw back from my love
and do not seek my company….”
and his heart was wounded with love.

Finally, after many years, he climbed… spread his arms open —
He had remained persevering— and he died,
His heart wounded by the love.

(Juan de la Cruz, “Otras canciones a lo divino de Cristo y el alma”)"

The evocation here of isolation, pain, and loss breaks my heart...it's beautiful.

-Lynne

[Lynne]

This article was archived - here's the new link:

http://www.gayalliance.org/index.php?option=com_alphacontent&section=4&cat=21&task=view&id=360&Itemid=69

The latest sonnet for Jack that Kerry posted by Marlowe reminded me of this article.  Kerry's post is here:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=6834.msg130927#msg130927

And here's another excerpt from this article:

"Surprisingly, even the austere St. John of the Cross unites the images of shepherd and lover. His poem is worth quoting here in its entirety for its parallels to Brokeback’s story of shepherds in love:

A lonely young shepherd toiled, unaware of pleasure and contentment,
his thoughts fixed on another shepherd… his heart wounded by love.
He is in tears, not from the pain of love…
but more from knowing he’s been distanced.
One thought— that he is kept at a distance by his beautiful shepherd—
is of such great pain that he travels to another country to be misused,
his heart wounded with love.

Says the young shepherd: “It’s agonizing that you draw back from my love
and do not seek my company….”
and his heart was wounded with love.

Finally, after many years, he climbed… spread his arms open —
He had remained persevering— and he died,
His heart wounded by the love.
(Juan de la Cruz, “Otras canciones a lo divino de Cristo y el alma”)"

[Marge_Innavera]

Here is an article printed in a Presbyterian publication by Dr. David Jenkins, School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta.  The text alludes to it being delivered as a sermon during Epiphany, but I have not been able to substantiate the where and when of the sermon.  There are too many good parts to excerpt - IMO, it needs to be read in its entirety.

http://www.covenantnetwork.org/sermon&papers/jenkins.htm

Weird that I ran across this older post today - I had saved this article to Word last year and just re-read it. It's still posted on the website, too.

Another one, though not a sermon, was an article in the Kansas City Star by Vern Barnet, one of the Star's two religion and spirituality columnists. Mr. Barnet wrote this on December 28th, about ten days before Brokeback premiered in the Kansas City area. He considered Brokeback to have much more spiritual value and significance than Passion of the Christ, which a lot of people were ga-ga over at the time. A few excerpts:

"Can anyone reading Annie Proulx’s story, from which Brokeback Mountain has been adapted, fail to perceive the fulfillment, the intensity that cowboys Ennis and Jack have for each other?  Each is to the other what ultimately makes their life meaningful: sacred.

"Their lives fall apart because they have tried to deny the sacred energy between them, twisted by the homophobia preserved by religious limits from another era that justifies perhaps even murder.

"The Passion of the Christ told us little new about the nature of the sacred; and I, like many, thought it trivialized and profaned the holy with its violence.

"On the other hand, Brokeback Mountain is a parable not just for gays but for our entire society about false and genuine relationships.  It asks specifically whether our culture will support the sacred in genuine love or whether it will make demons out of men who find the sacred with other men."


The full text of the column is available at  http://www.cres.org/star/star05.htm   It's titled "Same Sex Story Has Its Sacred Role To Play."
 

[Lynne]

Another worthwhile thread to revisit when considering Brokeback Mountain during the Christmas season.
-Lynne