Broken in Two

[bbm_stitchbuffyfan]

These are all really interesting... From the train passing by to the Continental Divide to Jack's ashes being separate, that is a really haunting idea.

Unfortunately, I cannot add much else yet.

[Front-Ranger]

We haven't even started on the people who were broken in two in this movie, and I don't know if I have the strength to delve into it. But TJ's post about Native Americans reminded me of something I wanted to bring up: Various tribes regarded gay people as a combination of man AND woman and therefore a double dose of humanity. So in a way, straight people were considered to be just half a person. They had various terms for gay men and women and they had a special role in the tribe. The only openly gay character in a Western movie before BBM was a Native American in "Little Big Man."

[alec716]

What backs are not broken in this story?      Jack's "vertebrates" (as mentioned), the backs of two marriages, the innocence of 3 childhoods (five, if you count Ennis and Jack's difficult upbringings and experiences with their fathers), and, ultimately, the backbone of the central relationship in the story -- Jack lost his very life, as we all know.  Jack was the backbone of the relationship -- made many early suggestions of togetherness, made the first physical advances, made sure that they reconnected after 4 years, formulated plans for a day-to-day future together, traveled far and wide on Ennis's schedule for 2 decades' worth of the famed fishin' trips, and even cradled Ennis when he collapsed during their last meeting (despite the fact that Ennis first pushed him away a mere moment earlier).  How ultimately symbolic that Jack's physical spine was not allowed to remain intact -- it was cremated and (as referenced earlier in this thread) the ashes divided between two locations.  Sadly, I see Jack as the utlimate "brokeback" in this story.

just my rant for the evening ... 

[Meryl]

Very nice thread, Lee.  I think there are a lot of opposites in this movie, and you've touched on some important ones in your first post.

For another take on this question, this seems like a good place to share a comment from a thread I started at IMDB, and my reply to it:

By  nonon99_99
I suspect the almost unhumanly precise symmetry structuralism with its imploding is the cause of Brokeback Mountain's nearly physical hurting emotional affectability. Everything there is Ennis, then Jack, then again Ennis, then again Jack, etc.. Suddently at one moment, Jack is no more, the grand structure is destroyed, BROKEN. We audiences suddently woke up from a dream and faced the reality that a part of our viscera is being taken out by violence. In viewing the last twenty minutes of this movie, I would say if some scenes last two seconds more I need to call emergency. But then the unbelievable structural balance works again, those scenes last right to what you can barely bear and the structure gradually rebuilt/extened itself (Jack's Mother, Ennis's daughter, 'I swear').

Hence I think the title, Brokeback, is a precise description of the film in an abstract way. 
 
By meryl_88
What a beautiful description, nonon, and all the more impressive since it seems that English is not your first language. You're right about how we are "broken" by Jack's violent exit, and the scenes that follow are indeed a slow, painful mending of that break, a coming "back." There's something deeply moving, too, about the Mother and Daughter figures being so important to that healing. They love Jack and Ennis unconditionally, and we can do the same through them. Thank you for that insight.

[Front-Ranger]

Thank you for sharing that exchange with nonon, Meryl, it is very moving.

[Front-Ranger]

Since our friend ruthlessly is gone (hopefully temporarily) I would like to bring up an observation that s/he made about the chopping block. A tree stump used as a chopping block figures in two scenes. First, when Aguirre rides up while Jack is chopping wood. Aguirre scans the hillside with binoculars to ascertain the location of Jack's other half, Ennis. Then, when Aguirre sends word to bring the sheep down, Ennis, frustrated, sits down on the chopping block, picks up a log, and tosses it away. All this as a way to forecast the separation of Ennis and Jack in two.

[HerrKaiser]

For me, the name also carries a suggestion of a failed effort. You break your back trying futiley to accomplish something; that is, you are destroyed by the struggle. Brokeback was the idyllic place that Jack and Ennis could never make it back to, much as they (both!) might have wanted it, and eventually the struggle destroyed them. Does that make sense?

I think this makes a good deal of sense, especially given the timeframe of the story and the use of this saying more often in play in the 50s and 60s.

I also have felt the name is actually two words--Broke and Back. The place of broken hearts, broken dreams, broken plans; yet a place to always come back to. For those who, like many homosexual men especially pre-mid 70s, were never really able to establish a long term, rooted life of comfort and peace, they tendency is to hold onto those solid rocks in their pasts that held promise. Many use their childhood homes, teachers, Churches, etc. but I think Ennis and Jack, in spite of the "broken" nature of their lives, kept coming "back" for the hope it was all going to be OK.

[Front-Ranger]

I attended a CSN&Y concert this summer and heard them perform this song. It was very moving, because first Crosby started out with a single spotlight on him, then Nash joined in, then Stills, and the "They are for...each other" was sung by all of them. Interesting that they say "two alone" because two people makes one unit if it works, and they complement each other.

[Front-Ranger]

With apologies to Bob Dylan:

Brokeback lines, brokeback strings,
Brokeback threads, brokeback springs,
Brokeback idols, brokeback heads,
People sleeping in brokeback beds.
Ain't no use jiving
Ain't no use joking
Everything is brokeback.

Brokeback bottles, brokeback plates,
Brokeback switches, brokeback gates,
Brokeback dishes, brokeback parts,
Streets are filled with brokeback hearts.
Brokeback words never meant to be spoken,
Everything is brokeback.

Bridge: Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground

Brokeback cutters, brokeback saws,
Brokeback buckles, brokeback laws,
Brokeback bodies, brokeback bones,
Brokeback voices on brokeback phones.
Take a deep breath, feel like you're chokin',
Everything is brokeback.

Bridge: Every time you leave and go off someplace
Things fall to pieces in my face

Brokeback hands on brokeback ploughs,
Brokeback treaties, brokeback vows,
Brokeback pipes, brokeback tools,
People bending brokeback rules.
Hound dog howling, bull frog croaking,
Everything is brokeback.


Copyright © 1989 Special Rider Music

[BBM-Cat]

Love all the incredible insights  - all alluding to being "broken" physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Perhaps it's already been mentioned - but the actual name "Brokeback" in and of itself is such a conflictual name for a mountain range located in such a peaceful and idyllic location. Another indication of the disharmony, or incongruency that plagues Jack's and Ennis's lives.

I mean, what if it had been called TriPeak Mountain or some other such silly name  - would we still feel quite the same? "Brokeback" has such an emotional and conflictual charge to it - just seems to fit so perfectly with the entire theme of the movie.