Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Topic of the Week 03/07: Did Lureen know Jack was gay?
huntinbuddy:
--- Quote from: Marge_Innavera on August 15, 2007, 08:46:27 am ---(3) Jack and his friend spend their "trips" gambling and whoring. Actually, a gambling problem could explain a lot of Jack's behavior.
--- End quote ---
Probably more whoring than gambling. At least legal gambling. What many don't know, at least with the present generation, is that here in the US,
gambling has only exploded in the past 20 years.
In 1931, Nevada was the first and only state to have legalized gambling. Then came New Jersey in 1978, and now it seems nearly every
state has some form of it. Even legal lotteries are fairly new. New Hampshire had the first in 1964, followed by New York in 67, and then
New Jersey in 1971. Just like casinos, it seems nearly every state now has some form of lottery games.
For what it's worth,
hb
Shakesthecoffecan:
We're not given a lot of insite into what the wives were thinking, but certainly Alma more. Lureen in both the story and especially in the movie, seems to jsut be annoyed with Jack over the years and then in her final scene is confronted with the truth. This Ennis Del Mar, what ever she thought of him, is now a heartbroken voice on the other end of the line, and she finally "gets it".
It also leads into all other sort of ideas, like did she know and have him killed? Was he killed because he was gay and that was how she found out?
Toast:
--- Quote from: brokeplex on August 15, 2007, 10:29:24 am ---Did Lureen know that Jack was gay? Probably not at first, but over time.... yes she did. And, her father definitely did and disapproved of Jack. Look at the differences in the screenplay and the movie during the "Sit down you old sonuvabitch!" Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps her father's disapproval of Jack is one of the reasons Lureen married Jack. In the movie, by the time we get to 1978 in the scene at the fundraiser for the Childress County Children's home, Lureen is clearly disappointed in her life. I think that she quietly accepted his "wanderings" as long as he didn't make a public spectacle of himself. Her tone when she was speaking with Ennis in 1983 after he learns of Jack's death shows that she had mentally compartmentalized Jack, and clearly he had not been the focus of her life for some time. On the other hand,for Alma, Ennis was the love of her life and she felt KEEN betrayal upon the understanding of her husband's affair with Jack. I don't think that Lureen ever felt for Jack what Alma felt for Ennis. So in Lureen, you didn't see the anger that was demonstrated in Alma....Lureen just had a sense that her marriage was probably a mistake and was dealing with it in the best way she could. I feel great sorrow for both women, especially Alma. The CLOSET has many victims, included in that number are spouses and children. Had Jack and Ennis felt free to live their lives together, two unhappy marriages could have been averted.
--- End quote ---
Total agreement, brokeplex.
I think Lureen put Jack between herself and her father for distance
and continued to stay with Jack as a kind of a business decision
Very unhappy girl buried in the company stuff
Knowing that Jack came back all perky from his northern adventures.
ifyoucantfixit:
Not wanting to seem or be argumentative: however, I dont see how you can place your own thoughts, on them. You who think she knew he was gay, are yourself aware of it...Therefor you in my opinion are giving her your opinions. The story is all we can go by..Even Anne Hathaways superb performance is an interpretation. Between her and Ang Lee. It was meant to slant your opinion. To theirs...But the story is still ambigious...
We will never know for sure...Its merely speculation....We can never say she did..Or did not!!
moremojo:
--- Quote from: ifyoucantfixit on August 15, 2007, 02:51:59 pm ---To theirs...But the story is still ambigious...
--- End quote ---
Very true. And the original story is, on this point (along with many others), even more ambiguous than the film. In the story, it is possible that Lureen never realizes Jack was gay (unlikely, but possible). In the film, the close-up of Lureen's anguished face and wounded eyes leaves no doubt that, if she did not arrive at this conclusion earlier, by this point she cannot deny it.
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