Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Black Hats, White Hats
TJ:
We also have to remember that if the movie were to based on the lives of real people, and the movie makers were not trying to inject symbolism into the scenes, the hats themselves would have no special meaning whatsoever.
While in the old Western movies, the good guys always wore white hats, the good guys in the real Old West usually wore what they could afford to buy.
I amusing ask "What does yin and yang (a Chinese philosopy) have to do with the color of cowboy hats in Wyoming?"
starboardlight:
--- Quote from: TJ on May 09, 2006, 12:55:08 am ---We also have to remember that if the movie were to based on the lives of real people, and the movie makers were not trying to inject symbolism into the scenes, the hats themselves would have no special meaning whatsoever.
--- End quote ---
I would disagree with that. Just because we dramatize a real person, doesn't mean that we can't employ interesting story telling devices to help out the story development. Look at the various historical plays done by Shakespeare. Julius Caesar is rife with symbolism and foreshadowing. I do think the hats take on symbolic meanings here. They don't affect the story progression directly, but they do offer us a second and third layer of meaning and interpretations.
--- Quote ---I amusing ask "What does yin and yang (a Chinese philosopy) have to do with the color of cowboy hats in Wyoming?"
--- End quote ---
The yin/yang dynamic comes from Ang Lee's eastern background and offer us an understanding of the dynamic between Ennis and Jack. It describes not only the fact that the men are opposite in personality, but also the fact that they somehow complete one another. In addition, they exert a push/pull influence on one another through out their lives. It's an interpretation to be sure, and until Ang Lee comes out and say it is or it isn't there, we can argue about it. We do know that in his various film, Ang Lee draws from Asian traditions, symbolism and imagery to help tell his stories. It's assumed that he does the same here, even if Wyoming is not China. The references simply add another layer of meaning that we can choose to read into or to ignore depending on your take of the film. To me the reading of yin-yang to describe the men's relationship fits like a glove, so I'm with Amanda in recognizing it as being significantly poignant.
ednbarby:
Amanda, I've noticed the two white hats and two black hats at the pool table every time, too. I'm not sure how to read that, either, but I can't shake the thought that it is somehow significant. Perhaps following the yin and yang symbolism, black hats are one kind of man and white hats are another. Are black hats secure in their sexuality and white hats are not? That doesn't work, because there are way too many white hats in all of Jack's backgrounds. Are black hats fixers and white hats standers? I think I'm maybe getting warmer on that one.
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: Aussie Chris on May 08, 2006, 11:49:17 pm ---LOL - I love you Amanda! I watched BBM a couple of days ago and after weeks of listening to your observations, I can say I had a tremendous time watching for hats and knowing glances, etc. These just never registered for me in the dozen previous viewings! What can I say, I think I'm missing a chromosome.
--- End quote ---
LOL, thanks Chris. You're a sweetie. Also thanks for all the interesting comments ednbarby and starboardlight... I like your idea, ednbarby, that black and white might have particular meanings... like fixer vs. stander (by the way, I feel like I'm speaking in a special Brokeback language when write things like that... fun!). I don't know what to make of Jack switching to light hats once in a while (reunion kiss and post-divorce). Why doesn't Ennis change his hat color ever?
And, thanks starboardlight... you explained perfectly what I meant by yin and yang. I think that's a really important component of the movie actually.
ednbarby:
--- Quote from: atz75 on May 09, 2006, 02:43:44 pm ---LOL, thanks Chris. You're a sweetie. Also thanks for all the interesting comments ednbarby and starboardlight... I like your idea, ednbarby, that black and white might have particular meanings... like fixer vs. stander (by the way, I feel like I'm speaking in a special Brokeback language when write things like that... fun!). I don't know what to make of Jack switching to light hats once in a while (reunion kiss and post-divorce). Why doesn't Ennis change his hat color ever?
And, thanks starboardlight... you explained perfectly what I meant by yin and yang. I think that's a really important component of the movie actually.
--- End quote ---
I agree - I think the idea of yin and yang (two halves of the same whole, broken down the middle, pushing and pulling at each other) is central to the movie. Along the lines of the Broken In Two discussion, I think the name lends itself to this concept. I know, I know - Annie Proulx has never said this is why she named it what she did, and maybe it wasn't even a conscious choice on her part. Regardless, I think Ang Lee took it and ran. He said he liked "the taste of" the title Brokeback Mountain. I take this to mean that there is a whole lot more meaning there to him than just a quaint name for a particular range.
And I think Jack's willingness to change his hat color shows his flexibility - his willingness to do whatever he has to do to keep his love alive. Ennis' lack of change in hat color can similarly be seen as symbolic of how rooted he is in the way (he thinks) things have to be. I just watched Memoirs of a Geisha the other night, and one part of the narration struck me in an Ennis-y/Jack-y way (there I go with the special BB language again ;)): The older sister was "like a tree - rooted steadfastly in the earth, unmoving, solid." But Chiyo was "like water - and when water finds itself trapped, it carves out a new path."
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