Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
TOTW 01/08: Do you think Jack was murdered or was it an accident?
serious crayons:
I can't imagine anyone seeing Brokeback Mountain as a story of a man who was a crazy paranoid. I believe Jack died by accident, as I said in that debate at IMDb. But I see BBM as being, in part, a story about the damaging effects of rural homophobia, in the oft-repeated words of another participant in that IMDb debate. (It's not just about homophobia; it's also a love story.)
But to the extent it is about homophobia, it is about how that societal prejudice corroded a man's life and mind and soul to the point that he couldn't be with the one he loved and ruined both their lives. The homophobia was very real -- Ennis encountered, at a very young age, about as brutal example of it as you can imagine. And Ennis' reaction to that experience, as well as to the experience of growing up with a dad who was a possibly murderous homophobe, was not at all irrational. His reaction makes perfect sense under the circumstances.
But it forever damaged the way he saw life. And in the end, it also affected the way he saw death.
To stress: People who argue that Jack died by accident are not saying homophobia doesn't exist, in life or in BBM. They're saying that this movie shows how homophobia leads to violence, both physical and emotional.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: garycottle on January 11, 2008, 03:00:44 pm ---I think there are some very bad apples who are cops, and I think they give cops as a group a bad reputation. And maybe things have changed in the last 25 years. Maybe cops are more tolerant of gay people than they were then, just like the general public. In any event, I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that the authorities in a small Texas town in the early 80's may have been unsympathetic to a gay man like Jack. The story doesn't tell us one way or another, but it's not so far-fetched to wonder along those lines.
--- End quote ---
I think this is a good point, Gary. When we look at this story, I think we have to be careful to keep time and place in mind, and not project backward from today. We may also need to distinguish between law enforcement officers as individuals and law enforcement as an institution of society.
At least here in the East, there is a long history of antagonism between law enforcement and the gay community. A former cheif of police and later mayor of Philadelphia, Frank Rizzo, once led a raid to bust up a gay club dressed in a tuxedo with a nightstick tucked in his cummerbund. Consider, too, that the Stonewall Riots began with a police raid on a gay bar. To tie this together, the individual officers involved in those raids may not have cared a bit that the patrons of those clubs were gay, but they had orders to carry out, and that was their job. Nevertheless there are good historical reasons for gays to be wary of the police. On the other hand, times do change. In the early 1990s the Philadelphia police were very helpful and supportive of starting a town watch in our gayborhood.
You got to do the nasty with a police officer? That's so ... hot. ;D ;)
souxi:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on January 11, 2008, 02:55:16 pm ---That scene has always puzzled me, and I've never really given it much thought. It's also OT for this thread, but maybe Chrissi would consider making that film scene a Topic of the Week some time?
Oh, Chrissi! You listenin', Little Darlin'! ;D :-*
--- End quote ---
I,ve gone off topic?? ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, I,m gonna be shot!!! ;) :laugh:
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: souxi on January 11, 2008, 03:20:10 pm ---I,ve gone off topic?? ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, I,m gonna be shot!!! ;) :laugh:
--- End quote ---
I wouldn't worry, with all the dumbass missin' around here. ;D :laugh:
I'm sorry, I should have said, For me to discuss that scene further here would be off topic. :(
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on January 11, 2008, 03:12:36 pm ---I can't imagine anyone seeing Brokeback Mountain as a story of a man who was a crazy paranoid. I believe Jack died by accident, as I said in that debate at IMDb. But I see BBM as being, in part, a story about the damaging effects of rural homophobia, in the oft-repeated words of another participant in that IMDb debate. (It's not just about homophobia; it's also a love story.)
But to the extent it is about homophobia, it is about how that societal prejudice corroded a man's life and mind and soul to the point that he couldn't be with the one he loved and ruined both their lives. The homophobia was very real -- Ennis encountered, at a very young age, about as brutal example of it as you can imagine. And Ennis' reaction to that experience, as well as to the experience of growing up with a dad who was a possibly murderous homophobe, was not at all irrational. His reaction makes perfect sense under the circumstances.
But it forever damaged the way he saw life. And in the end, it also affected the way he saw death.
To stress: People who argue that Jack died by accident are not saying homophobia doesn't exist, in life or in BBM. They're saying that this movie shows how homophobia leads to violence, both physical and emotional.
--- End quote ---
Yes, I very much agree with this. When it comes to Ennis and his fears... I think BBM is a lot about the issue of internalized homophobia and the impact of this phenomenon on a person's life and the lives of those he loves- both his lover and his family, etc. (in a nutshell)
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