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Foreshadowing

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Brown Eyes:
Heya,

While watching BBM on Friday I became inspired to try to start a new discussion on the general topic of foreshadowing in the film (I don't know how well this topic will work for the story since the story is structured so differently from the film).  Forgive me if this topic repeats subjects that have come up here and there in the past... in thinking about this I'm drawing on a lot of ideas that have circulated around Open Forum for a long time.

I think foreshadowing happens with regard to lots of different topics within BBM.  But, to me one of the most striking examples to start with is the subject of Jack's death.

In thinking about Jack's death... we don't know exactly how it came about, but we do know that in either scenario (accident or murder) it involved his truck and devices associated with trucks.

It just really strikes me at the moment, more than it has in the past, how much Jack's entry into the film may foreshadow his fate.  I mean, one of the very first things we see him do is get out of his difficult old truck and kick the the rear of the truck after we witness the malfunctioning tire.  I've always seen that tire at the very beginning as sort of cute... like the truck has a high-spirited personality that mimicks Jack's own personality.  But,  it strikes me at the moment as possible that it serves as some kind of warning about his death.  A double-edged thing.  And, then later at the end of the '63 summer after Jack and Ennis have come down from the mountain, we see again that Jack is having trouble with his truck and Ennis needs to help him.  The other, much later, major moment of foreshadowing concerning the sad subject of Jack's death seems to be the dance he has with LaShawn... and particularly what she's talking to him about as she rambles on and on.  I'm sure there may be other instances of foreshadowing on this topic that I've missed here.

And, I have one other point to suggest about Jack's entry into the film (which I know has been discussed before).  This has to do the way the close up shot of his face (right after he gets out of his truck, tries to approach Ennis and then turns his face in profile) is juxtapoed with a "square" of waving green grass seen in the background to the side of the frame.  This so clearly reminds me of the "square" of grass we see outside of Ennis's trailer window in the very final shot of the film... I think it's truly gorgeous and poignant.  I guess that grass could be considered a kind of bookend image too.  At the beginning when everything was still possible, optimistic and the romance was at it's very beginning budding stage and then the somber ending. 

I think maybe this question of foreshadowing is possibly a nuance on the concept of the "bookend", but I don't know that the two things are always the same.

The topic of foreshadowing could be very big and general, and doesn't necessarily have to center around the topic of Jack.


Hope you're all doing well Friends.  :-*

serious crayons:
Hey Bud,

Sorry I'm just now getting around to posting on this great topic. Wow, some of the examples you mentioned are ones I'd never thought about before: kicking the tire, his profile juxtaposed against the grass.

It's almost too well-known an example of foreshadowing, but what popped into mind first when I saw this thread was the scene of Jack washing the shirts in the river. The vulnerability of him being naked, his worried expression, the spooky music, the slaughtered sheep ... it all seems such pointed foreshadowing that i used to consider it proof that he was murdered. Nowadays, I'm not so sure about the murder part, but it definitely hints at tragedy ahead.

Brown Eyes:
Heya K,

Thanks!  Yep, definitely the dead sheep that the naked-laundry scene seem to be a bit about foreshadowing too.

The more I think about the two options for how Jack died... the closer they are in a certain sense.  I mean there's something odd about the idea that Jack was killed by either a tire or a tire-iron.  There's something very surreal about those two things being presented as the only two options... while at the same time those two things are directly related to one another.  I wonder if Lureen's description of Jack being killed by a tire exploding is almost meant to be seen as a trigger that gets Ennis thinking immediately about tire-irons (almost like a word association).  In some sense, this actually makes me lean a little more towards the accident scenario when I think about these options as words... and what those words might mean in Ennis's head (and how he might extrapolate or project meaning).

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: atz75 on February 09, 2008, 05:05:15 pm ---  I mean there's something odd about the idea that Jack was killed by either a tire or a tire-iron.  There's something very surreal about those two things being presented as the only two options... while at the same time those two things are directly related to one another.  I wonder if Lureen's description of Jack being killed by a tire exploding is almost meant to be seen as a trigger that gets Ennis thinking immediately about tire-irons (almost like a word association). 
--- End quote ---

I think you're right. If Lureen had said Jack was killed by a heart attack or cancer or drowning ... heck, almost anything else, there'd be no space between what she said and what Ennis believed. Even a car accident would leave much less room for doubt, since it usually involves witnesses and maybe different sorts of injuries.

But the tire and tire iron both occur on deserted roads (except for whoever's wielding the tire iron). And the tire scenario is unusual enough to arouse suspicion.

Speaking of this and foreshadowing, I think the fact that Ennis helps Jack with his truck -- getting it going in Signal, then loading it up before the final lakeside argument, subtly suggest Ennis' role as protecting Jack when he's around ... and then not being there to protect him in the end.

Brown Eyes:

--- Quote from: ineedcrayons on February 09, 2008, 07:01:49 pm ---
Speaking of this and foreshadowing, I think the fact that Ennis helps Jack with his truck -- getting it going in Signal, then loading it up before the final lakeside argument, subtly suggest Ennis' role as protecting Jack when he's around ... and then not being there to protect him in the end.


--- End quote ---

Yes, you might expect that I'll agree with this too.  Ennis is successfully able to help Jack start his truck at the end of the '63 summer... it sort of seems like whatever fiddling Ennis is doing under the hood of Jack's truck does the trick (I hadn't considered his role in helping Jack "pack" at the beginning of the lake argument before... interesting).  In general, yes, I think there's definitely a huge element of guilt in Ennis's imaginings about Jack's death in terms of his not-being there.  The dead sheep/ naked laundry scenario is much the same it seems to me since this is also about Ennis not being there to protect that sheep that died. 

In the dead sheep case... it's sort of interesting because Jack is the cause of Ennis not being there to protect the sheep.  So, if this is extrapolated into Ennis's broader thought process about the best way to protect Jack and to protect himself... well, it's hard to articulate but maybe this has something to do with the degree to which Ennis might blame Jack for recklessness, or (later) for even something like suggesting living together (which equates to danger for Ennis).  Because I do think there's something about Jack's desire to move forward with the relationship or make it more permanent or close (living together) that Ennis just simply doesn't understand, at least until after Jack's dead.  Maybe it could be said that Jack's desire to keep Ennis close (within his own space, i.e. tent/camp) begins with TS1 where the circumstances lead to Ennis staying with Jack for the first time.  When you look at Jack's suggestions and mannerisms leading up to TS1), it seems pretty clear that he's been wanting the two of them to stay in camp from the beginning.   So, the idea that the sheep died because Ennis was distracted and spending time with Jack, somewhat in contradicton, leads to a broader idea that he must protect Jack (and himself).  I guess this scenario helps illustrate the relentless loop that Ennis might feel he's caught in with regard to his mindset and his perception of his life's circumstance (in very broad terms).

Thinking more about the discussions about the fairness of where they're required to "live" on Brokeback (either the pup tent or in camp)... maybe this is the beginnings of their struggles over the concept of living together, which sort of dogs them for the rest of their relationship.  Jack complains that it's unfair of Aguirre to require the use of the pup tent from the beginning.  And, I don't think the job-switch was the solution he was hoping for... it seems that from the very earliest moments on BBM he was hoping that Ennis would live with him in camp (or as the original sheep-herder... that Ennis would let Jack live with him in camp since Ennis was the original tender).

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