Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
To you, what is FUN for you in the BM movie?
BlissC:
--- Quote from: optom3 on March 23, 2008, 10:56:34 pm ---On the surface Jack clowning around is light hearted but I think hides a deeper sadness.Superficially it is funny,scratch deeper and it is truly deeply sad.
And yes just as the drinker use alcohol to mask his feelings so we have the anology with the clown and his mask.In the film all combine,the clown,alcohol and the ache.Jack initally uses his clown act to mask his true feelings for Ennis,which he has already acknowledged to himself.It is also an opportunity to introduce some levity to the situation,and try to break down some of Ennis's barriers.
--- End quote ---
A very valid point. I've always looked on Jack as the more optimistic of the two of them (sweet life, and bluebirds and whiskey streams and all that), but I think his laughter and his humour maybe do mask a deeper sadness. Thinking of him life that he reminds me of an ex of mine - always the life and soul of parties, always playing the clown, and cheering other people up, but that was all an act. I was one of the very few people whoever saw beneath that mask, and even when it was just the two of us, so often that mask was firmly fixed in place.
Wasn't Periot, the sad French clown the "original" clown?
Speaking of clowns, it's also reminded me of the scene where Jack makes a pass at the rodeo clown. Jack's whole expression and his demenour in that scene is subdued, and sad somehow, and of the two of them I guess it's Jack who's the real clown.
--- Quote ---Laughter is the best medicine,and it could be argued that Ennis is sick.Plagued by guilt for what he is starting to feel.So Jack tries to make him laugh.Also many people use alcohol as "medicine"
So many analogies.Clowns,masks,laughter,alcohol,medicine,all are intertwined so very subtely and so cleverly by Proulx.
--- End quote ---
Again, I totally agree. Jack is very perceptive in reading Ennis's moods up on the mountain, and he always seems to know the right words and the right actions to make Ennis smile. He does "act the clown" a lot - when he does his rodeo cowboy impression and Ennis that sets Ennis off laughing so hard that the screenplay describes it that they "both laugh so hard, they almost cry", when he does his "Oooooeee!" when Ennis shoots the deer...Jack's always there with his one-liners giving Ennis the punch line and a chance for them to laugh and break the tension.
Again, alcohol often is a form of medicine. I know recently when I got some bad news about my health situation, the first thing I did that night when I got home was crack open a bottle of vodka and pour myself a damned big vodka and tonic. With one of the drugs I'm on in particular I shouldn't really drink alcohol, but needed to chill out, and it did the trick. In the same way Jack and Ennis need the whiskey to break the tension between them. I think probably in the story, on the mountain alcohol was probably more of a "medicinal" prop in that it allowed them both to relax more, and although I think there was sadness in both of them, I think it was probably only later on when alcohol became more than just something to help them chill out. Lureen's "he drank a lot" suggest that for Jack at least, his coping mechanism was more than just an occasional prop in later years, and the fact that she mentioned it to Ennis suggests that it was something fairly significant in his life. With Ennis though we don't see him drinking a lot through the years. His sadness eats at him in different ways.
Damn! How did a thread about fun things get so depressing? :-\
Artiste:
Thanks bliss, thanks optom!!
Wow! Much news that you two bring with your recent posts, again!! Thanks!!
Bliss, you ask:
Damn! How did a thread about fun things get so depressing?
............
Bliss, you bring up a good question! Do you suppose that sadness is the other side of the blade of happiness?? I do not know how to phrase it otherwise... right now!
............
At the beginning of the movie, which one is more sad? Ennis or Jack?
At the beginning of the movie, which one is more happy? Ennis or Jack?
Is that hard to say?
At least, it is fun to see Jack cruising... right away Ennis?
And is Ennis having fun being cruised?
Hugs!
Artiste:
Are beans fun?
Can they be considered fun in the BM movie?
Hugs!
Mandy21:
Fiona and Bliss, you've made some brilliant observations / analogies, especially with the clowns and masks, I love that one. Never occurred to me before, but it's dead on. I think they both wear masks, but that Jack feels freer to take his off a bit more than Ennis does. Alcohol as a way to relax, and later, for Jack, as a way to numb. Also loved the comment above about the switch between Ennis accepting the whiskey in a cup (love the way he says, "ank you"), vs. later sharing from the same bottle, and sharing the same joint on their final night. Definitely a step of intimacy and trust in a person, wanting to get closer to them somehow.
All very great thoughts for a Monday morning, ladies, thanks! ;D
Artiste:
Laughter is the best medicine!
Optom, wow, you bring up a great fun time in the BM movie!
Remember?
Au revoir,
hugs!
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