Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

TOTW 10/08: Jack's hang-ups - or lack thereof

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Penthesilea:

We've discussed Ennis crippling fears often. Understandable, given that Ennis is the one who internalized homophobia to an extent that the thought of wo men living together elicits only a „No way“ from him; and second he's the main character of both movie and story.

But what about Jack? What are his hang-ups and insecurities? Some of them clearly evolve around Ennis. He's afraid to go too far, to send Ennis into panic mode and thus drive him away. But apart from Ennis? He's actively hitting on Jimbo, he rode more than bulls (in the short story) during their four year hiatus, he found ways to spend money on his buying trips, drove to Mexico to hire a prostitute and he had another fella he wanted to build a cabin with in LF.

From the beginning he seems pretty comfortable with his sexuality. But yet he replies „Me neiter“ to Ennis's comment of not being queer. Only for Ennis's sake?
He marries Lureen. And stays married to her throughout his life.
He tries to fullfill the image of the tough cowboy, which clearly includes heterosexuality (given the time and place). And I'm sure nobody of us could picture Jack as a rainbow flag carrying advocate of gay rights.


So what are Jack's hang-ups (not only) regarding his sexuality?

Monika:
I´m sure Jack has hang ups as well, after all he married Lureen and has a child with her. I never thought Jack was very open about it at all, it just seems so because we compare him to Ennis who is cautious in the extreme. But Jack seems to be aware of that it is a good idea of being careful, like in the bar when he notices people talking about him after he hit on the cowboy, and he quickly leaves. I don´t think he doubts that being gay can be dangerous, but simply that he thinks it´s worth the risk.(something I admire him for)

I don´t see a reason to why he would doubt Ennis´s story either, I´m sure he alredy has heard stories like that before given the time he was raised in. I think that when Jack asks Ennis "did you see this?" it´s a questions of concern for Ennis and I think Jack gets a new understanding of Ennis.

To get back to Lureen. This is Jack´s biggest mistake in life, especially as he seems to be more aware of who he is and his desires than Ennis, and still he gets married. At times I can feel that maybe he wouldn´t have left Lureen after all, if Ennis indeed had said yes. We can never be sure of this because he is never put to the test.
 Jack was a dreamer but very little of his dreams came true. He never started a ranch and he never left Lureen. Perhaps he was more of a dreamer than a doer.

optom3:
I think Jack's  biggest hang-ups were reality and Ennis. If Ennis had been willing to commit early on Jack probably would not have married.There would have been no reason for him too.It was not even as if he wanted kids.He unoubtedly had a higher sex drive than Ennis,hence the trips to Mexico,but I do not see that as a hang-up.
In view of the no commitment from Ennis he saw Lureens money as a way of esacaping at least one area of his life he was unhappy with,the grinding poverty he had come from.I do not mean that to seem as cold hearted and calculating as it sounds.I am pretty sure one gesture from Ennis and he woud have given it all up to live with him.I guess no Ennis and no money was too much to bear.
As far as his childhood goes ,I guess there would have been some hang-ups associated with his father,but not sufficient to stop him living the life of his dreams.He was forever the optimist,and as long as you have your dreams,that can make up for many a shortfall in reality.Take away the dreams and reality then bites hard.
Jack in the last meeting with Ennis surely feels the last remnants of his dream,get blown away on the wind.It is at this point that that his dreams maybe become his biggest hang-up.Hence his explosion,reality sucks.So could it be that Jacks dreams,once his greatest comfort,finally become his greatest hang-up, ultimately,the shattering of which,leads to his death.For Jack I do believe up untill then,hope had always sprung eternal.
He has I believe already died emotionally,when his dreams of a sweet life with Ennis died.All that remains is the physical death,which seems almost a forgone conclusion.Unbeknown to him,Ennis by trying to protect his lover has in fact done completely the reverse.Therein lies the horrrendous tragedy which haunts,Ennis and will continue to do so,and also us the viewer.Never has the phrase,we always hurt the one we love most,resonated more devastatingly.
It could be argued that whisky is a problem for Jack,but again had his dreams come to fruition,there may have been little need to drink so much.I am sure alcohol was a way to deaden the pain.In much the same way a his initial clowning around is in part a mask he uses to hide his true feelings for Ennis.

Reality therefore is ultimately the biggest hang-up for Jack.He is unable to deal with it.He hides behind,alcohol,sex trips to Mexico,marriage,clown masks,and dreams.But behind all those maskes is the one constant,his love for Ennis.His greatest joy and ultimately his undoing.

Monika:

--- Quote from: optom3 on March 24, 2008, 03:27:43 pm ---

But behind all those maskes is the one constant,his love for Ennis.His greatest joy and ultimately his undoing.

--- End quote ---

that made me wanna cry all of a sudden. Beautifully put. Sometimes it does feel as if it would have been better for both of them of they´d never met.


I liked your conclusions about jack´s hang-ups being his dreams and his reality because he never managed the melt the two together. And like you say, when he realises that himself his spirit dies and shortly afterwards his body.

optom3:

--- Quote from: buffymon on March 24, 2008, 03:33:28 pm ---that made me wanna cry all of a sudden. Beautifully put. Sometimes it does feel as if it would have been better for both of them of they´d never met.


I liked your conclusions about jack´s hang-ups being his dreams and his reality because he never managed the melt the two together. And like you say, when he realises that himself his spirit dies and shortly afterwards his body.

--- End quote ---
Thankyou for your lovely comments.
Is that not the beauty of it though.We are lost in the tragedy of their meeting.We the viewer ache to shout and scream at them as we watch it unfold before us.Yet at the same time are  simultaneously rendered speechless, by the hold they have over us and our emotions.What a paradox.For the first time ,the film led me to truly understand the phrase,dumbstruck.It is like those terrible nightmares you sometimes have, when you open your mouth and no sound is emitted.That is how I felt when I first watched the film,with tears streaming down my face.
It was like a moving,living, breathing version of that painting,the scream,watching dreams become nightmares.

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