Was Cassie in the Brokeback Mountain movie homophobic?

[brokeplex]

After five years of dating, she may even have picked up some clues that were more than visual! 

It's always nice to see your contributions to the discussions.

Hope you feel better soon! 

good point about the obviously intelligent Cassie picking up on the reality of Ennis's life. but, if she consciously understood that Ennis played in a different ball park, why was she so persistant with him and why was she then so distraught when he dumped her?

thanks for your good wishes, I took the meds the doctor gave me and I already feel much better !

[Brown Eyes]

I think it's very hard to know how much Cassie ever suspected about Ennis.  Mainly I think she's just baffled by the whole situation.  And, she clearly seems to care deeply for Ennis during her final bus stop encounter with him.  Especially in this scene, confusion feels like the dominant expression coming from Cassie... she even says "I don't get you...".

After five years of dating, she may even have picked up some clues that were more than visual! 

K, are you implying something about the way Ennis may treat her in bed (along the lines of what happens with Alma)?  Or, are there other clues that you're hinting at here? 

I keep coming back to the length of time that Cassie hangs on and the fact that she seems to feel like their relationship is significant enough for her to even contemplate "settling down" with Ennis.  I really don't know if Cassie was really picking up any clues about Ennis's sexuality... I don't know if that would be on her radar screen as something to consider.

[serious crayons]

K, are you implying something about the way Ennis may treat her in bed (along the lines of what happens with Alma)?  Or, are there other clues that you're hinting at here?

Yes, I was alluding to their sex life. I don't know if Ennis necessarily attempted to replicate his experiences with Jack, the way he did with Alma -- a scene that, after all, occurred before Jack came back into Ennis' life. But Ennis didn't seem very enthusiastic about the whole business, and you'd think Cassie might have noticed that he wasn't exactly a dynamo.

Like you guys, though, I don't think she quite put two and two together. I don't think Ennis would set Cassie's gaydar off in general. He probably wouldn't strike her as having the characteristics she would associate with homosexuality. Although Cassie is intelligent I doubt that, given her environment and culture, her gaydar is very fine tuned anyway.

[jstephens9]

I thought she was beyond pushy with Ennis. She would have run me off even I were straight.

[Brown Eyes]

I thought she was beyond pushy with Ennis. She would have run me off even I were straight.

See, from my perspective Cassie is the most attractive of all the female characters (both physically and in terms of what I perceive to be a warm personality).  So, maybe I'm a little biased on this topic.  I like Lureen, but I don't find her all that attractive (probably because I'm somewhat similar to her in terms of personality/ being a work-a-holic).

Anyway, the "pushy" issue is interesting... She's definitely persistent but so is Jack.  I wonder how we see Cassie's "pushy-ness" vs. Jack's "pushy-ness".  I think Ennis is the type of person who would always need the other person to make the first move and to draw him out of his shell.

It really makes me curious about how he got together with Alma (I think this question has been pondered before elsewhere).

[Front-Ranger]

I agree with brokeplex's take on the dynamic between Ennis and Cassie, and also Amanda's observation that she is a warm and appealing character. It is hard to overestimate the degree of desperation many young Wyoming women must have in finding a suitable mate in that sometimes desolate region. I don't doubt there are Cassies out there who would be fine with a gay husband as long as he was discreet and went through the motions of being hetero every once in a while. There are worse things in life than being married to a person who is oriented differently than you! There are lots of men prone to violence, drug or alcohol addiction, gambling, religious zealotry, laziness, sports addiction...the list can go on and on!!

[brokeplex]

I agree with brokeplex's take on the dynamic between Ennis and Cassie, and also Amanda's observation that she is a warm and appealing character. It is hard to overestimate the degree of desperation many young Wyoming women must have in finding a suitable mate in that sometimes desolate region. I don't doubt there are Cassies out there who would be fine with a gay husband as long as he was discreet and went through the motions of being hetero every once in a while. There are worse things in life than being married to a person who is oriented differently than you! There are lots of men prone to violence, drug or alcohol addiction, gambling, religious zealotry, laziness, sports addiction...the list can go on and on!!

I am curious about your opinion about something that I read about the early days of WY settlement. I read that in the early days before large scale settlement, the gender ratios were heavily biased in favor of men, men were at the time more likely to be able to brave the long trek to the west (hostile American Indian tribes, desert heat, mountain cold, too much or too little water)

So, that being the case, wouldn't women in the early days of WY have had their pick of the best men available?

And I am wondering, if this ethos has carried forward thru time to the 20th and 21st centuries? After all, WY was the first state to grant women the right to vote in ALL elections, decades before some of the more settled areas back east. Doesn't that imply that women in WY wielded more power at all levels than their counterparts back East?

I am of the opinion that a very attractive personable woman like Cassie could have had her pick of men, and wouldn't have had to settle for a closeted man. It seems to me that Cassie was deliberately picking Ennis for her personal reasons (of course love is always personal), in spite of his taciturn and somewhat boorish nature. This makes Cassie one of the most interesting characters to me. I want to know, why she picked Ennis and tried so hard to stick with him, as I feel she could have her pick of lots of other men, younger, handsomer, certainly more prosperous and more hetero!

[Fran]

I am of the opinion that a very attractive personable woman like Cassie could have had her pick of men, and wouldn't have had to settle for a closeted man. It seems to me that Cassie was deliberately picking Ennis for her personal reasons (of course love is always personal), in spite of his taciturn and somewhat boorish nature. This makes Cassie one of the most interesting characters to me. I want to know, why she picked Ennis and tried so hard to stick with him, as I feel she could have her pick of lots of other men, younger, handsomer, certainly more prosperous and more hetero!

But remember:

"Ennis said he'd been putting the blocks to a woman who worked part-time at the Wolf Ears bar in Signal where he was working now for Stoutamire's cow and calf outfit, but it wasn't going anywhere and she had some problems he didn't want."

It seems Cassie had some issues.  With small towns being what they are and nothing a secret for long, maybe Cassie had worked her way through the more eligible guys in town and Ennis was her last hope... well, until Carl appeared.

[Artiste]

Merci to all of you ! At last, some replies or thoughts !!


I find it surprising that many of you think that Ennis used Cassie as a cover for being gay or whatever he is there and then !

Can some of you think that Cassie uses Ennis, as for her cover ?

May I dare ask ?

Au revoir,
hugs!

[Artiste]

Merci to all of you !!!

If Cassie dated Ennis that long, she can NOT be that clueless about him ?

She must have felt something... not nescessarally being homophobic, but thought of Ennis being gay or bi ??

Au revoir,
hugs!