Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
Mikaela:
Wow! My 200th post already! Brokeback did get me good. Not that I've been in any doubt about that since December-05.
I'm going to spend the bi-centenary post on the double meanings on a very obscure line of dialogue. (I've just had confirmation in another thread that I'm not the only onw who's hearing this - and one variant of it has been left included in the final published script which also indicates it's actually still there in the film.) As Jack and Ennis is riding through woodland and over moss, Jack in his blue parka (right before the switch to the scene with Jack and Bobby in the tractor), Jack says:
"I wish I could rope a coyote."
Which is a joke, of course - but which also reminds us (and probably Ennis) of Jack's roping Ennis that last day up on Brokeback, - all the strong elements of love and pain mixed in with that memory.
It's also a reminder of Jack's "dumb-ass missin'" and inability to *shoot* coyotes. It's an indication of Jack's personality - he isn't about to just give up,- if he can't make it one way he'll look for another means to the desired end.....
And what are the Brokeback Coyotes symbolic of? They're predators, the threat to the flock and the killer of that particular sheep that serves as a warning and omen to Ennis after the FNIT/TS1.... So can the sentence symbolically be understood as Jack wanting to rope and tie and render inactive the forces threatening his and Ennis's love? Or is Jack's wish rather illustrating the certain unrealistic and dangerous element in his dreams: What would he ever do with a coyote, how would he manage to handle it, or that which it symbolizes; - should he manage to rope it?
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Mikaela on June 25, 2006, 01:17:19 pm ---And what are the Brokeback Coyotes symbolic of? They're predators, the treath to the flock and the killer of that particular sheep that serves as a warning and omen to Ennis after the FNIT/TS1.... So can the sentence symbolically be understood as Jack wanting to rope and tie and render inactive the forces threatening his and Ennis's love? Or is Jack's wish rather illustrating the certain unrealistic and dangerous element in his dreams: What would he ever do with a coyote, how would he manage to handle it, or that which it symbolizes; - should he manage to rope it?
--- End quote ---
I pick A. But both are quite plausible. What a funny movie! One in which you can find deeper meaning in a line that only 2 percent of viewers will be able to hear, and of those, only 2 percent will be able to detect a second layer of meaning! So what is 2 percent of 2 percent ... those of you people with math skills? Is that .0004 percent of viewers?
Oh, and Mikaela -- I note your use of FNIT/TS1. Am I correct in suspecting you noticed a discussion on that subject in another thread? Tell you what, how bout I start a poll about this and we can determine once and for all our official terminology!
Mikaela:
Yes, you are correct in your suspicion. I'd just like to make sure the scene(s) in question are identified and the abbreviation understood by the readers. So I'll abide by any consensus that this board might reach in that regard.
Front-Ranger:
Not only is Ennis always leaving Jack, but Ennis is not there when Jack needs him. Jack always has to face the hostile world by himself, tho Ennis would make the perfect champion for him. Two times when Aguirre comes bringing bad news Ennis is away, and later when Jack goes back and has to endure humiliation by Aguirre. Then, Jack dies because there is no one there to turn him over and keep him from drowning. Ennis is left alone because he left Jack alone when he really needed him. :'(
serious crayons:
OK, done. Here's the poll. Let the voting begin!
http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=2853.0
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