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

Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way

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Brown Eyes:
How is it possible that the last post in this thread was way back in January?
 :o

HerrKaiser:
OK...here's more!

When Ennis and Jack are parting company after their time on BBM, Ennis says at one point near the truck, "Like I said, Alma and me, we's gettin married in November...."

Clearly they had a conversationless trip down the mountain, a berating from Aguirre, and a prospect of separation; three of the most uneasy things for a person--moving, changing jobs, changing relationship. I think Ennis was reaching out for a comment from Jack; Ennis was looking for some way to begin a dialog. He was fishing for 'are you sure you want to do that?' or 'can I come up for the wedding?'...something to carry the comment to the next level. The more simple interpretation and hence the double meaning is that Ennis was drawing his line in the sand, telling Jack his life is planned and in a different direction.

I think it is the former. This is classic ennis--completely inward with his inner door cracked ever so slightly, peering out, hoping that someone will kick it open. Such is what makes him totally irresistible.

nic:
Good points HK & I agree on the whole, speaking as an Ennis too. I actually think both suggested meanings are true, that Ennis is working both of them. The former is a given but I don't think he is very aware he is of the "disguised ask".  He might be deep down, where usually he only dares peek in, hoping Jack will respond with something that will force the issue one way or the other.  But this is dangerous, cos of course if Jack declared undying love Ennis might just react OTT with another punch or worse.  Ennis himself doesn't know how he'd react & isn't thinking "straight" at all (!)  His feelings for Jack are so intense that he can't help come out with this disguised ask of a comment, but then his feelings are also very messed up so of course he hasn't thought anything through & is winging it, just wanting the interaction to be done with despite having the inner need for Jack deep in his heart.   I can well imagine him deliberately not thinking of anything on the way down, forcing himself to think about the sheep or anything that is not Jack, related to Jack or the future. 

Then the latter, I think he is using this interpretation to bolster his own internal argument of not being queer etc .  Nothing sensible can come of having this dichotomy, it's just another communication problem & not unique to Ennis or BBM by any means. 

HerrKaiser:
thanks nic, enjoyed your insights. I think, in addition, the silent trek down the mountain was also time spend pondering 'what am I going to say?' (for both of them) when the imminent, final parting would be at hand.

Most people lean toward Jake as their hero and favorite on every level. But, to me, it is Ennis who captures all intriegue, mystery, desire, masculinity, deep-seated feelings that are honest and true. The "trapped" feelings he tries to express in double-meaninged ways as noted here or in unspoken communication are similar to how Hitchcock created his attractive women heroines. the 'fire under the ice' character of grace kelly and others is on par with how Ennis' character moves through the story. THAT makes him a total attractive man to me rather than viewing this as a negative or fault by many.

serious crayons:
One night in the chatroom, somebody asked what line everybody thought captured the themes of BBM in a nutshell. So we started naming the obvious ones, "If you can't fix it ..." "Ain't no reins ..." and so on. But then people started getting more adventuresome and out there: "No more beans ..." "This is a TIAGDBOAUS," "I think my dad was right"  "He's going to be buried in the family plot" -- and we noticed that a lot of those summed up the themes really well, too!

It's like you can almost randomly pick any line in the movie and see a double meaning to it, often one that holds much larger ideas.

Take my username. When Alma Jr. says "Mommy, I need crayons," I think she's expressing a need we all have for crayons in our lives -- that is, for color, beauty, love, happiness, joy. Ennis always denied himself crayons.

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