Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
Front-Ranger:
I just let my eye scan the story, and here's the line it fell on:
"They could hear the river muttering and making a distant train sound a long way off."
Remember where this occurred in the story?
Here's what Kathryn had to say back in 2006 about whether Jack and Ennis might have actually fished:
--- Quote from: serious crayons on June 15, 2006, 01:30:33 am ---You would think so. But I was thinking about how the price tag was still on the tackle after five years, and how Alma's note had never seen water in its life, and how they never brought any fish home.
In a long-ago comic thread, there was a line advising that cowboys on fishing trips should: "Always bring some fish home. Make sure it is thawed by the time you get there."
--- End quote ---
x-man:
I only read the first and last several pages of this topic site, so perhaps this has already been discussed--but maybe not. As long as we are looking at BBM this closely, to be gritty, who was the top--Jack or Ennis? Or were they versatile? This question is often secretly wondered about when someone (especially a gay man) meets a male/male couple.
The short story has two things to say. In the reunion motel scene Ennis asks Jack if he had been doing it with other guys. "'Shit no," said Jack, who had been riding more than bulls, not rolling his own," suggesting Jack as top. A bit earlier, however, Jack compliments Ennis on his sexual performance, saying, "Christ, it got to be all that time a yours ahorseback makes it so goddamn good"--Jack as bottom.
The movie is similarly ambiguous. In their first night together, although Jack initiates the encounter by pulling Ennis' hand over his crotch, Ennis responds most definitely as top. The next night, however, Ennis comes into the tent and shyly offers himself to Jack who quickly rolls on top of him. In the following scene when they are roughhousing around in front of the tent (when Aguillar sees them in binoculars) Ennis pushes Jack down and straddles him while kissing him.
Both the short story and the film leave the question up in the air, but given the character of the two men--Ennis' repression and fear of things gay versus Jack's easygoing and accommodating nature--is it not likely that Ennis was, at least usually, the top, and Jack went along with it?
x-man:
That's Aguirre, not Aguillar. Sorry.
x-man:
Regarding my posting above, I hope no one was grossed out or turned off. I meant it as a gentle send-up of the microscopically close examinations of text and film that lead to hidden meanings absolutely everywhere. As Freud pointed out, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." My evidence was suppositional and led to completely contrary conclusions. Who knows which cowboy did what, and should we even care? Again, I hope I didn't offend anyone. I was just having a little fun.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: x-man on September 02, 2013, 05:02:13 pm ---The short story has two things to say. In the reunion motel scene Ennis asks Jack if he had been doing it with other guys. "'Shit no," said Jack, who had been riding more than bulls, not rolling his own," suggesting Jack as top. A bit earlier, however, Jack compliments Ennis on his sexual performance, saying, "Christ, it got to be all that time a yours ahorseback makes it so goddamn good"--Jack as bottom.
--- End quote ---
See, I've always taken that to mean exactly the opposite, that Jack had been "riding" other men's dicks--especially in light of the "ahorseback" line. On the other hand, I know of others who take the "ahorseback" line to suggest that Ennis is a good fuck because all that time ahorseback has developed his muscles so that he can squeeze nice and tight, whereas I take it to mean he's a good fucker because all that time ahorseback has developed his thigh muscles, so he's a good thruster. I guess it's a mixing of metaphors in the "riding more than bulls, not rolling his own" that makes the line ambiguous. "Rolling his own" surely must refer to masturbation, so then what is the sentence saying, Jack has been fucking other guys, not jerking off, or getting fucked, not jerking off? Everyone has his or her own opinion.
--- Quote ---Both the short story and the film leave the question up in the air, but given the character of the two men--Ennis' repression and fear of things gay versus Jack's easygoing and accommodating nature--is it not likely that Ennis was, at least usually, the top, and Jack went along with it?
--- End quote ---
I've always felt that Ennis is always on top, because a guy can fuck another guy and still avoid seeing himself as gay, whereas only queers take it up the ass--as Ennis might have put it.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version