Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
tiawahcowboy:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on May 31, 2006, 11:58:20 pm ---Bedroll's big enough, if u get to hammerin'.
--- End quote ---
That line might be in the "Story to Screenplay" book (I cannot afford to buy that just yet) or one of the McMurtry-Ossana screenplay versions; but, it is not in the movie nor in Annie Proulx's original short story. I know it's not in the movie; because I have the DVD and I wanted to see if what you posted was correct.
--- Quote ---(From the short shory) "Too late to go out to them damn sheep," said Ennis, dizzy drunk on all fours one cold hour when the moon had notched past two. The meadow stones glowed white-green and a flinty wind worked over the meadow, scraped the fire low, then ruffled it into yellow silk sashes. "Got you a extra blanket I'll roll up out here and grab forty winks, ride out at first light."
"Freeze your ass off when that fire dies down. Better off sleepin in the tent."
"Doubt I'll feel nothin." But he staggered under canvas, pulled his boots off, snored on the ground cloth for a while, woke Jack with the clacking of his jaw.
"Jesus Christ, quit hammerin and get over here. Bedroll's big enough," said Jack in an irritable sleep-clogged voice. It was big enough, warm enough, and in a little while they deepened their intimacy considerably. Ennis ran full-throttle on all roads whether fence mending or money spending, and he wanted none of it when Jack seized his left hand and brought it to his erect cock. Ennis jerked his hand away as though he'd touched fire, got to his knees, unbuckled his belt, shoved his pants down, hauled Jack onto all fours and, with the help of the clear slick and a little spit, entered him, nothing he'd done before but no instruction manual needed. They went at it in silence except for a few sharp intakes of breath and Jack's choked "gun's goin off," then out, down, and asleep.
Ennis woke in red dawn with his pants around his knees, a top-grade headache, and Jack butted against
him; without saying anything about it both knew how it would go for the rest of the summer, sheep be damned.
--- End quote ---
I prefer the short story version of the First Night In The Tent, aka FNIT over the movie version of the scene.
In the movie version, there is no intimacy at all before Jack reaches for Ennis's hand and puts it on his erection. Since Ennis was not a person who would allow a person to touch him without his permission, especially in the way that Jack did in the movie, more than likely the Story Ennis would have given Jack Twist an attitude adjustment and slugged him with his fists instead of having sex with him.
nakymaton:
--- Quote from: meryl on May 31, 2006, 10:23:13 pm ---So what do you think it was that Cassie did fall in love with? ;)
--- End quote ---
Hey Meryl, didn't we discuss this a long time ago, on LJ? I could swear you were one of the people who answered the question for me! ;D
There's the "Ennis is a very attractive man" thing, like Katherine mentioned. He's especially attractive for someone into the Marlboro Man type.
And I don't remember who brought it up in LJ, but somebody made a really good point -- that there's just something about Ennis, maybe a sense that there's something beneath that reticent surface, that there's a man truly worth knowing locked away in there. I don't know if Cassie is the sort of perceptive person who would see that; she clearly doesn't seem to understand that not only is she the wrong key to unlock Ennis, she's the wrong type of key altogether. (Jack, on the other hand...)
And there's something else that I've thought of since that discussion. You know, Cassie works as a waitress in a bar; along with drinking and smoking, she probably deals with an awful lot of harrassment from men who might just like to rile up a pretty girl, and who probably frequently hint that they would like to have sex with her. And Ennis doesn't do that. She might read that as being a nice guy (along with being very reserved), rather than as simply not being interested in sex with pretty girls. (So by being uninterested, Ennis becomes desirable... at least in contrast to the many jerks in the world.)
(That last observation was brought to you courtesy of some memories I have, of being one of the few women in a cowboy/roughneck/geologist bar in the 80's. I didn't hang out there more than once; I was trying to be "one of the boys," and it sure didn't work. I can't imagine what it would have been like to work as a waitress there.)
tiawahcowboy:
The actor who played Ennis in the movie was closer to the Marlboro Man type in the cigarette print ads and TV commercials; but, Annie Proulx's Ennis was not good looking at all. [BTW.
Would the Movie Riverton bar gal, aka Cassie, have been interested in AP's Ennis for his looks? Don't think so; but she could have been interested in him for his personality and how she felt in his presence.
The Movie Riverton bar gal, aka Cassie, really did not have any personal problems, IMO, from the way that she was portrayed on the screen. But, the Story Signal bar gal with no name, according to Ennis, "had some problems he didn't want." In regard to the latter, she was probably desperate for a husband.
nakymaton:
--- Quote from: tiawahcowboy on June 01, 2006, 12:52:12 pm --- But, the Story Signal bar gal with no name, according to Ennis, "had some problems he didn't want." In regard to the latter, she was probably desperate for a husband.
--- End quote ---
I agree. You know, at that time and place, working as a waitress in a small-town bar or restaurant, it isn't surprising that the woman at the bar was desperate for a husband. (That 1986 article in Newsweek that I mentioned up-thread really did capture the fears of many women in the early 80's - fears of being 30 and alone for the rest of their lives.) I'm glad times are changing in that respect, at least for many people; that sort of desperation is not good for either men or women.
And if the woman was desperate for a husband, a man who appeared uninterested in picking up waitresses might seem like a good catch. Again, not a good thing. Not for the unnamed woman, not for Ennis. But also not really surprising to me.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Mikaela on June 01, 2006, 06:55:48 am ---I like the point you make about changes in attitudes in society in general. That's exactly where my previous post about not necessarily managing to read the same as some other Brokaholics - ie. one overriding influence only - into the Ennis/Alma exchange comes in.
--- End quote ---
Wow, lot to respond to, Mikaela! I agree that few lines in the movie should be read as meaning only one thing. And, you're right, Ennis' question is an ordinary, socially expected, fatherly thing to ask.
What makes me think it holds that additional Jack-related meaning are other elements: his long, anguished look out the window, as if the discussion reminds him of Jack; the fact that it's only the second time the word "love" is used (and the first time by Ennis -- a word that has previously been conspicuously absent); his asking whether Kurt loves Alma rather than the more typical reverse, which draws attention to the line; his neglecting to ask many other questions; the sense that Ennis has gone through a transformation or redemption involving his understanding of his relationship with Jack. I'd like to think one of the effects of that transformation is that society has a bit less influence on him now than it had for the previous 20 years.
And to me Alma Jr's response seems just a tiny bit more touched than it might if she thought he were only asking about her and Kurt. Then she might just quickly say, "Sure he does, Daddy" or whatever. But there's this little extra pause where she peers really closely at him and then gets this kind of softened, sympathetic look, as if she realizes the question holds more than its apparent meaning. This is how I read it, anyway, though I realize her expression could also be interpreted as her just being glad he cares enough to ask.
As with Ennis' reaction to Cassie's "fun" remark, I just tend to search every significant moment or line for implications about Ennis and Jack, because even though their other relationships are also important, that's the one at the heart of the movie. And because there are so many times when references to their relationship do lie under the surface of scenes (as when they're dancing with women or spreading tar or whatever).
But again, I don't insist on my interpretation, either. :)
As for "If you don't got nothin you don't need nothin" I interpret this line partly as (surprise!!!!) a reference to Jack! :D Something to the effect of, he doesn't have Jack, so nothing else really matters. In this case, though, I'm not convinced that Alma takes it as anything more than the more obvious meaning: that living an austere, spare life simplifies things. For that matter, I'm not sure Ennis himself means it any other way than that.
I think of there being up to three levels of meaning for a significant line: 1) what it means on the surface, 2) what the character is really thinking and 3) what the filmmakers are trying to suggest. So to me "does he love you" means 1) the obvious, plus 2) I now realize Jack and I were in love. And "don't need nothin" has 1 and 3. "Husbands never want to dance with their wives" has 1, plus either 2 or 3 or both, depending on how much Lureen is deliberately implying. Of course, there can be multiple meaning at any level, as with "I swear."
And Mel, I was being kind of flippant (though certainly not insincere!), but I agree with this, too:
--- Quote from: nakymaton on June 01, 2006, 12:32:00 pm --- there's just something about Ennis, maybe a sense that there's something beneath that reticent surface, that there's a man truly worth knowing locked away in there.
--- End quote ---
Also with your point about Ennis not being the harassing type. He's very polite and agreeable (with the exception of his breakup style)!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version