Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Why are we like this?
TheravadaAskesis:
I love this thread, why this movie has such a hold on me is something I've wondered about too. And I agree with you guys about the idea of regret playing a role in it. After Jack and Ennis lose their Eden on Brokeback they spend their lives trying to recreate it for all too brief moments. But they're never successful, they can can recreate the environment (wilderness, camping, horseback riding) but it wasn't the environment that made it special in the first place.
This cycle of trying to recreate or hold onto idyllic times in life by reusing the familiar outward trappings while ignoring the emotional and actually special inside is a cycle I can relate to. This ties into the idea of regret for me because of all the wasted time spent trying to recreate something instead of realizing what was important and creating or finding something new. Seeing Jack and Ennis live through this cycle without ever figuring it out (well Jack does in the final encounter by the lake) was a crushing experience for me. I think the initial reason for me being obsessed with this movie was me trying to figure out consciously what my gut recognized immediately.
Eventually when I started to figure it out, this movie became a reminder to me about the need to remember the past and know what was important about it, but to ultimately move forward and find those important things in a new more sustainable place. That is why I'll always have Brokeback on the mind, because it reminds me to move forward and never forget the lessons I've learned.
Rayn:
--- Quote from: TheravadaAskesis on June 30, 2007, 09:21:40 pm ---
....... this movie became a reminder to me about the need to remember the past and know what was important about it, but to ultimately move forward and find those important things in a new more sustainable place.
--- End quote ---
Right on bro! I feel the same way too
moremojo:
--- Quote from: TheravadaAskesis on June 30, 2007, 09:21:40 pm ---But they're never successful, they can can recreate the environment (wilderness, camping, horseback riding) but it wasn't the environment that made it special in the first place.
--- End quote ---
This is such a wise observation. My co-worker and friend, when finally catching up with Brokeback Mountain via DVD, stated that he expected the film to be much sadder, citing the frequent rendezvous enjoyed by Ennis and Jack as mitigating factors in the ultimate tragedy. But I think he was overlooking, as so many of us have, the stasis that these furtive get-togethers represented, and the kind of entrapment that resulted from them. As you point out, Jack eventually came to recognize this, and wanted something more fulfilling than what these trysts represented.
It compounds the tragedy at the end that Ennis is transfixed by the visible reminders of that vanished summer of 1963, suggesting that he remains stuck in a state of desire for circumstances that can never be recaptured.
Rayn:
--- Quote from: moremojo on July 04, 2007, 06:30:54 pm ---
It compounds the tragedy at the end that Ennis is transfixed by the visible reminders of that vanished summer of 1963, suggesting that he remains stuck in a state of desire for circumstances that can never be recaptured.
--- End quote ---
Yes, TheravadaAskesis' observation about what really makes a place truly special is excellent! I don't, however, see Ennis "stuck in a state of desire for circumstances that can never be recaptured." and here's why and what I mean....
There are many other suggestions and ideas in the movie about how Ennis might end up. He found the shirts in the closet almost by chance. I say almost by chance because what Ennis is compelled to do after Jack's death is "...to see what happened." Taken in a context broader than just how Jack died, seeing what happened leads Ennis to a greater understanding of the value of love. Though it may seem that way, Ennis didn't find the shirts in Jack's closet just by chance. He set himself on an active search for "what happened" and in doing so he discovered that "love happened" and happened more deeply than he understood when Jack was alive.
Finding their shirts together as they were, the realization of how much Jack had loved from the start came to the forefront of Ennis' heart and mind. It is, in fact, a sad and painful but liberating experience for Ennis which is why he can begin to start changing his ways when his daughter tells him of her wedding plans.
In that scene, everything is so plain on Ennis' face and in his eyes, "This guy, he loves you?" was the important question, a question Ennis only half understood before losing Jack and finding their shirts. The end of Brokeback Mountain is filled with both losing and finding, loss and gain, discovery and realization for Ennis. It's sad he learns one of life's most important lessons when it's too late to share it with Jack, but at least he's realized it and in that there is hope. The frightening thing is that it may be too late to find someone else to love, but it's not impossible. Having had the realization, Ennis may very well be able to change his isolation, work through and rise above his fears, and in time, find someone else to love.
Anyway, I know that's optimistic, and we all have valid and different points of view, but that's what I see in the picture from where I sit in the theater! Have a wonderful day all you Brokies...
;)
Peace,
Rayn
TheravadaAskesis:
Hey moremojo and Rayn,
I'm glad you enjoyed my post and thanks for the compliments. To add to this conversation I was wondering about a couple of things that happen at the end of Brokeback. I should go back and look but I'm pretty sure when we see the view through Ennis's window at the end there are no mountains to be seen, just prairie. Could this be symbolic of Ennis's no longer looking for Jack in the mountains but instead finally living together with Jack in his home (i.e.- the shirts). I wonder about this because Proulx writes in the short story that Ennis didn't want to "know Jack was...to be buried on the grieving plain." Could the view of the prairie be Ennis's acceptance of the loss of Jack?
Another point I wonder about is, if Ennis was relying on those trips to the mountain as an attempt at having the best of both worlds (being with Jack, but being able to remain safe in his shell) was it maybe for the best that he wasn't allowed to get the ashes from the Twists?
If Ennis had spread the ashes of Jack on Brokeback would he have just returned there over and over by himself, still trying to recapture that summer. Would being able to go back to Brokeback and be with Jack whenever he wanted (even if Jack was only there in spirit and ash), be enough for him not to move on? Again maybe this ties in with the image of the prairie in the final shoot as being symbolic of Ennis having moved on from, although not forgotten about or stopped loving, Jack.
I'm new to Bettermost and have really enjoyed the posts I've read from you guys in other parts of the forums while I've been exploring. Thanks again for the positive replies.
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