Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Why are we like this?
David:
Aussie Chris, anytime you need a BBM hug, you just sign on! :)
And that goes for anybody here. What a wonderful diverse group we are!
Just looking at the profiles and photos I am amazed how we cover every age group, from 15 yrs old to 76! Gay, straight, bisexual, men and women, rich and poor. And here we sit sometimes everynight chatting with eachother from across town or across the planet! All because we have this common fixation.
Ann Proulx must be smiling. Because I sure am. ;D
silkncense:
--- Quote --- I am amazed how we cover every age group, from 15 yrs old to 76! Gay, straight, bisexual, men and women, rich and poor.
--- End quote ---
I am amazed too, David. And having gone to SF to meet some of them I found that even differences in personalities didn't cancel the connection. You could truly feel the goodness in the people gathered together. Granted, the Jacks probably bonded better with each other & were admired by Ennis types (I've evolved - regretfully - into an Ennis type of listening long before talking), but everyone shared the love.
--- Quote ---the love and passion between Jack and Ennis and I wish I had even a little bit of that passion for myself.
--- End quote ---
Msuamber - Or believed it could be found again once lost. I recall a 'reunion' kiss that incredibly did create stars. But, being young, in my early 20's, I thought I would easily have that again & chose a career that he couldn't accept. And eventually I let that career, that I absolutely loved, go for another person that never brought me a tiny portion of my previous joy. I still (perhaps more so now) feel the weight of regret. I wish you were right, Chris -
--- Quote ---I think I have a very simple explanation for the Brokeback-effect: the people who are moved by it are ready to heal.
--- End quote ---
I guess I am trying but haven't figured it out yet.
bbm_stitchbuffyfan:
You know......
I really don't have any insight into this. All I can say is, I still think about Jack and Ennis all the freakin' time. I can now entertain other thoughts but even then, subconsciously I'm thinking of our boys. And you know what, I totally relate about them feeling not like movie characters but close, real-life friends.
Whenever I remember at night, I'll even say "Goodnight, Jack. Goodnight, Ennis." :)
Aussie Chris:
--- Quote from: silkncense on June 17, 2006, 11:57:12 am ---Msuamber - Or believed it could be found again once lost. I recall a 'reunion' kiss that incredibly did create stars. But, being young, in my early 20's, I thought I would easily have that again & chose a career that he couldn't accept. And eventually I let that career, that I absolutely loved, go for another person that never brought me a tiny portion of my previous joy. I still (perhaps more so now) feel the weight of regret. I wish you were right, Chris -
--- End quote ---
He he, well "ready" to heal doesn't mean you know how to fix things, only recognition that you were standing them all this time. Brokeback doesn't give you the answers, only questions, and it makes you look at your life in simple terms: what have you been standing rather than fixing? And the most important question of all: what are you going to do about it?
nakymaton:
I think I'm fairly unusual here, because obsessing is really the main way I deal with art that I love. Books, movies, music... if something touches me, I want to immerse myself in it, to experience more of it, to share the experience (even if only virtually) with people who are touched in the same way. I feel kind of bereft when I appreciate art from a distance. (But at the same time, every time I obsess about things, someone points out that I'm over-intellectualizing, why can't I just enjoy it. And, well, I don't have a good answer to that. The tendency to over-intellectualize is a character flaw of mine, I'm afraid.)
But BBM is still strange, in a way, because I feel more guilty about it than I do about most of my obsessions. Usually there's a lot of joy and beauty in my experience of art that I love. And there's certainly beauty in BBM, but I find that the joy is always tempered by sadness -- the "happy tussle" is seen through Aguirre's binoculars, our experience of the reunion kiss is broken by knowledge of Alma's pain, the sweetness of the Motel Siesta cuddle is broken by Ennis's reply about being stuck with what he has, the peace and happiness of the "prayer of thanks" is torn apart by Ennis's memory of seeing Earl's body. And I've got a rather bleak interpretation of a lot of things in the movie, too, to the point that I don't really imagine untempered joy existing in either man at any point in the relationship. And it worries me that I am so caught up with something that is so sad, especially in my personal interpretation. (My friends that aren't as obsessed as I am don't talk about the movie being slow, or unrealistic -- I've got a number of friends who cried buckets when they watched it, but didn't want to see it again, because it hurt too much to dwell on. It was just too sad to obsess about. And I don't know what it is about me that makes me want to dwell on someone else's pain. It kind of freaks me out.)
--- Quote from: latjoreme on June 17, 2006, 02:22:38 am ---On the other hand, I think another part of Brokeback-effect (good term, by the way!) for me is escape -- which I suppose means I'm looking for a way not to acknowledge and fix real life, but to stand it without facing it. Jack's and Ennis' world is heartbreaking, all right, but it's also such a comforting place -- someplace I can feel at home. When I watch the movie, it's almost (I know this sounds silly!) like I'm among friends.
--- End quote ---
I prefer books/movies/music that I can escape into. I always have. I don't think that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, not if you can come back to the world surrounding you when you need to.
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