"I figured you were sore from that punch"

[Brown Eyes]

So, I've been thinking a little bit tonight about the somewhat serious topic of the punch at the end of the Brokeback summer.  I'd be curious to hear what people really think about that situation.  I think we've all thought a lot about all the complicated motivations that led Ennis to feel so upset at this particular moment, in contrast to Jack's relatively playful mood.  But, what justifies a punch like that?    Somehow this moment of violence has never tainted my idea of how much Ennis and Jack love each other.  In my real life, it's clear to me that there's never, ever a reason to hit one's lover (regardless of gender). But somehow this moment in BBM, again, hasn't tainted how I feel about this particular relationship between Ennis and Jack. 

I think it's adorable that they both seem to like "rough-housing", wrestling, etc.  My guess is that the ability to be rough with one another is a big part of the attraction between the two of them... The contrast between the kind of "tussling" that Jack and Ennis do on the mountain vs. the gentle wrestling in the snow that Ennis does with Alma is very clear.  I think we're meant almost to feel the difference in the kind of physical touching that went on with Jack vs. Alma with this sledding scene in particular.  Ennis has to hold back more with Alma than he probably would with Jack.  But, the punch is an entirely different level of "rough", and both Jack and Ennis recognize this (in terms of the physical reaction to it... the change in the tone of the tussle, Ennis's need to bring it up years later in the motel, etc.).  I would guess that the level of "rough housing" that goes on with Jack would feel very unacceptable to lots of viewers if Alma was in Jack's place.  If Ennis had hit Alma in the kitchen during the "Jack nasty" argument, I think perceptions of Ennis might be very different for some audience members.  And, I can't imagine how a scene would work with Ennis and Alma having a long conversation if Alma had a large bruise on her face (as happened with Jack). 

I think Ennis's guilt over hitting Jack plays a large role in his "dry heaves" moment in the alleyway and he's clearly been worrying about it for four years leading up to the chat in the motel.  It's also interesting to me that Jack doesn't respond to Ennis's comment "I figured you was sore from that punch."  Jack just furrows his brows and talks about his return trip to Aguirre's trailer.  In the story we get the whole back story about K.E. and Jack does respond to the punch topic.  And, I think Proulx brings the topic of the punch up 3 times in different places in the story (I could be mistaken about this... I don't have the story right in front of me).  But, Jack does not respond in the movie and a viewer would have no idea of the K.E. back story if they hadn't read the story.  My interpretation of Jack's non-response to Ennis statement largely has been that he'd long gotten over it... or he let it roll off of him, like he does so many things.  But, sort of sweetly, Ennis was clearly thinking all these years that the punch was one of the reasons (maybe the main reason) why Jack hadn't contacted him.  Ennis leads into the punch comment by saying "I didn't think I'd hear from you again."  I think Ennis has a sweet, caring and probably too-sensitive personality and the punch mortifies him.  And, I truly believe that Ennis would never hit Alma. And, we realize and Jack clearly comes to realize that Ennis lashes out physically when he's sad.  In the last argument scene when Ennis pushes Jack (almost a "bookend' to the punch) and says "get off me", Jack has by now learned to ignore this and to hug Ennis tighter.

Still, I'd really like to hear what people think about the punch.  And, the bloody nose that Jack gives Ennis too. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Try as I might when I watch the film, I can never quite see how Jack gives Ennis that bloody nose. I don't have the story in front of me here at work, but my memory of it is that while they're tussling, Jack accidentally hits Ennis's nose with his knee. In any case, the bloody nose is purely accidental, and I think we're supposed to understand that it's an accident in the film, too.

Ennis's punch, on the other hand, was completely deliberate. Why does he do it? Well, we know he's an emotional wreck over the unexpected early termination of their summer on the mountain. Also, I think in the culture and environment where Ennis was raised, even if your folks was good Methodists, you don't "turn the other cheek" to something like that bloody nose. I'm inclined to think it's almost like an instinctive reaction, to hit back and hit harder. At the same time, at another level, I think Ennis does know that his bloody nose was an accident, and Jack is trying to stop the blood flow when Ennis' wallops him. I think this is what bothers him for four years--he knows he was wrong to clobber Jack like that.

[serious crayons]

I agree with most of what you said, Amanda. And Jeff, I can't quite figure out how Ennis gets the bloody nose, either. (In the story, isn't the whole fight reduced to a much later, mostly unexplained reference to the punch?) So here are my other random thoughts:

My take on the punch is that it's a combination of impulse (Ennis just got physically hurt and his reflex is to hurt back) and his anger at Jack for not being more upset about leaving the mountain. IMO, it's not, as some have said, about his confusion over his own emotions, or the need to get them under control, or the desire to start separating himself from Jack and going back to his straight life --  but bewilderment that Jack appears not to be be distraught about leaving, as he is. So I guess actually both reasons could be described as "Ennis just got hurt and his reflex is to hurt back."

For the next four years, I think he misses Jack like crazy and worries -- assumes -- that he'll never see Jack again. He probably goes over and over the punch in his mind, not only because he fears it makes it even more unlikely he'll see Jack, which he's probably not very hopeful about anyway, but because he's sorry they parted on that note. When he brings it up in the hotel, it's in the context of also asking about Jack -- using the exact same words Jack had used when they parted: "So the army didn't get you?" Obviously he's never stopped thinking about that moment.

My reading of Jack is that it's long been all but forgotten. "Well, the next summer I drove on back up to Brokeback" -- he's changing the subject and telling Ennis how much the punch didn't bother him, that he just wanted to see Ennis again.

You're right that if Ennis punched Alma and then Alma's face was bruised, we'd think of it differently. I don't think this is sexism or a double standard on viewers' parts, though, it's a matter of the balance of physical power. Obviously Ennis could beat up Alma if he wanted to. Could he beat up Jack? Maybe, but it would be a lot closer fight. Jack is a tough guy, he's used to getting thrown off bulls and getting busted up. He gets thrown by his horse, he crashes backward over the buckets when he's goofing around. And he and Ennis were wrestling in the first place, the wrestling turned more intense and serious on both sides, and Jack did inadvertently hurt Ennis. So we as viewers know we needn't feel too sorry for Jack over one punch. That doesn't make it OK, and if it kept happening, that would be different. But in all other times (except for the lakeside argument), Ennis is gentle and protective with Jack.

Also, it's not like he's going all out to really injure Jack. I think one reason for the 4th of July scene is to show the contrast between Ennis' fight with Jack and the way he fights with men he's not in love with.

[serious crayons]

There’s so much conflicting stuff in Ennis that I don’t see the punch as malicious or deliberate--it’s done deliberately but it’s probably not meant that way, if that makes any sense.

It does make sense, and that's how I see it, too.

[nakymaton]

IMO, it's not, as some have said, about his confusion over his own emotions, or the need to get them under control, or the desire to start separating himself from Jack and going back to his straight life...

Ok, I'll stand up and just disagree here, because I think the punch is the result of all these things and more. (I agree that it isn't something Ennis thinks out; I think it's almost instinctive. I don't think Ennis intends to hurt Jack... but he does, nonetheless. And I guess that statement covers emotional hurt as well as physical hurt.)

I can't leave my reading of the story behind when it comes to the punch. In part, that's because that part of the movie, in particular, matched the movie that played in my head when I read the story. And it's also because the Ennis of the movie really IS my Ennis from the story. If I had seen the movie without reading the story, maybe I would interpret things differently... but I didn't.

So for me, the story description of Ennis learning to punch K.E. is really significant. I don't have the story with me, but isn't there a line about "hurting him until he stops"? (Damn, I wish I had the story with me; I know the actual line was like a knife through the heart when I read the story the nth time and realized that the line could be taken in more than one way.) Anyway, I think that there was a tension within Ennis that just hurt so much that he couldn't take it, a tension between loving Jack and feeling like he shouldn't, couldn't, mustn't. And when Jack touched him, it was too much to take... and Ennis hit, because it hurt so much and he didn't understand it and he wanted it to just stop hurting. (Like a little kid who just strikes out, hitting and biting, when he's awoken in the middle of the night with some kind of fever or tummy ache. Or like a wild animal who bites the person trying to get the barbed wire off its leg.)

[Mikaela]

The wisdom of pa Del Mar:

You got a take him unawares, don't say nothing to him, make him feel some pain, get out fast and keep doing it until he takes the message. Nothing like hurting somebody to make him hear good. [  ]  The lesson was, don't say nothing and get it over quick.

 

I think I agree with Mel in this respect; - Ennis is lashing out for many reasons, but one of them is the painfully perceived need on Ennis's part to start separating himself completely from Jack in order to go back to "real life". I don't think he belives he can do it at all, without the message being delivered silently, surprisingly, quickly and painfully. Ennis always was a doer, not a talker.

Punching Jack out, and just leaving him - it's such a contrast to the tenderness of TS2, and a contrast to the affection that Jack is demonstrating in comforting Ennis and wiping his nose. All that affectionate stuff - it would be considered to be definitely "queer" outside of the mountain!  Ennis is switching over to his "straight guy mode" - where such sissy behaviour and any hint of queerness deserves a punch in the face. He is telling Jack that "as of now, I'm not only "not queer", but behaving "not queer". I'm behaving straight. Our one shot thing is over, ended by a one punch in the face thing."

I don't know which one of them hurts the most when Ennis walks away from Jack, nose still bloody and mind in complete turmoil.

And it certainly gets a message across; - if not for that punch I can't imagine Jack accepting that Ennis is getting married and getting work on some ranch, and just driving off without any further try at arranging to keep in contact once they get down to Signal. The punch creates enough uncertainty in Jack that he lets Ennis walk away.

[opinionista]

I have never ever been punched in the face or anywhere else by anyone. However, I know this from experience. I had a relationship a long time ago with a man whom I was very in love with. We were very close and passionate, but lived in different countries and spent lots of time apart. Everytime we had to part ways, we would get mad at each other for no apparent reason, even got into heated arguments, and there were times in which he will leave not speaking to me. After a while, after we have broken up, I figured out those fights were a way to ease the pain the idea of spending time apart caused us, because later when we spoke on the phone or something, neither of us would remember the fight or were mad at the other.

From that experience, I have come to the conclusion that Ennis needed to be mad at Jack, and make Jack somehow hate him, to be able to let go. He needed to ease the pain, so he punches Jack in the face and hard. The split hits harder on Ennis because he was a pessimist. He probably couldn't think of way of seeing Jack again. He thought he was losing him forever. We all saw how bad the split hurts him. When Ennis sees Jack driving away, he gets cramps, drops on his knees and punches the wall very hard to try to ease that horrible pain he was feeling.

In the short story, Ennis tells Jack:

"That summer," said Ennis. "When we split up after we got paid I had gut cramps so bad I pulled over and tried to puke, thought I ate somethiin bad at that place in Dubois. Took me about a year to figure out it was that I shouldn't a let you out a my sights. Too late then by a long, long while."

Jack, on the other hand, had it easier because he was optimist. He had faith in himself, and knew he'll find a way to contact Ennis again. Besides, I think in the mountain when the learn the have to leave, Jack was sure he and Ennis would get back together the next summer. We see Jack hurt when Ennis reminds him that he's marrying Alma and isn't coming back to BBM. I guess Jack figured out that after they had been together, Ennis would decide to break up with Alma. Still, he doesn't quit. He goes back to Aguirre the following summer, hoping to see Ennis again.

[Brown Eyes]

Wow!  Thanks Friends!  What awesome posts here!  It's amazing how many different responses we've all had to this scene.  Opinionista, I like the idea that Ennis and Jack respond to the split-up differently based on being generally more pessimistic vs. optimistic.  That makes sense to me.   And, yes, Katherine, I don't think Ennis would have an easy time really beating Jack up.  Someone once commented on how much stronger Jack looks, especially in the '63 summer (I think the comment was something like "he's the one with the muscles." lol).  I'm guessing that, as you said, the rodeo-ing required a lot of strength and he probably was more well fed (with loving Ma Twist looking after him) than poor Ennis who has to fend for himself. 

I think the motivations for the punch are an incredibly complicated mixture of all the things people have suggested.  And, the one thing for sure is that it wasn't based on logic.  If Ennis was really thinking about it, I'm sure he wouldn't have done it.  My initial reaction was along the lines of nakymaton's post.  After my first few viewings I was sure this was all about Ennis forcing himself to detach from Jack in order to try to force himself back into his life with Alma, etc.  And, I still think this is one very plausible way of looking at things.  But, now after reading lots of different arguments about this crucial moment when they split up after the '63 summer, I can see how the situation can be read very differently (along the lines of Katherine's reading) and about his desire not to detach.  Maybe it's two sides of the same coin.

Anyway, it's interesting that the souvenir from this heart-wrenching moment became the most sentimental symbol of their love.  In taking Ennis's bloody shirt and not washing it... Jack must have moved on from the immediate problem of the punch pretty quickly and instead focused his attention on his desire to hold on to Ennis (or at least a reminder of him). 

[jpwagoneer1964]

In the movie Jack DOES respond when Ennis says "I thought you were sore about that punch". He says quietly no and says he went back to Signal next year...
In the book the punch was explained by a reflex brought on by roughousing with his brother K.E. (what does that stand for?). as his farther taught hin to handle him. I don't think he meant to hurt Jack.

[Midnight24]

In the movie Jack DOES respond when Ennis says "I thought you were sore about that punch". He says quietly no and says he went back to Signal next year...
In the book the punch was explained by a reflex brought on by roughousing with his brother K.E. (what does that stand for?). as his farther taught hin to handle him. I don't think he meant to hurt Jack.

I don't think Jack meant to hurt Ennis, he was just roughhousing and maybe it was by instinct.

Slightly off-topic: Does anyone know how actors fake a bloody nose? Just curious.

I've always wondered that, too. How do they do that...