Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
The Laundry Room
Midnight24:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on July 01, 2006, 04:33:45 pm ---I like that thought, pent, about laundry being an intimate thing to do for another person. Actually, I think that at the end when Ennis carefully folds Jr's sweater and puts it away, and then snaps Jack's shirt, that that is the first time we see him "doing the laundry" for the absent beloveds.
--- End quote ---
I'd like to think of it that way, too. It shows intimancy between Ennis and Jack even though Jack isn't there any more. It's hard for me to explain it, but it's hard for me to put it into words.
serious crayons:
Great post, Lee! I watched the movie with a friend last night -- she's seen it a few times, mostly at my insistence, but is not a huge fan by our standards -- and then this morning she was musing on the meaning of the laundry. I think there's really a lot going on with it.
The big difference I've always noticed is that Jack does the laundry outdoors, in nature, whereas Alma does the laundry the way she does the dishes -- inside, with civilized "society" water. But earlier on, we see her as a hopeful young bride, hanging laundry outside in the yard, relatively in nature but also somewhat domestic. Is that because she is hoping at that point that their relationship will be "a force of nature"?
And then there's the joke, one of my favorites on the Cowboy Etiquette thread. Ennis parks in the back parking lot, right under the "Laundromat entrance around front" sign. Yet Ennis' own favorite entrance is not in the front! It's funny, but is it JUST funny? Subconsciously, I guess, he's not interested in the front-entrance laundromat life.
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on July 01, 2006, 04:23:57 pm ---Doing laundny for another person is also an intimate thing to do and a part of being domestic together. It is Jack who does it for Ennis, before Alma does. ... Ennis is never shown doing laundry, although he must have done it before their job switch on Brokeback and later in the movie when he lived alone. Why?
--- End quote ---
Hi Penth! Nice to see you! Ennis undoubtedly does do laundry, but I think it's probably just not important enough to show. Instead, we see Jack and Alma washing Ennis' shirts because they're competing, implicitly, as Ennis' partner. (We do see Ennis doing other nice things for Jack, but if we saw him do Jack's laundry it might confuse the issue.)
Penthesilea:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on July 04, 2006, 02:02:22 am ---Instead, we see Jack and Alma washing Ennis' shirts because they're competing, implicitly, as Ennis' partner. (We do see Ennis doing other nice things for Jack, but if we saw him do Jack's laundry it might confuse the issue.)
--- End quote ---
Yeah, the competition between Jack and Alma, you're right. I itemisized some of it, bit I didn't see the wood for the trees. And it might have diluted the effect if we had seen Ennis doing the laundry.
I've said it before (and many others have too), but I have to repeat it:
Is there anything in this movie that is not reasoned, well thought out and deliberate? I guess there is, there are even flaws in the movie. But I've never seen a movie where so many seemingly circumstancial, random details are not random, but deliberate and meaningful.
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on July 01, 2006, 04:33:45 pm ---I like that thought, pent, about laundry being an intimate thing to do for another person. Actually, I think that at the end when Ennis carefully folds Jr's sweater and puts it away, and then snaps Jack's shirt, that that is the first time we see him "doing the laundry" for the absent beloveds.
--- End quote ---
A lovely way to think about it. I love the way Ennis folds the sweater, so careful, gentle and tender (same for the shirts). Reminds me of Amanda's thought, posted on another thread, that Ennis tends to linger his fingers on things and how he caresses the first postcard. Ohhh, he is such a sweet guy. I just love everything Ennis.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on July 04, 2006, 03:08:10 am --- Ohhh, he is such a sweet guy. I just love everything Ennis.
--- End quote ---
I'm with you there! (As you well know. ::)) I could go on and on with examples, myself. Oh wait -- I think maybe I've done that already.
Penth, your mention of flaws compared to the extreme care given to so many minute details is interesting. I hope it's not too OT, but that baffles me. And I don't just mean details like the microphone cord on little Alma Jr. or the magical peanuts and chopping-block log -- flaws that, as somebody pointed out, may have been prohibitively expensive to fix by the time they were discovered. But there are even flaws that seemingly resulted from poor planning -- date glitches, particularly -- which is strange, given how beautifully so many other things are planned.
Sheriff Roland:
Here's a little quote from the book:
"...You want some a this hot water? There's plenty."
"It's all yours."
"Well, I'm goin a warsh everthing I can reach," he said, pulling off his boots and jeans (no drawers, no socks, Jack noticed), slopping the green washcloth around until the fire spat.
Seems to me that Ennis isn't just talking about body parts when he says he's "goin a warsh everything (he) can reach". So he did take care of laundry too.
Otherwise, I LOVE this thread. I love that 6 months after seeing the movie, I'm still being shown connections that warm my heart. And like a couple a people have claimed in recent posts, I too LOVE everything Ennis! It says so right there under my avatar! And that too was the name of the first thread of importance that I posted at IMDb (which can be found in the archives here at BetterMost), and the initial reason for the eventual creation of "I Love the Lighter Side" forum, also here at BetterMost.
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