Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
P.O. Boxes, Mailboxes and the No. 17
Ellemeno:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on January 02, 2007, 11:27:52 am ---
As far as Yosemite goes, I'm looking forward to finding the Yosemite reference so I can lay it to rest
--- End quote ---
I just searched my pdf file of the short story for you, and the word "Yosemite" doesn't appear.
Lynne:
--- Quote from: atz75 on January 03, 2007, 02:29:11 pm ---I have a question (that leads to several more) that I feel is almost worth it's own thread... The main question is who stamped that postcard "DECEASED"? Was it the post office? Could it possibly have been Lureen? If Lureen was still living at the same address wouldn't that postcard have been delivered to her like normal? Had Jack really been dead long enough for the post office to stop delivering his mail like normal (especially since his wife would be their to receive it anyway)? Clearly, there must be a return address on that postcard... since somehow the postcard made its way back to Ennis. If the postcard had arrived at the Twist house, then Lureen would definitely know both Ennis's name and address. Making her story on the phone sound a bit more fishy.
This question actually came up in a fanfic story I was reading (some of you how read fic might recognize this issue), but I thought it was compelling enough to warrant serious discussion with regard to the actual movie.
cheers
Amanda
--- End quote ---
I have just come from the post office in Huntsville, AL where I asked the guy behind the counter about this. He says that the family can keep receiving the deceased's mail if they're at the same address, or forward it to another family member (like executor or power-of-attorney), or they can request that it be returned with the 'DECEASED' stamp. He did not know the policy in 1983, but I wouldn't think it would change much.
This leads me to speculate that Lureen had to go out of her way to take a death certificate to the PO and fill out a form, etc. so that postcard would get back to Ennis in the coldest way possible. Maybe it's a measure of the distance between Lureen and Jack near the end of his life - they could do it over the phone, all business. One more detail for her to check off of her list.
Who else would Jack have received mail from besides his mother and Ennis? I'm guessing the household bills and all were in her name seeing as she had the adding machine.
Poor Jack.
:'(
SFEnnisSF:
--- Quote from: goadra on August 12, 2006, 05:16:21 pm ---
* This was posted on that thread by meryl: “[in Chinese symbology] the number 8 represents Rebirth. There are other symbols of new life in that scene as well: Alma, Jr.’s impending marriage, Ennis’s newly awakened sense of the importance of making sacrifices for loved ones, and the view of the young green crops seen from the window in the last shot.”
--- End quote ---
I think I have to go with this one, about the # 17 I mean.
Brown Eyes:
Hi Lynne,
Thanks for doing the research. I still think it's an interesting and somewhat mysterious issue.
Hey, so now I have yet another question. What's the significance of different advertisements on the paper behind the deceased postcard? I wonder if this newspaper/ circular is almost a "bookend" to the newspaper that Alma uses to cover up one of Jack's earlier camping-trip-invitation postcards.
:o The one Alma uses to hide Jack's postcard is the classic that's advertising milk and honey.
Phillip Dampier:
I am guessing in this instance it's a dramatic tool to coldly inform Ennis of Jack's passing by the filmmaker, with the presumption this would be a normal procedure (it's been used in other movies and TV shows). Most mail carriers still deliver mail for those no longer with us, or if they lived alone, it gets returned as undeliverable. We are unfortunately still dealing with this in our own family as my father is closing charge accounts opened in my mom's name (they all want a copy of the death certificate -and- mail a confirmation letter in her name at her address because a third party is closing the account). And he still gets junk mail in her name as well.
I don't sense Lureen would be -that- cold as to wash Jack right out of her scary hair, but since a lot of us think of her as one of the things which keeps Jack and Ennis apart, it's probably easy for us to assign negative intent to her. I've noticed Alma gets far more sympathy than Lureen does in a lot of discussions about the women. I wonder if that is part of the stereotyping of strong, take charge women as cold, while Alma clearly looks more like a victim.
One wonders how Ennis would share the news of Jack's passing with Alma.....
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