Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
getting hit hard by offhand revelations (story discussion)
mlewisusc:
Thanks Jeff! ;D
Too early in the morning to really think much out here, but maybe there's a simpler proposition I can throw out and see if I get a general agreement. This may seem WAY too obvious, but knowing where folks stand can help. Would most of you agree that, within the confines of the story, Jack is the ONLY man Ennis ever is "with" sexually? If that's true, then do we believe his motel statement that he "never had no thoughs a doin it with another guy"? How about after the motel scene? Did he have those thoughts later in the relationship? How about after Jack's death?
Ms. P's explanation of where the character Ennis came from (older cowboy in bar giving longing looks to young, pool-playing ranch hands) seems to be at odds with what on the surface I take from the story - as we said before on IMDB, to me, Story Ennis is a "one-man man" - for life! This enhances the tragedy of the entire situation of course - and has spawned many a "happy ending for Ennis" fanfic.
Thoughts?
Front-Ranger:
Hold that thought for a sec while I go back to the original topic. Talk about your offhand, tacked-on revelations. What about the statement in the story where it says "Ennis married Alma in November and had her pregnant by January." This is portrayed differently in the movie. There, the marriage ceremony is concluded by the preacher saying, "You may kiss the bride. And if you don't, I will." The effect is to show that the institution of marriage is a house of cards (not worth shoring up with a Constitutional Amendment, I have to add).
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: mlewisusc on November 30, 2006, 10:27:48 am ---Thanks Jeff! ;D
Too early in the morning to really think much out here, but maybe there's a simpler proposition I can throw out and see if I get a general agreement. This may seem WAY too obvious, but knowing where folks stand can help. Would most of you agree that, within the confines of the story, Jack is the ONLY man Ennis ever is "with" sexually? If that's true, then do we believe his motel statement that he "never had no thoughs a doin it with another guy"? How about after the motel scene? Did he have those thoughts later in the relationship? How about after Jack's death?
Ms. P's explanation of where the character Ennis came from (older cowboy in bar giving longing looks to young, pool-playing ranch hands) seems to be at odds with what on the surface I take from the story - as we said before on IMDB, to me, Story Ennis is a "one-man man" - for life! This enhances the tragedy of the entire situation of course - and has spawned many a "happy ending for Ennis" fanfic.
Thoughts?
--- End quote ---
Personally I see no reason to change my own understanding that Story Ennis is, indeed, a one-man man (Movie Ennis, too, for that matter).
Maybe the "longing" Annie observed in the older cowboy in the bar wasn't actually desire for the boys shootin' pool. Maybe that longing was actually for a lost love. Perhaps watching those young cowboys brought back memories of a relationship in his own past, when he, himself, was as young as the boys he was watching when Annie noticed him. Perhaps there was an element of simply longing for his own lost youth in there, too.
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on November 30, 2006, 12:03:03 pm ---Hold that thought for a sec while I go back to the original topic. Talk about your offhand, tacked-on revelations. What about the statement in the story where it says "Ennis married Alma in November and had her pregnant by January." This is portrayed differently in the movie. There, the marriage ceremony is concluded by the preacher saying, "You may kiss the bride. And if you don't, I will." The effect is to show that the institution of marriage is a house of cards (not worth shoring up with a Constitutional Amendment, I have to add).
--- End quote ---
Lee, I'm not quite sure I'm following you, here. Are you saying that the "offhand" comment in the story about Ennis getting Alma pregnant by January and the preacher's (in my opinion, dumb) joke in the movie are both ways of demonstrating that "the institution of marriage is a house of cards"? Personally I sure wouldn't dispute the point either way--at least, not as far as Ennis and Alma are concerned.
Front-Ranger:
Yes, I guess I am. The story comment makes it clear that Ennis married Alma to prove his masculinity, and the preacher's joke could be taken several ways, but to me it is Ennis and the preacher vying to prove who's more masculine/heterosexual. The two terms are totally different in my book, but in Wyoming they were apparently one and the same.
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