Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
getting hit hard by offhand revelations (story discussion)
dly64:
--- Quote from: nakymaton on September 11, 2006, 01:06:23 pm ---Diane: The story lie that gets to me most isn't in the movie. It's the moment in the motel when Ennis asks Jack if he has had sex with other guys, and Jack lies and says he hasn't. That's not just withholding information. Ennis was trying to sort out his feelings about his sexuality and about Jack, and even reveals that he thought about Jack while masturbating. (Sorry, TJ if you're out there, that's how I read the scene.) And then Jack lies. And lying in the face of that kind of personal revelation... well, that's harder to forgive than omissions are, at least for me.
--- End quote ---
I understand your POV in regards to that lie. The question is, did Ennis really want to know? And if Jack would have told him the truth, what would have been the point? Ennis admitted that he had not been with other men. In essence, Ennis remained “loyal” to Jack (since both Jack and Ennis always seemed cool about the fact that each one slept with women). Although Jack was not physically loyal to Jack, he was emotionally. So why would Jack tell Ennis that he had been having sex with other men (even if the other men wouldn’t have been as “good” as Ennis)? That would have only hurt Ennis, and Jack knew that.
In the film, there is a scene where Ennis is asking Jack if Lureen suspects that Jack sleeps with men (to paraphrase it). Jack says no. But then Ennis asks Jack if he ever gets the feeling that people “know.” The reality is that Jack did experience that feeling … when he was trying to pick up Jimbo. This was a time where Ennis was being vulnerable and Jack could have answered honestly, but he chose not to. Instead, Jack suggested Ennis move to Texas. IMO, Jack is seeing his own actions as protecting Ennis from hurt and pain. He is not lying to save his own skin.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on September 11, 2006, 02:34:13 pm ---we see Michelle's breasts so I guess we have to see Anne's! ::)
--- End quote ---
Tit for tat, hunh?
I think the bra-removal is a way of showing Lureen as an aggressive, go-getter type, to help explain why Jack married her. Just being pretty and rich might not be enough to rope Jack in, and if Jack were the pursuer he might come off as a golddigger. Cassie is shown to be a go-getter herself, partly for the same reason -- Ennis probably wouldn't go after a woman on his own. His engagement to Alma is more a product of his pre-awakening.
As for Jack's lie about other men, I'm inclined to let him off the hook for the same reason Diane does -- the confession would have hurt Ennis. But it would be nice if he were upfront about his sexuality. In the film scene Diane mentions about Ennis getting the feeling that people know, I get annoyed with Jack for changing the subject rather than talking honestly about his sexuality, which might help Ennis understand things better and maybe even feel a tiny bit more secure.
BTW, speaking of good analyses of the story, here's a thread from imdb that is fascinating. It was posted on the CT board, but for anyone who didn't see it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/board/flat/53351567?d=53452424#53452424
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on September 11, 2006, 03:40:34 pm ---Tit for tat, hunh?
--- End quote ---
More like tit for tit. ;D
(Sorry, that was too obvious to pass by.)
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on September 11, 2006, 03:53:58 pm ---More like tit for tit. ;D
(Sorry, that was too obvious to pass by.)
--- End quote ---
Don't be sorry! Mine was a joke in the first place -- you just improved on it.
:laugh:
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on September 11, 2006, 03:55:36 pm ---Don't be sorry! Mine was a joke in the first place -- you just improved on it.
:laugh:
--- End quote ---
Ah, but I couldn't have done it if you hadn't fed me the line! :laugh:
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version