Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

Does Ennis view himself as a cowboy?

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Rayn:
Does Ennis view himself as a cowboy?


Yes, of course he does, but i think he isn't "aware" of it as in "view himself as one".  It's like having blue eyes... I have them, but I don't "view myself" as a blue eyed man.  I almost never think about it 'cause it's "just me".   That's how Ennis is as a cowboy.  He's genuine.

Rayn

Front-Ranger:
Rayn, it's so nice to see U here again, it's been a long time!! I agree that Ennis sees himself as a cowboy as well as Jack. Recall during the last day on the mountain, he says to Jack "This ain't no rodeo, cowboy" as he tugs on Jack's lasso. He's using the word cowboy in the faintly derogatory sense that is used so often, as someone who acts before or instead of thinking. In the movie, Alma uses cowboy as a verb, which I'd never heard of before. "Is he [Jack] someone you cowboy'ed with?" she says when the postcard comes. "No, Jack he rodeos mostly," Ennis answers. This surprised me because I always thought it was cowboys who competed in rodeos! In fact, anybody who can ride a horse I would consider a cowboy (unless they wear a houndstooth jacket and carry a crop, then I would call them an equestrian).

nakymaton:
Lee, do you think "cowboy" sounded derogatory in "This ain't no rodeo, cowboy?" I thought it sounded affectionate, in a kind of rough, "I can't say what I'm really feeling" kind of way.

I think it's interesting just how often movie characters call each other "cowboy" ("What're you waiting for cowboy? A mating call?"), given that none of the characters really are "cowboys" by the definition that Dot gives.

It seems like the term "cowboy" has become influenced by Hollywood, and by the West's view of itself. (And by the view of others, as well.) Do you remember the Cowboy Gathering in my town a few months ago? I bet none of those people worked with cattle, though many may have ridden horses for fun. An image of a loner, of someone who belongs in the outdoors. A memory of a illusionary past, rather than a job or a way of life. (Did the Casper panel discussion say any of those things?)

(About cows versus sheep -- there's a history of conflict between sheep-herding and cattle-herding. I don't know much about it.)

Front-Ranger:
You bet, Mel. The whole discussion in Casper was on the myth and reality of the cowboy and I discuss it here. I think the term, the way Ennis used it in that instance, was affectionately derogatory, just the same as Jack "ropin" Ennis like a wayward calf. But in these times, the word cowboy is definitely used in a derogatory manner often, for instance sometimes it's said that we're in Iraq because of  "cowboy diplomacy." The word "boy" is derogatory in itself, as well as the word "cow." But then there's the flip side--I was reading American Cowboy Magazine, which glorifies the cowboy in order to boost retail sales of everything from concha belts to cattle prods. Did you know you could check your stocks (Wall Street ones), get free e-mail, and chat at cowboy.com?? I suspect that "real" cowboys don't call themselves such xcept on Friday nights when they're trying to put the blocks to some filly. They probably call themselves wranglers, ranch hands, or ranch operators, something like that.

moremojo:
I remember Proulx writing that both Ennis and Jack want to be cowboys, are in thrall to the mystique of the cowboy, but are not themselves cowboys. The suggestion here is that the cowboy myth permeated the consciousness of the mid-twentieth century West, but that real cowboys basically didn't exist anymore--the way of life that defined the authentic cowboy had died (slowly or otherwise) with the closing of the frontier.

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