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

Why does Ennis....

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jpwagoneer1964:
This was my take in the post divorce scene with I caption I did in 'Fantasy Scenes' a while back:

Ennis thinking to Jack
Jack...Jack I'm sorry I had to send you away. I can't tell you how bad I feel, know I won't sleep a wink thinkin' what I put you through.. I sent you the card to let you know my troubles, felt better that I could tell 'm to you. I just wasn't thinkin', didn't know what the words would mean to you. I took that smile of yours right off you face, never saw ya lookin' so sad. So sorry ya came all this way, wouldn't blame ya a bit if ya never came back. Jack...Jack it felt so good to be in in your arms, see that smile 'fore I took it away. Jack I hope you can forgive me, and sure hope you be there next month like ya said.


Mark

Penthesilea:

--- Quote from: nakymaton on December 23, 2006, 12:26:22 pm ---Ennis is lonely. Really, desperately lonely. He may not have loved Alma, but there was something comforting about domesticity and especially about the girls, even when the marriage was falling apart. He was lonely, and reached out to the one person he felt comfortable with, to the one person whose voice he wanted to hear the most.

And Jack heard that, and thought it was also an invitation and an opening. But Ennis couldn't bring himself to go that far. A phone call was drastic enough, and he didn't do it again, until it was too late.

--- End quote ---

I agree with your take on this, Mel.

If only.....  :(



--- Quote from: jpwagoneer1964 on December 23, 2006, 01:15:59 pm ---This was my take in the post divorce scene with I caption I did in 'Fantasy Scenes' a while back:

Ennis thinking to Jack
Jack...Jack I'm sorry I had to send you away. I can't tell you how bad I feel, know I won't sleep a wink thinkin' what I put you through.. I sent you the card to let you know my troubles, felt better that I could tell 'm to you. I just wasn't thinkin', didn't know what the words would mean to you. I took that smile of yours right off you face, never saw ya lookin' so sad. So sorry ya came all this way, wouldn't blame ya a bit if ya never came back. Jack...Jack it felt so good to be in in your arms, see that smile 'fore I took it away. Jack I hope you can forgive me, and sure hope you be there next month like ya said.


Mark

--- End quote ---

Mark, I think your take on this topic is very similar to Mel's (and mine). Ennis was desperate after his divorce and just needed to reach out to THE one person - Jack.
This scene and Mel's description makes me sad. And you more lyrical description put me over the edge right now:  :'(

I think the post divorce scene is a bit tricky to understand. You have to know Ennis to get it. At my first viewing of the movie, I didn't understand Jack's reaction. I thought Ennis was speaking of just this moment, sending him away for only now (because of the girls).

And still, after all these months and viewings: I can understand Jack's reaction, that he pulled away as long as he retained a rest of his dignity.
But sometimes I ask myself what would have been, had Jack been more insitent? If Jack had said he'd come back later that night, if he had stood right before Ennis' door again some hours later, determined to stay at least that one night?
Had there been a tiny chance?  I still tend to think that there would have been at least a tiny chance for Jack to coax Ennis into something different. But maybe that's only the helpless romantic in me.

But I'm aware that one thing is for sure: the story/movie wouldn't have worked the way it does, had the outcome of this scene been different.

nakymaton:

--- Quote from: Penthesilea on December 23, 2006, 05:07:50 pm ---But sometimes I ask myself what would have been, had Jack been more insitent?

--- End quote ---

If that had happened, Jack and Ennis would have ceased to be Jack and Ennis, and would have become two entirely different people.

It was a tipping point, definitely - more than at any point in the story, that's the point at which I can most imagine things ending differently. But the relationship had a delicate balance to it, and by the time of the divorce, I think the nature of the balance was clear to both men. In the story, a phone call might have been so unusual that it made Jack think that the balance had been altered. The movie doesn't explain how the postcard made Jack think things were different, but something must have. But the balance hadn't really changed.

(I kind of see the punch at the end of the summer as an example of what happens when the balance is disturbed. Not that Ennis is inherently violent or anything like that, and not that Ennis would have punched Jack again. Just that Jack knew that Ennis had a low startle point, and Ennis might have thrown Jack once, but he wasn't going to throw him again.)

Penthesilea:

--- Quote from: nakymaton on December 23, 2006, 05:55:23 pm ---If that had happened, Jack and Ennis would have ceased to be Jack and Ennis, and would have become two entirely different people.
--- End quote ---

I guess you mean the same thing that I meant with saying the story/movie would not have worked the way it does. Would have been a whole different story.
So it might be nitpicking, but I don't agree with your wording. People can act in different ways, with different outcomes and those outcomes have repercussions on the person. But that doesn't mean the person will be an entirely different person.

I'm always best in explaining with simplifying examples: imagine you were offered two jobs: one in Alaska and one in Florida. No matter which one you will take, it will alter your enviroment, your social contacts, your lifestyle. But you wouldn't stop being Mel and become an entirely different person. Some things would change, but not your whole personality.


--- Quote ---It was a tipping point, definitely - more than at any point in the story, that's the point at which I can most imagine things ending differently.
--- End quote ---

For me it's one of the two points. The second one for me is after their lakeside confrontation. If Jack hadn't died... I'm one of those who believe Ennis had it in himself to come around (and still be Ennis). I think he was on a good way. Since we've discussed this already, I just mention some keywords:  the way their argument shook him to the core, dumping Cassie, admitting that he can't stand it anymore not only to himself, but also to Jack, trying once more to get days off in August, his look in the diner (pie-scene) after Cassie leaves.
Of course I speak of movie Ennis here. For story Ennis, we can only rely on Annie's word's: torqued things to almost were they had been...nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved.
But on the other side, SEnnis, just like his movie pendant, was so terrified by Jack's word's that it drove him to his knees, he looked like heart-shot.
It's harder for me to imagine what might have been (if Jack hadn't died) for the short story.


--- Quote ---But the relationship had a delicate balance to it, and by the time of the divorce, I think the nature of the balance was clear to both men. In the story, a phone call might have been so unusual that it made Jack think that the balance had been altered. The movie doesn't explain how the postcard made Jack think things were different, but something must have. But the balance hadn't really changed.

(I kind of see the punch at the end of the summer as an example of what happens when the balance is disturbed. Not that Ennis is inherently violent or anything like that, and not that Ennis would have punched Jack again. Just that Jack knew that Ennis had a low startle point, and Ennis might have thrown Jack once, but he wasn't going to throw him again.)

--- End quote ---

The balance = their pact = not queer, not in love, only friends with additional benefits ("this thing", that grabs hold of them); and therefore a couple of HAF are enough. And, also important to their pact (for the balance): don't ask, don't tell, go on pretending.
Pretty fragile this balance. Each and every good-bye must have told both of them another truth.

BBM-Cat:
That's extremely insightful - I am only now understanding the scene better because of your post - if I am understanding correctly, your perceptions are that Jack was taking in the 'big picture' - Ennis' inability to commit to the sweet life together - not just that one weekend in particular...? I had not thought of that way, but it fits so much better with our viewing of Jack's heartbreak. I hope I am understanding.

I think the post divorce scene is a bit tricky to understand. You have to know Ennis to get it. At my first viewing of the movie, I didn't understand Jack's reaction. I thought Ennis was speaking of just this moment, sending him away for only now (because of the girls).

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