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

How would you describe Jack's and Ennis' sexuality?

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Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: atz75 on March 15, 2007, 12:01:04 am --- I think one of the functions of Cassie's character is to demonstrate that Ennis is gay. ...  Cassie is presented as this gorgeous, friendly woman who practically throws herself at Ennis and he still is very, very reluctant to even dance with her.  He shows no enthusiasm for her while he's with her or in his comments about "some waitress" to Jack during the camping trip.
--- End quote ---

Nicely put explication of Cassie's purpose, Amanda!


--- Quote --- I think Cassie is supposed to seem like a dreamgirl for most straight men. ...

--- End quote ---

In that tube top and Daisy Duke's? You betcha!  :laugh:

moremojo:
Katherine, I have now come to the same conclusion that Ennis and Jack were both much more gay than they were arguably bisexual, and they sure weren't straight! For the record, though, I reiterate that upon my first viewing of the film, I had the distinct impression that Ennis was an otherwise straight man who by some amazing fluke lost his heart to another man (incidentally, my exposure to the original story at this time consisted of cursory skimming). And my sister had the same feeling, and went on to add that she found this one of the film's most provocative and radical implications--that the heart can lead us onto paths that our mental/societal constructs had never prepared us to perhaps even imagine.

I still like the revolutionary potential within my sister's interpretation, even though my own reading of the film has since been modified. And as perverse as it may sound, I tend to cherish even a willful misreading that can produce such insight/contemplation over a more cut-and-dried approach that can seem overly reductive.

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: moremojo on March 15, 2007, 07:06:58 pm ---And as perverse as it may sound, I tend to cherish even a willful misreading that can produce such insight/contemplation over a more cut-and-dried approach that can seem overly reductive.
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I agree, Scott! I mean, not specifically with your sister's interpretation. But with the idea that people should feel free to interpret art in whatever way they find most rewarding, including a willfull misreading.

Brown Eyes:
I think one of the most interesting and difficult aspects of interpreting Ennis's sexuality is the clear point made in both the movie and story that Ennis is only attracted to Jack. I think Ennis describes this to himself as meaning that Jack is the only man he's been attracted to... and thus helps him maintain the idea in his head that he's not queer.  I think this also makes it harder for audience members to make the leap and say definitively that yes Ennis is gay in general.  But, I think that the probable truth of the matter is that Jack is the only person (male or female) that Ennis is really attracted to.  Again, based on the examples provided in the film Ennis seems very unenthusiastic about his relations with both Alma and Cassie... and I feel pretty comfortable in extrapolating that this means he's not attracted to women in general. (lol, unlike Scott... normally I'm thinking of the film as my main point of reference... and in this case the film simply provides more extended examples to examine as to how Ennis responds to various women... we don't really see him interacting with a lot of other men).

In a way, I think given an ideal situation (where he could be with Jack long-term) he would be fiercely monogomous.  So, if Jack is really the only person that Ennis is shown to be tremendously sexually attracted to and emotionally attached to... then yes I think he's gay.  But, really he's Jack-sexual.
 8)

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: latjoreme on March 15, 2007, 01:39:33 pm ---Does that mean Ennis couldn't possibly have one iota of attraction to women? That he's completely at one end of the Kinsey scale? Not necessarily.

--- End quote ---

Sure enough! I've lost track of how many gay men I've known over the past two decades who at one time were married to women and fathered biological children. It's absolutely possible.

In the end, though, I guess what I really don't get is how anyone can feel that accepting that Ennis is gay because his creator says so amounts to having a rigid interpretation imposed on one. Recognizing my own bias as a gay man here, this issue just doesn't seem like that big a deal to me--not the issue of Ennis's sexuality, which has important implications for who he is, but the issue of what Annie Proulx has to say about her creation's sexuality.

But speaking generally, it still seems to me that to say that an artistic creation is not what its creator says it is, is not only presumptuous but even kind of disrespectful personally of the artist--like saying that he or she doesn't know what he or she is talking about when it comes to his or her own artistic creation.

Saying that an artist has convincingly created what he or she claims to have created is another matter. I think it's possible to discuss that in a way that doesn't disrespect the artist.

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