Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Female Sexuality in BBM
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: LauraGigs on March 18, 2007, 02:57:10 pm ---
The film makes it pretty clear that Ennis was so scarred from his upbringing that no extenuating circumstances in his adulthood would bring him around. After his divorce, he still preferred not to even be seen with Jack.
--- End quote ---
Yup, I think this is Ennis's situation in a nutshell. And, it seems to be the basis of how heartbreaking Jack's surprise post-divorce visit becomes. He realizes that Ennis can't even handle being seen with him by some random person driving by in the white truck. He finally gets that it wasn't Ennis's marriage really holding Ennis back.
:'(
nic:
--- Quote from: LauraGigs on March 18, 2007, 02:57:10 pm ---I don't think the responsibility would be on the wives to set the men free to chase a dream their wives had no clue about, would it?
--- End quote ---
No, certainly not, but I yearn for a happy ending so search out any possible route into a parallel universe! Yet Alma did have more than clue about Ennis & Jack's relationship.
By today's standards it would be considered odd for a young wife to stand by her husband for so long after finding out he was gay, & effectively was never in love with her. It must have been very difficult for her to keep having sex with him. Do you think she ever would have attempted to "cure" him from being gay/seeing Jack, eg by submitting to anal sex she is showing Ennis that he can "have the best of both worlds"?
It is a mystery to me why she took so long to get round to a divorce even given the trappings of the era. I have wondered if maybe she set up the relationship with Munroe first before she sought divorce, so that she wouldn't have to be a lone parent, as that would have been very hard at that time in that location.
Brown Eyes:
Yeah, I think the question of why Alma waits so long is very valid. She seems to simmer under a lot of resentment over the continual appearance of postcards and Ennis's enthusiasm for the fishing trips. Did she think things would somehow get better? There are a lot of odd timing issues in BBM and this is just one of them. The other major timeline puzzle is the length of time that Ennis dates Cassie (and correspondingly the length of time that Jack might be dating Randall).
LauraGigs:
--- Quote ---By today's standards it would be considered odd for a young wife to stand by her husband for so long after finding out he was gay . . .
--- End quote ---
But this was rural Wyoming in the 60s. What did people say about homosexuality then? If anything? What would someone like Alma know about it? "Finding out he was gay" is oversimplifiying Alma's experience. A lot of people believe she had very little full understanding of what she saw until much later.
--- Quote ---Do you think she ever would have attempted to "cure" him from being gay/seeing Jack, eg by submitting to anal sex she is showing Ennis that he can "have the best of both worlds"?
--- End quote ---
With all the ignorance surrounding homosexuality, that's a good possibility Nic. Have you ever seen Far From Heaven? If not, rent it! It's really pertinent and a fine film too.
--- Quote ---It is a mystery to me why she took so long to get round to a divorce even given the trappings of the era . . .
--- End quote ---
Remember, there was a lot of ignorance surrounding divorce at the time too. Divorcees were much rarer than they are today — and were considered anything from radicals, to damaged goods in most circles (especially if you're a woman).
injest:
another aspect to remember is the religious one. Even today in 2007 my sister is considered a sinner and damaged goods in her church for getting a divorce...and the reason is immaterial. She was telling me her husband and his best friend were discussing this last week...about how women that are divorced go to hell.
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