Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Jack was maligned unfairly
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on March 22, 2007, 10:31:34 am ---And, Amanda, I got the quote wrong... I think it was "He used to try." This is from the "pissant" scene.
--- End quote ---
Oh, sure, that's good too. But, you know the interview I mean with Jake, right? It's one of the special features on the DVD where he goes on and on about not being the best at cowboy skills (not so great at riding horses, etc.) and he thought that was OK because he wanted to maintain the sense that Jack also didn't always have the best cowboy skills... but that Jack tried and tried. Jake sort of sounds like he's struggling to articulate how to best say this... but it also feels like he would be right at home on this thread discussing this issue!
:D
If Ennis was jealous of Jack over something my feeling is that it would be over Jack's relative comfort in his own skin. I wonder if Ennis was a little bit in awe of Jack's comfort at striking up conversations and in his open-ness- relative to Ennis's painful reserve.
LauraGigs:
--- Quote ---In Ennis's ribbing, were there elements not only of admiration, but also envy and jealousy??
f Ennis was jealous of Jack over something my feeling is that it would be over Jack's relative comfort in his own skin. I wonder if Ennis was a little bit in awe of Jack's comfort at striking up conversations and in his open-ness- relative to Ennis's painful reserve.
--- End quote ---
I agree with Amanda, and would say that it was more awe than jealousy.
If anyone had jealousy over Jack's open-ness and lack of inhibition, it was John Twist. A poster once said that meeting John was part of Ennis' evolution: that he was seeing a future version of himself if he didn't change his ways. I don't disagree.
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: LauraGigs on March 22, 2007, 02:03:13 pm ---A poster once said that meeting John was part of Ennis' evolution: that he was seeing a future version of himself if he didn't change his ways. I don't disagree.
--- End quote ---
Ooooo! That's a very interesting point. I wonder though if Ennis would have ever been *that* hostile and mean-spirited. I could imagine Ennis becoming more and more and more introverted. Maybe that would go hand in hand with becoming more openly bitter and hostile. But, Ennis in general seems like a very different personality than John Twist. But, it's an intriguing suggestion as to the significance of this meeting.
I think it caused him to learn a lot about Jack. It probably caused him to realize the folly of the comment that Ennis made during the last argument that he thought Jack "forgot what it's like to be broke all the time." Given how his parents lived, Jack surely hadn't forgotten what poverty is all about.
Front-Ranger:
--- Quote from: atz75 on March 22, 2007, 03:58:00 pm ---It probably caused him to realize the folly of the comment that Ennis made during the last argument that he thought Jack "forgot what it's like to be broke all the time." Given how his parents lived, Jack surely hadn't forgotten what poverty is all about.
--- End quote ---
Good point, Amanda! In fact, I counted several times when Ennis dissed Jack unfairly. It may have been three times! But I think it was more than that.
Brown Eyes:
It's interesting to try to sort out the instances when Ennis is *teasing* Jack in a fun way (a flirting way or a way that indicates the level of their friendship) vs. the moments when his "dissing" becomes mean-spirited (as in the argument scene... I've always thought the "boys like you" was an awfully harsh thing for Ennis to say... even in the heat of an argument).
Poor Jack.
:(
I think it's sort of easy to see him as a bit of a puppy that gets kicked a lot (so to speak). His Dad is mean to him, Ennis is hard to deal with (at least sometimes), L.D. is mean to him, the customers at the tractor dealership (and probably by extension a lot of people in Childress) are mean to him, etc. This is on top of the sad notion that most of Jack's ideas/ dreams "never came to pass." And then he dies young (either by murder or by horrible accident!!
:'( :'(
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