Jack was maligned unfairly

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

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BBM-Cat:
I hate to be a post stealer but yes, JACK WAS MALIGNED UNFAIRLY, Lee.

Perhaps I was too critical of Jack, I only wanted to point out that his personality was perhaps a factor in him not achieving much more than he wanted. Overall, he was a good man. I definitely agree he had many many redeeming qualities, especially his good looks!

brokebackjack:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on March 25, 2007, 02:24:55 pm ---hehe, bbjack, I was just writing about how Jack was like a horse, but I didn't think of that one! (Who cares with that tongue of his!!) Go look at this:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,1039.msg172121.html#msg172121

oh, and if you go back one page you can also read more on the harmonica issue written by our FRiend EDelMar!!

--- End quote ---
The tongue is genetic, his pappy does the same thing lolololol

Brown Eyes:

--- Quote from: BBM-Cat2006 on March 25, 2007, 01:17:07 pm ---Sure, and we all hate to see Jack be treated that way. Getting more into the psychology of Jack though - how much of the mistreatment by others could he have deflected or changed? In some ways because of his unassertive nature, Jack was the "puppy that gets kicked a lot" so to speak. I hate to say he allowed it, but in a way he did. I really saw Jack develop his assertiveness though, throughout the movie with the culmination at the FLS. Perhaps Jack's ideas/dreams 'never came to pass' because he lacked follow-through and self-confidence (yes, he was confident in some things but not the 'biggies' - his ideas/dreams). Maybe he had a self-fulfilling expectation of failure- and maybe others saw this in him too.

--- End quote ---

Well, I'll agree with you while still maintaining my position of feeling so, so sorry for Jack (and Ennis too).

I agree that neither Jack nor Ennis were completely passive victims of society, circumstance, etc. There were instances where societal elements/ unfair circumstances were entirely beyond their control. But, there were also decisions and mistakes that were within their control too (this can be said for Alma and Lureen, etc. too). People are certainly responsible for some of their own fate and their own happiness to a certain extent. Jack certainly made mistakes (for example, perhaps in letting Ennis leave too easily at the end of the '63 summer... and perhaps he misjudged and shouldn't have driven up for a surprise visit following Ennis's divorce, etc.). But, likewise, Ennis is somewhat responsible for the sad situation he's left in at the end. His motto of "if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it" turned into his own self-imposed life sentence.

None of the characters are "perfect" and their tragedy has a lot to do with imperfect decisions that all people make. At a basic level all of this just adds to the realism of the story and makes the tragedy feel so plausible.

Front-Ranger:
Here is the link to EDelMar's treatise on the harmonica playing:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,1039.msg149044.html#msg149044

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