BetterMost, Wyoming & Brokeback Mountain Forum

Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond => Brokeback Mountain Open Forum => Topic started by: Penthesilea on January 28, 2008, 08:07:05 am

Title: Message from your moderators Jan, 28th/updated Jan, 4th
Post by: Penthesilea on January 28, 2008, 08:07:05 am
Another Monday - but what a different world it seems.

Last week we lost two cherished souls. One known to the world, the other well known to many, many Brokies across different websites.


Heath Ledger died on January, 22nd 2008. He is the man who brought Ennis to life. Many of us wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him. The short story by Annie Proulx is an exceptional master piece, the movie an incredible collaboration of many gifted artists, but to me personally, it has always been Heath Ledger's Ennis who was standing out in a conglomerate of high-class performances.


R.I.P.
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/heathbw2.jpg)




Jackie/Paintedshoes left this earth only one day after Heath. I hope you allow me a short acknowledgment here. She touched my heart, although I met her in person only once. She was one of the most warmhearted persons I ever met and many of the greater Brokie community love her deeply.


R.I.P
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/IM000990-1.jpg)



There won't be a TOTW this week because it's just too soon. But of course the OF and the TOTW will continue. We will go back to discussing the movie and the story, albeit there will be a different angle to many aspects. My friend Amanda said it better than I ever could, so I just quote her words here with her permission:

I really think continuing to ponder, admire, discuss, etc. Brokeback is very key to honoring Heath's legacy.  It's his masterpiece.  I'm sure he would want serious consideration of Brokeback to continue.
I really don't believe it's "disrespectful" at all to continue to discuss Ennis and Jack.  In fact, I think it's quite the opposite.
It seems to me that Heath would want to know that Brokeback/Ennis is a type-of vehicle for immortalizing him.  I think artists always want their art to carry on.
I feel really strongly about this.
I actually think the notion of moving away from discussing Jack and Ennis is really depressing.  Following Heath's death, it really is my feeling that we should continue to honor those characters and continue to recognize how important Heath's role was in producing this amazing work of art.



People have different ways to deal with the sad situation and the time they'll need to be able to participate in the OF discussions again will be different, too. The OF is and stays open to discussions about Brokeback Mountain and how it has effected us.

Those effects on us might be different now. Some have watched BBM in the days following Jan, 22nd, to honor Heath; others won't be able to watch it for a while.

You are welcome to add your experiences with watching/not watching BBM, as well as general thoughts here on this thread.


Yours sincerely,
Penthesilea and Indeedcrayons



Update Mon, Feb, 4th

New TOTW will come next week on Mon, 02/11/08
Title: Re: Message from your moderators Jan, 28th
Post by: Brown Eyes on January 28, 2008, 10:06:44 pm
Hi Chrissi and Katherine,

Thanks so much for posting this and for choosing to feature my quotation (from a thread over in the Heath forum).
 

First off, I just want to send my deepest condolences out to the whole Brokie community.  Who would have ever imagined that we would lose Heath Ledger and a wonderful Brokie like Jackie within the space of two days.  Just so tremendously tragic and sad.
 :'(


On the topic of continuing to discuss Brokeback Mountain following the loss of Heath...

Well, I've posted about this a lot on many threads the last few days.  I feel very passionately that as a tribute to Heath's legacy, we should continue to discuss Brokeback Mountain in a serious, thoughtful way... the way we love to do so much.  I think an artist like Heath would be truly honored to know that his work has touched us all so profoundly and that it will continue to do so long, long after his passing. In the quotation that Chrissi used, I mentioned the idea that Heath is in some way immortalized in Ennis. I think most artists want their art to live on after they're gone.  In the role of Ennis, Heath will always be seen as young, handsome, and at the pinnacle of his acting abilities.   The permanence of Ennis is a part of the magic of art, I think.  As Brokies, I almost feel like we're playing a part in protecting Heath's legacy by making sure that Brokeback, as Heath's defining masterpiece, continues to be a vibrant part of cultural discourse for years and years to come.

I watched BBM on Friday night, which was a nice peaceful evening in the midst of all the swirling news stories and incredibly intense emotions.  I watched it with a few candles burning and a little glass of whiskey and it was such a nice experience.  I was so nervous when I put the DVD in... I just didn't know if it was too soon, or if I would end up getting too emotional.  But, I found, on the one hand, that it was like visiting with old friends.  And, on the other hand, all the serious themes of Brokeback Mountain took on even more heightened significance and brought out all the raw emotion that I recall from the experience of seeing BBM for the first time.  The recent tragedy and the similarity in the theme of coping with grief at the end really made the viewing exceptionally intense.   Certain lines and certain scenes were just incredible in light of this enormous tragedy this week.  The dozy embrace was the one scene that was almost too much to take.  When Ennis rides away without looking back....  :'( :'( :'(  It's hard to even articulate the emotions involved with that right now.  And certain lines, like "sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it" take on new 'real life' meaning.  But the scenes at the end when Ennis is grieving are both surreal and very comforting.  It's like Ennis has been teaching us about dealing with grief all this time.  And now this happened.

On a lighter note I also found myself jotting down a few new "observations" about details to add to Open Forum threads here and there.  I almost do this by instinct nowadays when watching BBM.  And, it was very nice to realize that impulse was certainly still there.

Perhaps most importantly at this juncture following the loss of Heath, it was simply reassuring to see Ennis again.  I found myself getting totally absorbed in Ennis, Jack and the story the way I always do.  Ennis is just as vibrant, palpable, complex and deeply-touching as ever.  And he will always be that way.  And this seems to me to be Heath's amazing gift to us.







 
Title: Re: Message from your moderators Jan, 28th
Post by: Front-Ranger on January 28, 2008, 10:18:48 pm
Thank you for this heartfelt message, and I wholeheartedly agree with you. Let the discussion go on!
Title: Re: Message from your moderators Jan, 28th
Post by: Brown Eyes on January 28, 2008, 10:22:46 pm
Thank you for this heartfelt message, and I wholeheartedly agree with you. Let the discussion go on!



 :-* :-* :-* {{{Sister-Mod}}} :-* :-* :-*


Title: Re: Message from your moderators Jan, 28th
Post by: Artiste on January 30, 2008, 05:35:16 pm
Beautiful honnours!!

Any more information too about JackiePaintedshoes??

And our other friend, always he too?

Hugs, hugs!