Author Topic: Would it have worked? Merged with "Would a SWEET LIFE ever have been possible?"  (Read 51658 times)

Offline serious crayons

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I think Woody Allen and Mia Farrow actually got it right.

Yes, it sure worked out well for them!  ;D

Sorry. You're right, though; a little distance can be nice.

My stepmother remarried a few years after my dad died. She and her new husband, Robert, lived in condos in different buildings and, at first, they kept their separate homes. Then after a year or so, Robert moved into her building -- but in a separate condo! They're both busy, successful types -- retired but involved in lots of civic work and other kinds of projects -- and they like having their own space.

Offline Katie77

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As well as the fear of living in a homophobic society, I dont think Ennis, would have ever been happy living with Jack, if it had been the cause of unhappiness to anyone....Alma had moved on, Junior was about to start her own life, and Jenny was doing her own thing now...but Jack still had a wife and a son, and so maybe if Jack had split with Laureen and Ennis saw Bobby leading his own life, then his concious would have maybe let it all happen.....

But I could never see Ennis living with Jack, unless it was in a remote area...where they didnt have to come face to face with homophobia all the time......

If they moved to a new town, where no one knew them, they could have charaded as brothers to the people they got to know.....(thats what my dad and his partner did back in the 60's, when homosexuality was not only looked down on, but it was also illegal).......

Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect.

It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfection

Offline jpwagoneer1964

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Re: Would it have worked? Merged with "Would a SWEET LIFE ever have been possibl
« Reply #102 on: September 20, 2006, 11:26:16 pm »
Let's see. The relasionship survived 20 years thru the obsticals of marrage,  chidren, living 700 miles apart, homophopia, etc. I would have to say that it would work.
Thank you Heath and Jake for showing us Ennis and Jack,  teaching us how much they loved one another.

Offline jessiwrite

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As they got older I truly believe they would have made a life together.  Ennis would have gone a lot farther then around a coffee pot, but they were about to the point where it couldn't be stood any longer, and they loved and needed each other too much, they would have no option but to fix it.

I'm not sure if this thread is would they try a life together (answered that above, lol) or if they did live together would it have lasted.  There is no doubt, none, not even a remote space on that one - it would have certainly lasted.  Man oh man would it have lasted.

jessi
... not nobody when in somebody's arms,  ain’t nowhere if somewhere with him.
My man who nothin ever came t’is hand the way he wanted.
‘Cause all he ever wanted was me.

Offline dly64

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I'm not sure if this thread is would they try a life together (answered that above, lol) or if they did live together would it have lasted.  There is no doubt, none, not even a remote space on that one - it would have certainly lasted.  Man oh man would it have lasted.

jessi

My understanding of this thread is that if they did live together, would it have lasted.

I vascilate back and forth on this. I think it would have lasted, but it would not have been an easy relationship. Ennis would have had to make some key changes to be comfortable living with Jack.
Diane

"We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em."

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Would it have worked? Merged with "Would a SWEET LIFE ever have been possibl
« Reply #105 on: September 21, 2006, 12:22:34 pm »
I guess there are actually two different questions here.

One is, if they lived in the ideal world where homophobia wasn't an issue, would they have lasted as a couple -- given that finances would be tough and they do have some personality differences? My answer: Yes. Their personality differences complement each other, they were willing to sacrifice financially and they were as in love as any couple ever has been. So, sure.

The other is, given the real-world homophobia they actually would have confronted, if Ennis nevertheless agreed to the sweet life, would they have lasted? My answer: Maybe. There would be far more pressure and stress and sacrifice than most couples ever have to endure. Day after day, year after year, that would be extremely wearing, to say the least, for Jack as well as Ennis. So that's iffy.


Offline jessiwrite

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Got it.  Their relationship would have lasted if they had to live in hell.  Life isn't easy, period, but they sure weren't doing fine seperate.  Not fine at all.  Jack couldn't have been worn any thinner or more unhappy  than without ennis.  They knew each other well enough to account for moods, space... The only times we see Ennis heppy, being himself, is with horses and Jack.  Wow can you imagine a life with both.

They had each other, if they had tried it together, and I do believe that would have been a step taken down the road, they would be smart enough to work it out.  They knew they were not much without each other.  Couples do last, even in the worst of times.  Two of my good friends were married in 1971, had to go out of state for it was illegal in the Alabama county we lived in for a black and a white to be married.  They went through so much by holding onto each other, even they had to watch their kids suffer.  Even when she got sosick.And also had the same leaving toilet seat up, you didn't pay the piower bill that all couples do.

It's love, bud.  Sorry, got carried away, just never knew of a love greater than Jack and Ennis or two poeple belonging together more, fiction or real.

jessi
... not nobody when in somebody's arms,  ain’t nowhere if somewhere with him.
My man who nothin ever came t’is hand the way he wanted.
‘Cause all he ever wanted was me.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Would it have worked? Merged with "Would a SWEET LIFE ever have been possibl
« Reply #107 on: September 21, 2006, 03:36:25 pm »
They had each other, if they had tried it together, and I do believe that would have been a step taken down the road, they would be smart enough to work it out.

I hope so! (Even though it's kind of moot.)

Scott6373

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If (and it's a big if) they could have survived as they were for another ten years, then maybe if they chose to make a life togather, it may have worked out, but not in 1983. 

Besides, Ennis was just starting to come into a more complete knowledge and acceptance of himself at the end of the story, and this was precipatated by the worst of all occurences.  Should Jack have lived, it would have taken Ennis even longer to reach that same point.

Knowing how it was for me back then, I find it impossible to accept that "love conquers all" approach.  It dosen't.  Trust, and work and a willingness to grow and change togather are what makes love work, and in the globally homphobic climate of 1983, there was no way that Jack could have said anything to Ennis to ignite the necessary and dynamic emtional changes that were needed to make Ennis a  whole human being...or at least well on his way.

Offline jessiwrite

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Scott, one thing I hope I didn't imply was that it would be easy or not dangerous, but many men did find each other and live together in a rural climate in the early 80s, I know some that are still together after 40 years, and still live in the mountains of North Carloina, always have and I knew them well in the 70s.  I'm well aware that love without committment and hard work doesn't conquer all, I'm not even very romantic, but love truths. Love can be very powerful, can overcome what seems impossible.  They weren't making it without each other, it would have gotten much worse, but no matter how bad it got with them as a pair, they still had that lhat love to fall back on.  It would have been much harder, to live without each other than with.  And, they were not kids, they knew what life was about, knew each other and what was important. I know someone said it was a moot point, but in that framework seems most of our discussions are.  They surely were not real, lol. If Annie P decided to bring him back from the dead someway, lol she could and would change it all. 

So one of those unnumbered post where we respectively agree to disagree. I've enjoyed the thread.
... not nobody when in somebody's arms,  ain’t nowhere if somewhere with him.
My man who nothin ever came t’is hand the way he wanted.
‘Cause all he ever wanted was me.