TOTW 16/07: Did Alma Jr. know Ennis was gay?

[Katie77]

Completely hyperthetical Artiste.......

And NO I dont think so.........

[Artiste]

Alma Jr. in the movie saw her father being hugged by Jack! Intensely!

So, she knew that her father is an bi or gay man!

What do you think?

Hugs!

[Aussie Chris]

Alma Jr. in the movie saw her father being hugged by Jack! Intensely!

So, she knew that her father is an bi or gay man!

What do you think?

Hugs!

We have one "intense hug" in the film for which Alma Jr. witnesses to base this on.  Was there any others?  We don't know.  But I seriously doubt that one hug would have her thinking "OMG my daddy's queer"!  So no, I don't think so.  Not because of the hug anyway.

[Katie77]

Alma Jr. in the movie saw her father being hugged by Jack! Intensely!

So, she knew that her father is an bi or gay man!

What do you think?

Hugs!

Alma Jnr was NOT just sitting around looking for signs that her father was gay, it probably never entered her young innocent mind....Children dont think about their parents sex life....they just dont....

So I dont think a hug would have even been noticed by a young child, let alone conjured up any other thoughts by her.

[brokeplex]

Perhaps if Alma had dropped a hint to Jr., she might have suspected. Had Ennis ever been able to speak with Jr about his feelings for Jack and his loss after his death, it could have led to a healing for Ennis. But, that is all hypothetical, all we know is that Alma loved her Daddy very much and wanted him in her life. Ennis wanted to be included in his daughter's lives, and we know in the short story in the preamble, Ennis as a much older man speculated after yet one more job had fizzled on him, that he might have to move in with his married daughter (note: married daughter singular not plural, which implies that Jenny had not yet married by the start of the short story). The fact that he would consider moving in with Alma, gives me hope that Ennis had a great relationship with his daughter and his son-in-law, the oil field worker.

[Marge_Innavera]

I wouldn,t say that Alma senior was vicious. You have to remember that she loved Ennis, and as if that wasn,t bad enough that he loved someone else and not her, what made it doubly worse for her, was that it was a man. That had to hurt.

IMO she was not the most attractive character in the Thanksgiving scene -- she seemed to deliberately goad her ex-husband into a confrontation on a family holiday with her daughters in the next room.

But oddly enough, this made her a more likable character overall. It kept her from becoming the proverbial Suffering Victim.

[Jeff Wrangler]

IMO she was not the most attractive character in the Thanksgiving scene -- she seemed to deliberately goad her ex-husband into a confrontation on a family holiday with her daughters in the next room.

But oddly enough, this made her a more likable character overall. It kept her from becoming the proverbial Suffering Victim.

She sort of grimaces at the dinner table when Junior asks Ennis to tell his saddle bronc story.

And I think she did deliberately goad Ennis in the kitchen--though that must have been building up for years.

[LauraGigs]

she seemed to deliberately goad her ex-husband into a confrontation on a family holiday with her daughters in the next room.

I have to disagree.  Do you remember at the final lake scene when Jack asks, "All this time, you ain't found no one else to marry?"  He's basically doing the same thing Alma is: checking out where Ennis' heart is at . . .  how he's doing.

Around when my father died & we were all dealing with it, my brother-in-law would ask, "how's your head and your heart?" Basically the same question. Very direct, and also too touchy-feely for the period (and especially to someone like Ennis). Jack and Alma's question to Ennis is basically another way of asking that. (It's obviously not literal; they of all people would be the most shocked if Ennis were to remarry.)

It's when Ennis says "once burned". The flow of Alma's activities in the kitchen stops, her face freezes, and her demeanor changes. That was the final straw.

[Jeff Wrangler]

It's when Ennis says "once burned". The flow of Alma's activities in the kitchen stops, her face freezes, and her demeanor changes. That was the final straw.

While I don't agree with you that the "once burned" comment from Ennis was the last straw for Alma, it sure wasn't something very nice to say to your hostess. 

[LauraGigs]

I don't know. Alma makes the 'married again' comment in a relaxed and offhand way, in a languid, almost sleepy voice (full of milk and turkey). It's after his "once burned" reply that she visibly bristles.

He'd cheated on her for years with someone he's met before they were even married (making his marriage to her a sham), sodomized her when she didn't want it, yelled at her out on the street, and indicated ("I'll be happy to leave you alone") complete lack of interest in her sexual and emotional satisfaction. And after all that, he's blaming her for the failure of the marriage? 

I think anybody would let him have it after that, and be justified in doing so.