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.