TOTW 18/08: The lines from the trailer

[southendmd]

This what I just love about here, no matter how cr- p my day may have been,someone here invariably causes me to raise a smile. I am going to adopt dudette officially now.I hear my kids saying dude all the time,so I'm going to get with the programme.Does this mean I am now officially cool?

A dudette by any other name is just as cool.

[optom3]

A dudette by any other name is just as cool.

Thankyou very muchly !!!  Is that the same as, "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" ?? by good old Billy wobble dagger,as he was affectionately known to his friends.

[BlissC]

What if, must be two of the worst words to ever have to live with.There simply is no answer, only endless permutations reviewed on a daily basis. I am not quite at the carpe diem stage yet.It's all a bit too close still.I have nearly 15 years of mess ,and only 2 years distance.I am however trying on a daily basis.This place helps considerably.There really is some comfort in numbers.

Time does help in some ways. When it's less immediate it's not quite so raw, but then on the other hand with time there's the danger of the "rose tinted spectacles" effect where that time seemed so perfect when if you could actually go back there you'd realise that it was far from perfect, but maybe it was still a damned sight better than now.

You're right though, this place does help a lot. Sometimes I can't believe how much Brokeback has changed my life, and here's the only place you can say something sometimes, and only fellow Brokies recognise what you're saying.

Not at all, darlin'.  "Seize the day" is the ultimate Brokeback lesson.  Something we all must strive for.  It's why we're here.

So true. And in line with my new "seize the day" philosophy, tomorrow I'm going to do something I've been meaning to do for a very long time. You'll have to wait to see what it is though. I'm saying nothing until the deed is done. 

Back on "what ifs" and "what might have beens" though, I'll leave you for now with one of my poems. It's one of my early ones from the time when things were very raw and I hadn't got much distance - probably one of my most prolific times for poetry - I've got pages and pages of my ramblings, all saying pretty much the same thing in different ways - in hindsight, "there are places we can't return to"... 

For Posterity

In the light
of the twinkle
of an eye,
And in the movement
of an arm,
In the frame
of my mind
You are perfect.

The instructions
Were so simple,
Just press,
Rewind,
Review.
But the makers
never told us,
there are things
it just can't do.

So we're left
with old technology
And a frame
that won't rewind,
And the
twinkle of an eye
and the pose
of an arm are held
forever in time.

(c) Bliss Carrington, 19.3.91

[optom3]

Time does help in some ways. When it's less immediate it's not quite so raw, but then on the other hand with time there's the danger of the "rose tinted spectacles" effect where that time seemed so perfect when if you could actually go back there you'd realise that it was far from perfect, but maybe it was still a damned sight better than now.

You're right though, this place does help a lot. Sometimes I can't believe how much Brokeback has changed my life, and here's the only place you can say something sometimes, and only fellow Brokies recognise what you're saying.

So true. And in line with my new "seize the day" philosophy, tomorrow I'm going to do something I've been meaning to do for a very long time. You'll have to wait to see what it is though. I'm saying nothing until the deed is done. 

Back on "what ifs" and "what might have beens" though, I'll leave you for now with one of my poems. It's one of my early ones from the time when things were very raw and I hadn't got much distance - probably one of my most prolific times for poetry - I've got pages and pages of my ramblings, all saying pretty much the same thing in different ways - in hindsight, "there are places we can't return to"... 

For Posterity

In the light
of the twinkle
of an eye,
And in the movement
of an arm,
In the frame
of my mind
You are perfect.

The instructions
Were so simple,
Just press,
Rewind,
Review.
But the makers
never told us,
there are things
it just can't do.

So we're left
with old technology
And a frame
that won't rewind,
And the
twinkle of an eye
and the pose
of an arm are held
forever in time.

(c) Bliss Carrington, 19.3.91

I love your poem. Why is it we can only write poetry when depressed,or at least that is the way it is for me.
I am also bursting with curiosity,to see what the "deed" is. I will just have to be patient I guess,not a virtued I am overly known for.

[Mandy21]

As English isn't my first language and I am not good with words even in my own language  I hope I'll be able to express what I feel.
The There are places we can't return to me it means the time up on Brockback was a time when they still had a future ahead of them, and above all they had the freedom to choose what to do with their own lives. Yes, the world was hostile towards their love (even if Ennis at the time didn't acknowledge it as such) but they had the freedom to make decisions, to take a different path if they wanted to. They were no wives (Alma was only a girlfriend, she and Ennis hadn't even slept together yet), no children, Ennis in particular didn't  have a family to report /to justify to, his father wasn't there  to frighten/threaten him any longer,  They had a chance, in my opinion a very big one too, and they missed it.
Brokeback wasn't just a place when they owned the world and nothing seemed wrong and of imagined power, the power was actually there, had they been able to see it and grasp it.  Of course they did they best they could given the circumstances and with the knowledge they had at the time.   Later came the commitments, wives, children, and they could no longer return to that place of power. 
IMHO that's why Brokeback  is a place they can't return to.

This is a wonderful thread.  Thank you, Chrissie, for starting it.  I also want to say thank you to our new friend Sel who had such great insights, and if English isn't your first language, then perhaps it should be, because you did a damned fine job of expressing yourself with wisdom and clarity.  Good for you.

I was so touched by seeing that trailer again, it was priceless.  And tearjerking, of course.  Which one of us could possibly watch this film without crying?  Duh....  Count to zero much?

I also really love what Fiona had to say.  Your words were magical on this thread.  I know that you meant every one of them.  Thank you for sharing your heart with us.

I leave this with good, positive wishes for BlissC's experiment (whatever it may entail -- good luck, girl), and with the everlasting hope that Rich will one day break down (in a good way) and finally let himself enjoy/grieve over/get over/embrace again this beautiful film.  Cheers to all!  Great thread.

[Artiste]

Sel. Ennis and Jack had NO freedom to make such decision to stay together as lovers !!

[sel]

I haven't been  to this thread for a few days. WOW! It is so full of insight, every single post. BlissC I like your poem very much. I am very happy to have found BetterMost.

I also want to say thank you to our new friend Sel who had such great insights, and if English isn't your first language, then perhaps it should be, because you did a damned fine job of expressing yourself with wisdom and clarity.  Good for you.

Thank you Mandy for your encouragement. Both my written and spoken English used to be much better, but nowadays I hardly ever get the chance to speak it.

Sel. Ennis and Jack had NO freedom to make such decision to stay together as lovers !!

When I say that  J and E had the freedom to choose I didn't think that the road ahead would have been dead simple, not at all. I am sure a lot of difficulties, hard times, risks taking would have expected them.
I know, I belong to a different generation, I was born and live on a different continent, I am not gay. However I feel they had a better chance of living their love had they not married, had they moved out of Wyoming, and so on. I am not accusing them for not making those choices, they did the best the could considering the time and the place they were living in, and their experiences up to then. Jack was more adventurous and optimistic which helped, or may be not, as we are left to wonder how he died. IMHO.
Although in different circumstances I can remember all too well a time in my life around J and E's age when I had that power and couldn't use it , as if I didn't have the tools, or may be the tools were there  but I didn't know how to use them.

[BlissC]

Sel. Ennis and Jack had NO freedom to make such decision to stay together as lovers !!

When I say that  J and E had the freedom to choose I didn't think that the road ahead would have been dead simple, not at all. I am sure a lot of difficulties, hard times, risks taking would have expected them.
I know, I belong to a different generation, I was born and live on a different continent, I am not gay. However I feel they had a better chance of living their love had they not married, had they moved out of Wyoming, and so on. I am not accusing them for not making those choices, they did the best the could considering the time and the place they were living in, and their experiences up to then. Jack was more adventurous and optimistic which helped, or may be not, as we are left to wonder how he died. IMHO.
Although in different circumstances I can remember all too well a time in my life around J and E's age when I had that power and couldn't use it , as if I didn't have the tools, or may be the tools were there  but I didn't know how to use them.

I agree with Sel. They did have the freedom to make a choice, just as we all do in various aspects of our lives, at least for a time they did, but given circumstances and their experiences they didn't feel that they had that choice. As Sel said, it wouldn't have been easy, but there are times in the story when maybe they might have had the opportunity to change their lives.

Maybe after they came down from the mountain neither was ready or in a situation to be able to make that kind of life changing decision (though Ennis does say that a year later he realised he shouldn't have let Jack go), but later, Jack had a plan, which given the situation with LD wanting him out of his daughter's life, may just have been a workable plan. Later still, after Ennis's divorce was another potential opportunity, but again Ennis didn't feel that his circumstances allowed him to make that decision.

I think few people blame them for the decisions they took - they were the product of their upbringing, experiences, situation and time - but given the will and the courage just maybe things might have turned out differently. The only things in life we have no freedom over are death and taxes, but given human consciousness and self awareness, everything else can be influenced by choices (okay, a bit of an over-simplification, but I hope you get what I mean).

[BlissC]

I love your poem. Why is it we can only write poetry when depressed,or at least that is the way it is for me.

Thanks. Same for me, mostly, though I do have a few inspired by more cheerful things. I guess it's partly because we tend to be most affected by things we feel strongly, and on the whole creativity's a "from the heart" thing. I guess part of it too's trying to make sense of it all - looking back, I have tons of poems all with a similar feel and about the same thing. How much they helped me make sense of it all's debatable, but just getting something down on paper I often find helps.

[Artiste]

Merci Bliss !

It is hard to understand you, as it is so with Ennis and Jack to be understood ??

Likely or maybe so, may I say !

You want some details ? Warning: you might not like what I will say in parts or in totally !!

Au revoir,
hugs !