Here is a synopsis of the baked beans and soup thread from Remarkable Threads of IMDB Rewound, a child board here on the Open Forum, brought to us by TOop/Bruce:
by michaelback: Did anyone notice at the beginning of the film when Jack said he didn't want beans anymore? Ennis didn't say anything, but knew that the other alternative (soup) was hard to deliver. In any case he ordered the soup especially for Jack and in the end they both couldn't have the soup as the bear encounter destroyed everything but the beans - so they had to make do with what they had.
I think this shows a couple of things. It firstly signifies Ennis developing feelings for Jack in addition to accomodating his desires. I think this along with Ennis saying he hadn't had the opportunity to sin yet, shows he was trying to instigate some kind of deeper relationship subconsciously.
The other aspect is that the soup and beans are a metaphor for their relationship. They had to make do with beans even though they didn't really like them
(Their unfulfilled family life). Jack wanted the alternative (a life together), but Ennis couldn't provide it for him even though he really wanted to (soup destroyed).
In the end, they do kill a stag (I think that's what it was), but I think the baked beans and soup message is still the same.
Does anyone agree?
by lvwmprovost: Yet another layer is peeled away ...
Never thought of this metaphor, but yep, it's there. There is so much genius in this film that I am still in awe, two months after having first seen it!
by dietcokie: I really like your metaphorical discussion on the beans
and soup. I will say the most successful ideas are the
ones that are not directly planned but have been more
or less thought of continously throught out a film.
When you think a certain way it will show.
Deliberate is clever - unplanned is genius.
"If ya can't fix it Jack, ya gotta stand it" - Ennis Del Mar
by BannerHill: Very interesting line of thought.
Additionaly, when Ennis says "I'll stick with beans" and Jack says "Well I won't", a lot is being foreshadowed. Ennis is saying "I'll stick with my lot in life" and Jack is saying "Well not me. I am going to go on to bigger and better things. I am not going to live small"
See what I mean?
by filmlooks: I just wanted to point out that Ennis and Jack had not yet 'consumed' their relationship when Ennis gives in the grocery list asking for soup. Initially I thought the asking-for-soup-scene came about after they slept together, but I was wrong. I believe this demonstrates that Ennis is trying to befriend and accomodate his new friend Jack.
by RobertPlant:
They had to make do with beans even though they didn't really like them
(Their unfulfilled family life). Jack wanted the alternative (a life together), but .......
Yes...
Ennis: I'll stick with beans
Jack: I won't.
by kenpadgett26:
"I'll stick with beans."
"I won't."
This exchange sums up who these men are perfectly.
Let be. Let be.
by dietcokie:
re: "I'll stick with beans."
"I won't."
"This exchange sums up who these men are perfectly. "
I agree - wonderful forehsadowing - but it also set
the stage nicely for Jake's character. Plus when
they kill an elk (?) this is their sacrifice when
then were unable to get the "soup" because the bear
(which is implies deadly danger) takes that away.
Elk is their lives, their wives and children.
Emotional blood.
I love Ang and Annie - GENIUS!!
and
"There ain't no reins on this one"<-- That line gets me - its
so passionate sounding yet so matter of fact.
by Front-Ranger: The original story didn't talk about eating beans on Brokeback Mountain, but at the end when Ennis dreams about his friend, he also sees a luridly-colored can of beans with a spoon sticking out of it. Even in his dreams he can't come to terms with his freind's death by tire iron so he dreams about the spoon instead. I think the spoon, shepherd's crook, hanger, and tire iron are all related. Perhaps they signal to us that that which "hooks" us on life can also be the cause of our death. Also, that Brokeback Mountain and the experience Ennis had there, "hooked him in" for life. He couldn't get away from it ("There ain't no reins on this one").
lil_toons: I'm not sure if this is pertinent to the metaphor because I saw BBM once and the scene I'm about to describe may or may not also have some connection to the Beans and Soup Metaphor. But, one scene I remember, which Ennis drops off the children to Alma at the store with the explaination that he's needed immediately at work but really intends to go meet Jack. After he leaves store, a shelf full of cans collapses onto the floor, when either Alma leans against it or the kid knocks it over. Not sure what kinds of cans they were.
BannerHill: big jars of peanuts
northernlad: This is the type of stuff that makes me love coming here. I hadn't really considered the beans and the soup. I also like what is said here about Ennis saying he'll stick with the beans, but Jack says that he won't. It's so true about their characters.
pipedream: Sticking with the beans, yeah that's Ennis ("If ya can't fix it Jack, ya gotta stand it"); Funnily he seemed very keen to fix the things he thought could actually be fixed, like the tent that Jack hadn't properly set up. Jack didn't care about it, yet Ennis had to fix it.
That's sort of revealing, too, isn't it? I think Jack had a better feeling for what was really important to him and set different priorities. He wanted Ennis and tried to persuade him again and again to establish a life togehter. Yet this was so out of the question for Ennis, he just couldn't.
Only in the end when he discovered the shirts in Jack's room he realized what a fundamental mistake he had made. Too sad.
taj_e: They settled with an elk (wild game) at the end
The fact that Ennis was willing to go for soup was one of the indication of Ennis nurturing instinct. I've initially thought that Ennis might have develop strong feeling (love) a day before he set up the tent (in excitement). However Ennis was seen and heard humming away prior to the bear incident. He might have the 'wild idea' of the possibility of having a 'relationship' with Jack
Front-Ranger:
The story does refer to beans later when Ennis says to Alma that Jack is not the restaurant type. And at the very end Ennis has a dream about Jack in which beans appear (I talk about that earlier in this thread). So, the question inevitably becomes Why did McMurtry/Ossana expand the role of beans in the story? I don't know the answer but I'll hazard a guess. I think it was actually Ang Lee who added the beans reference, and it was because beans are an Oriental symbol of male fertility. Other thoughts?
Here is the first reference to "beans" in the short story:
"Well, I'm goin a warsh everthing I can reach," he said, pulling off his boots and jeans (no drawers, no socks, Jack noticed), slopping the green washcloth around until the fire spat.
They had a high-time supper by the fire, a can of ****beans**** each, fried potatoes and a quart of whiskey on shares, sat with their backs against a log, boot soles and copper jeans rivets hot, swapping the bottle while the lavender sky emptied of color and the chill air drained down, drinking, smoking cigarettes, getting up every now and then to piss, firelight throwing a sparkle in the arched stream, tossing sticks on the fire to keep the talk going, talking horses and rodeo, roughstock events, wrecks and injuries sustained, the submarine Thresher lost two months earlier with all hands and how it must have been in the last doomed minutes, dogs each had owned and known, the draft, Jack's home ranch where his father and mother held on, Ennis's family place folded years ago after his folks died, the older brother in Signal and a married sister in Casper. "
by riverviewantique: When the dvd came out they had an interview with Dianna and larry. they said they had to create a lot of things as Annie's story was a short one. Also when Ennis says he will switch with Jack, he is also showing how he is glad to help jack as he now cares for him. But he can never move in with Jack as a result of his childhood vision of the Rich guy getting murdered. He was always scared something would happen to Jack of himself.
