What if....

[mvansand76]

...Alma jr. had looked in her daddy's closet while she was in his trailer? I know she doesn't seem like the type to be nosy and look in her daddy's closet, but what if she did, how would Ennis explain what she found there? It's not a very well-hidden shrine is it?

[Momof2]

Maybe she would have grabbed him and gave him a great big hug.  Then she would have told him she had known all along.  Especially when she told Cassie, "Maybe he aint the marring kind."
She knew her father was going on fishing trips with Jack.  She proably sensed how happy he was each time he came back.  I think as his daughter thatshe  obviously loved him even though she did not live with him for a long time.  Maybe "coming" out to her would have taken a little of the burden off of him and then he would have someone to help him through his grief.  I think daughters are more accepting of there fathers and have a hard time seeing fault in them. 

[serious crayons]

I think she would have gently and knowingly pushed the closet door closed again without saying anything.

I believe she at least suspects the truth about her dad. Not only "maybe he's not the marrying kind," but also her expression when he says "This Kurt fella, he loves you?" and then he gazes out the window with that heartbreaking expression. She pauses, peers closely at him, then gives that slow, sympathetic smile -- in that moment, she understands they're not just talking about Kurt.

I don't know if she exactly concludes that her dad is gay. But she knows there's more to his life than meets the eye, that he has been through some kind of heartbreaking experience that didn't involve either her mother or Cassie. And if she put two and two together ...

[ednbarby]

Maybe she would have grabbed him and gave him a great big hug.  Then she would have told him she had known all along.  Especially when she told Cassie, "Maybe he aint the marring kind."  She knew her father was going on fishing trips with Jack.  She proably sensed how happy he was each time he came back.  I think as his daughter thatshe  obviously loved him even though she did not live with him for a long time.  Maybe "coming" out to her would have taken a little of the burden off of him and then he would have someone to help him through his grief.  I think daughters are more accepting of there fathers and have a hard time seeing fault in them.

I'm with you.  I think Jr. knew all along.  I think she definitely knew when Ennis introduced Jack to her and Jenny in the post-divorce scene.  I liked how they both looked at him curiously, but not judgmentally.  They both knew.  And they both accepted it, I think, because kids are just more accepting, and girls besides.  I do credit Alma in a way for not poisoning their minds against gays like she certainly could have out of spite.

And the way Alma, Jr. says to Cassie, "You're good enough."  That's a dead giveaway.  You're good enough = You're not Jack, but you'll do as well as any other woman (or person, for that matter) who isn't.

Yes, I think she would hug him, too, and maybe even whisper something like, "You know, it's OK, Daddy."  She wouldn't know Jack had died, so she might think it's something he's keeping as a memento like Jack really was all those years.

Poop.  I think I need to cry again.

[mvansand76]

Not only "maybe he's not the marrying kind," but also her expression when he says "This Kurt fella, he loves you?" and then he gazes out the window with that heartbreaking expression. She pauses, peers closely at him, then gives that slow, sympathetic smile -- in that moment, she understands they're not just talking about Kurt.

Oh yes, definitely!

[2robots4u]

These are all beautiful possibilities, and none to really diagree with.  But after thinking about it for a while, I wonder if Jr. would have had any clue as to what the shirts mean, other than just 2 shirts hanging on the door.  The post card?  I think she would see it simply as a memento of a place her dad liked.

In all the descriptions I've read of Jr.'s reaction to Ennis's question, latrjoreme's "slow, sympathetic smile" is perfect.  When the smile starts, I just want to reach out and hug the girl for all she's worth...it is the face of a Botticelli angel.  For those of you who may not know, Botticelli was a Renaissance painter (circa 1510), probably most famous for his painting "The Birth of Venus".

Thanks to all for such great insights. 

And in response to the gentleman from the UK, I will use my name from now own...Doug

[serious crayons]

In all the descriptions I've read of Jr.'s reaction to Ennis's question, latrjoreme's "slow, sympathetic smile" is perfect. 

Thanks, Doug!  (And BTW, Doug is a lot easier to type than 2robots4u.)

And you may be right, Alma Jr. might not recognize the significance of the shrine. I had this other vision of her opening the closet and thinking, "Uh-oh, these shirts need washing. Poor Daddy, stuck way out here with no washing machine and so far from the laundromat. Oh well, I'll just take them home and throw them in with my next load."

Yet another addition to the laundry symbolism in the movie!

Seriously, I think she might realize something was up. The rest of Ennis' trailer is so austere that, if nothing else, the post card would stand out. (And maybe the fact that the lightweight plaid shirt is on the outside of the heavier denim; the opposite of how most people would wear them.)

[jpwagoneer1964]

Thanks, Doug!  (And BTW, Doug is a lot easier to type than 2robots4u.)

And you may be right, Alma Jr. might not recognize the significance of the shrine. I had this other vision of her opening the closet and thinking, "Uh-oh, these shirts need washing. Poor Daddy, stuck way out here with no washing machine and so far from the laundromat. Oh well, I'll just take them home and throw them in with my next load."

 

I don't think she would thought anthing  other that shirts hanging on the door, but I think something would have kept her  from taking them and washing them.

[ednbarby]

Thanks, Doug!  (And BTW, Doug is a lot easier to type than 2robots4u.)

And you may be right, Alma Jr. might not recognize the significance of the shrine. I had this other vision of her opening the closet and thinking, "Uh-oh, these shirts need washing. Poor Daddy, stuck way out here with no washing machine and so far from the laundromat. Oh well, I'll just take them home and throw them in with my next load."

Yet another addition to the laundry symbolism in the movie!

Seriously, I think she might realize something was up. The rest of Ennis' trailer is so austere that, if nothing else, the post card would stand out. (And maybe the fact that the lightweight plaid shirt is on the outside of the heavier denim; the opposite of how most people would wear them.

Agreed.  And if we dig a little deeper, I've gotta believe that in the space between Jack's death and that visit to Ennis' trailer, she'd have had to notice a sadness having descended upon her Daddy that eclipsed his already stoic nature.  I fully believe she'd see the shirts hanging in that way - separate from the others in the closet and hanging enshrined on the door like that - and knowing that her Dad never wore solid color/dark shirts (mine never has, either, come to think of it - he'll wear a solid sweater over a plaid or patterned shirt, but he never wears solid color button-down shirts), she'd know.

I love that smile of hers when Ennis asks her if "this Kurt" loves her, too.  And the one when he agrees to come to her wedding - that one makes my heart sing even more loudly than the one before it.

[2robots4u]

ednbarby..I got confused.  It was the 2nd smile to which I should have been referring.  Thanks for the brain jolt...Doug