That zany Uncle Harold

[Lynne]

bump

[Shakesthecoffecan]

Okay I am watching the movie the other night and it got to where Aguirre rides up with the news that Uncle Harold has pneumonia. I dutifully note the block of wood on the chop block that will later disapear. Then the camera cuts to Jack twice, in frames 34:51 and 57, he is to the left of the scene in both and on the right hand side is very plainly a white cross. Next to it, a fainter crescent shaped object.

I had never seen these before. Has anyone else? In the cosmology that there are no coincidences, what would one make of it?

[Penthesilea]

Okay I am watching the movie the other night and it got to where Aguirre rides up with the news that Uncle Harold has pneumonia. I dutifully note the block of wood on the chop block that will later disapear. Then the camera cuts to Jack twice, in frames 34:51 and 57, he is to the left of the scene in both and on the right hand side is very plainly a white cross. Next to it, a fainter crescent shaped object.

I had never seen these before. Has anyone else? In the cosmology that there are no coincidences, what would one make of it?

You did just delete this post as its own topic and reposted it here while I was replying. Boy, I was confused for a moment 

Did you mean this?



It's almost better to be seen when the pic is only thumbnail sized:



I think the little white cross stands out better from the other colors in the thumb. It's directly right to Jack's left arm, half the way of his upper arm. And the crescent shaped object is right of the cross.

As we see in the larger version of the pic, the horizontal line of the cross is the log. But what is the vertical line? I have no idea and at first sight I'd say it is indeed coincidental.

It could be interpreted as Aguirre reminding Jack of the "real" world, the world outside their mountain Eden (which indeed he does with his presence and his story about Uncle Harold). Or it could be that the real world, the society with its hostile attitude towards homosexuality always lingers threatening behind Jack (and Ennis). The threat is always there, even in their garden Eden.

[Lynne]

You did just delete this post as its own topic and reposted it here while I was replying. Boy, I was confused for a moment 

Sorry, Chrissi...that was my fault.

Would someone please point out the crescent to me?

[Penthesilea]

Sorry, Chrissi...that was my fault.

Never mind. As you see, I found it again  .

Would someone please point out the crescent to me?

Do you see the cross? Look a little bit right from the cross, along the log. First comes a darker section, then the brighter crescent shaped object. It's also "on" or directly in front of the log. It almost looks like a fluff, a thread on the celluloid. Can you see it now?

[Shakesthecoffecan]

The crescent I was refering to is right next to the cross, on the right. It is fainter than the cross.

It almost looks like and Omega.

[Lynne]

Never mind. As you see, I found it again  .

Do you see the cross? Look a little bit right from the cross, along the log. First comes a darker section, then the brighter crescent shaped object. It's also "on" or directly in front of the log. It almost looks like a fluff, a thread on the celluloid. Can you see it now?

Got it!  Thank you, Chrissi.  I was looking for a crescent opening to the right, for some reason.

I love your interpretation of the cross - makes sense to me.

Now, the moon immediately springs to mind when I think of a crescent.  I went over to wikipedia and did some research.  A crescent opening to the left (in the northern hemisphere) is waxing, growing, new, wheras one opening to the right is waning, decreasing, old.

So I'm thinking the crescent is facing the wrong way for this interpretation to hold water.

Also from wiki:  "The crescent symbol is also used to represent the moon in astronomy and astrology, and to represent silver (the metal associated with the moon) in alchemy, where, by inference, it can also be used to represent qualities that silver possesses."

quicksilver Jack - I like this one.

[nakymaton]

quicksilver Jack - I like this one.

Annie Proulx described Jake's scenes as having a "quicksilver" quality to them.

[Lynne]

Annie Proulx described Jake's scenes as having a "quicksilver" quality to them.

Absolutely!  I know my scripture canon!

 

[serious crayons]

Well, if this is deliberate, it supports my feeling that there are some faintly religious undertones throughout the whole Uncle Harold episode. Uncle Harold -- or "herald," a harbinger or announcer -- may or may not die. Jack has no control over it, either from "up here," in their Brokeback Eden, or "down there" in worldly society. Not long after that, Uncle Harold is resurrected -- that is, he doesn't die, even though Jack didn't go see him. And that news is of such primary importance that Jack announces it to Ennis even before explaining that their mountain idyll is over.

What does it all mean? I'm not sure. I don't think it fits together into a neat package. But combined with the parallels in the post-divorce scene (an unexpected arrival announced with "here I am," someone peering off into the distance, Jack following the person's gaze and coming to a realization, a choice between between romantic love and family commitments -- Jack deciding one way and Ennis the other -- the prospect of being seen by the outside world, Uncle Harold's survival and Jack's figurative -- and eventually literal -- "death," both Uncle Harold's and Jack's involving fluid in the lungs), it seems to have something to do with being powerless to control fate through one's actions. Jack can't save Uncle Harold by "rejecting" Ennis, so he doesn't try, yet Uncle Harold survives anyway. Ennis thinks he can save them both by rejecting Jack, so he does, yet Jack does not survive anyway.

Does that make any sense?