I still find none of this even semi-convincing.
Jeff, I'll have to say, I love seeing a post from you, even when it opens like that!
It's pretty clear from his demeanor that John Twist thinks he knows the exact nature of Jack and Ennis's connection--and we know that he's correct in surmising that Ennis was Jack's homosexual lover.
Agreed.
But it still seems to me that any impulse on his part to punish Ennis for supposedly failing Jack would have to grow out of real love for his son,
Yes, the way I've laid it out. It's not inconceivable that OMT could want to punish Ennis even if he
didn't love his son. Sometimes SOBs are like that. But yes, the theory I described calls for him loving his son and punishing Ennis for letting him down.
and this brings me back to the behavior, the comments about none of Jack's plans working out, the spitting, which still to me shows nothing but contempt for Jack--and implicitly for Ennis and for Ennis and Jack's relationship.
Well, none of Jack's plans DID work out. You don't have to feel contemptuous of him to think that. And the spitting could as easily be interpreted as contempt for Ennis. But I see nothing in his behavior that indicates disapproval of Ennis and Jack's relationship.
Sue me for once again allowing the story to color a movie discussion , but this is the man who urinated on his own child.
OK, but in the story Mrs. Twist is portrayed differently, too: "stout [!] and careful in her movements as though recovering from an operation ... He couldn't see much of Jack in either one of them." In the movie, Mrs. Twist's empathy is the driving force behind a heartbreakingly poignant scene. In the story, she barely passes as a sympathetic character.
And while we're on the subject of the story. What's the first thing OMT says when he starts complaining about Jack? Is it "Jack shamed the family by not being a proper sort of husband" or "Jack broke the laws of Nature"? No. It's
"I can't get no help out here." Selfish, yes. But OMT's need for help with licking the ranch into shape overshadows his disapproval of Jack's plans for providing that help, even though they include leaving his wife to live with another man.
Yes, but what we know about Ennis and Jack is irrelevant for understanding John Twist's motivations. What matters is what his character knows--or thinks he knows--about Ennis and Jack.
Absolutely!
Right! But in the end the plausibilty of the theory is affected by what I have to regard as a serious and overly romanticized misreading of John Twist's character.
Overly romanticized? Now you're going too far!
I'm not saying he's the Messiah. I simply don't think OMT is a figure of pure evil. And I don't think he openly displays homophobia. I
do think he's an SOB.
May I suggest, Jeff and Natali and anyone else interested, that we move this discussion over to the "Ennis and Old Man Twist" thread, which Amanda thoughtfully bumped for this very purpose? I could discuss OMT all night, but I'll admit he doesn't have much to do with mailboxes or the No. 17 ...