In the film, there is a scene where Ennis is asking Jack if Lureen suspects that Jack sleeps with men (to paraphrase it). Jack says no. But then Ennis asks Jack if he ever gets the feeling that people “know.” The reality is that Jack did experience that feeling … when he was trying to pick up Jimbo. This was a time where Ennis was being vulnerable and Jack could have answered honestly, but he chose not to. Instead, Jack suggested Ennis move to Texas. IMO, Jack is seeing his own actions as protecting Ennis from hurt and pain. He is not lying to save his own skin.
Oh, wow. I hadn't connected that scene in the movie with the discussion in the motel in the book, but you're right, some of the feeling of the conversation is moved there.
I see what you and Katherine mean about Jack's lies protecting Ennis. I mean... I can't imagine either the book or movie scenes going another way. And when the truth comes out, during the lake confrontation, it isn't very pleasant (and doesn't help things at all).
All the same, I think the way the motel scene is described in the story sets the readers up to be critical of Jack:
"...You do it with other guys? Jack?"
"Shit no," said Jack, who had been riding more than bulls, not rolling his own. "You know that. Old Brokeback got us good and it sure ain't over."The way the comment about Jack's other experiences is inserted there, in the middle of Jack's statement, really makes the lie stand out.
And the movie, on the other hand, sets the audience up to be sympathetic towards Jack, I think. I started thinking back to how the scenes with Ennis and Jack alternate around the times when Jack gets involved with other people:
- Before Jack tries to pick up Jimbo, we've seen 1) Ennis and Alma sledding; 2) Ennis and pregnant Alma at the drive-in; 3) Jack back in Signal looking for Ennis, but not finding him; 4) Ennis working on the highway crew; and 5) Ennis and Alma in bed. The first couple scenes are the happiest ones between Ennis and Alma, and for a few moments I could almost be convinced that somehow, Ennis would make himself fit back into that life he expected to live. (The scene with Ennis and Alma in bed, though, is the first obvious warning that Ennis and Alma's sex life, at least, isn't what either one particularly wants. Yeah, I know about the things people have found that suggest that Ennis is thinking about Jack in all the earlier scenes, too, but they are pretty subtle hints.)
So Ennis seems to be settled in with Alma, and Jack's got to already feel a bit rejected when Ennis didn't show up for a second summer together. I can't really blame him for trying to move on.
- Before Randall hits on Jack, the previous scene shows Cassie hitting on Ennis. So again, we see Ennis with another relationship before we see Jack with one. (And Jack doesn't make the first move -- in fact, Jack just looks so sad when Randall mentions fishing and whiskey.)
- And the trip to Mexico after the post-divorce scene... I don't think I even need to talk about that one.
I don't know about the Jack/Lureen scene, which comes right after the fireworks scene. That one doesn't fit the pattern quite so much -- it doesn't feel so much like we've been set up to feel sorry for Jack. Though Lureen comes on so strong and so fast that maybe it doesn't need to fit the pattern.[/list]