Hey there!
I agree, this is something i was wondering about, too. If they had their "sweet life" - would it work?
I think that E and J were deeply in love with each other. And since they held on all the time I think their love changed somehow from love and sexual desire to more love and friendship - and less desire (if Ennis ever had much sexual desire).
In the movie you see them talk and ride horses and behave like an old married couple. IMO that's deep love, understanding and friendship.
Regarding the first sentence - i really hope so, too. If not, then this would be not a story i like. So, let's say this is the basic foundation for further discussion.
Regarding the rest - i like what you say here, Corax. And i want to believe this, too.
But there are some things that make me wonder...
You have to consider their character traits. They are both deeply flawed and they "produce" unhealthy dynamics which make that tragic outcome inevitable.
Ennis is not only homophobic. Actually, i think homophobia is something that he *could* overcome with time and with right people around. His homophobia is just *one* of his fears. A much bigger problem in my eyes is that Ennis does not think he deserves it to be happy in general. This is something that is caused by his upbringing and the fact that his parents died so early. He has problems with basic trust. Which does not mean that he does not trust what the people say or do, but he does not trust life in general. He cannot feel safe, cannot let himself "fall" because he learnt that there will be nobody and nothing to "catch" him. The only exception when he lets himself "fall" is on Brokeback - and that's exactly the reason (or one of the reasons) why he loves Jack. Because Jack is able to give him that safe place, something he cannot find anywhere else. But the catch is - Ennis must let Jack, and, it must be "in the middle of nowhere". So, basically, the conditions for Ennis' safe place are pretty narrow and partly he limits it himself.
Lets say Ennis somehow manages to put himself together, or Jack somehow manages to pressure/convince Ennis and they live together. The problem with Ennis' basic trust will cause him to look for any tiny possible hint of failure. Yeah, one could also call it "paranoia". And i think you don't have to be homophobic to think that the world will never accept you and your partner. Because you're just different. So, you start to look for those "strange" looks or "suspicious" signs of rejection. And then every little time you find out that you were right you say "told you so! this is bound to go wrong" and every time you almost run away unless your partner "catches" you there. I know this pattern very well, except i'm on the "catching" side. Believe me, it drives you crazy.. Especially because it never goes away. You might think your (paranoid) partner and you mastered a difficult situation, some lesson was learnt and you think same kind of problem will not come up again - well, think again...
Because this kind of pattern goes so deep into a person's psyche, it's almost a part of the person. It's very difficult to get rid of this... Ennis is someone who is used to be lonely, used to be rejected. Anything outside of this state of loneliness and rejection is foreign to him, and foreign means scary. His tragedy is that he knows that it destroys him (and even more painful is to see that it also destroys the person he loves the most), but he just cannot see any way out.
As for Jack, i consider him as a dreamer who loves the challenge. Which will be my eventual point. It seems that he spent his whole life in pursue of his daddy's love and acknowledgement. He is also in an contradictory state - on the one hand he is hurting when being close to his daddy, but on the other hand he cannot go away for good because that would mean that he "lost" the "battle" and that hope (dreamer!) for maybe someday being able to receive that love and acknowledgement will be forever lost. If you think about it - *all* of his other "affections" run along the same lines. Bull-riding, L.D. and - Ennis. He says "Nothin never come to my hand the right way". Well, was it all just some kind of higher destiny or was it partly also from his own doing? Because (same as Ennis) this is who he is - someone who cannot go away from a challenge, no matter how hurt he gets in the process.
Now consider Jack having his dream fulfilled, having that sweet life with Ennis - will he be happy? I don't know... Maybe for a short while? Before he gets itching again and finds himself a different challenge? Or before he does something that will cause Ennis to reject him in some way so that that challenge to "get" Ennis will be regained?
Another possible problem could be that Ennis is someone who is happy with what he has, but Jack always goes for more. It *could* work out - with a lot of talking, reciprocal consideration and understanding, but the actual odds are high that this will cause [a lot of] friction. Sure, one could view this as a challenge again, which would tie Jack back to Ennis, but does it mean happiness? It would fulfill Jack's unhealthy need to "stay on the bull", but it will not make his life easier. His statement i quoted above, in a way he wishes he could reach his dreams easier (who doesn't?), but i don't think that would be something that would give him real and long-standing satisfaction.
I know, all of this is sick. Unhealthy. But this is who they both are - deeply broken human beings, extremely difficult to fix... The love that they had was true and strong, but i have my doubts they could actually
live it out in the way Jack imagined it. IF they somehow managed it, it would be a long long long and hard hard hard road to go.
Now - your turn.
