Minding the Cold

[Brown Eyes]

Recently I've been thinking a little bit about the whole issue of Jack being characterized as minding the cold so much.  He explicitly complains about the cold and is the one more often bundled up in big jackets... looking for his blue parka so that he won't freeze, etc.  BUT!  It's the moment when Ennis can't stand the cold up on Brokeback that in that one instance sleeping by the dying fire that leads to the first tent scene.  Usually we think of Ennis as being stoic about such things... but this little moment of physical discomfort (maybe even "vulnerability" is a good word here) leads to him running into Jack's tent to get warm and clearly sets the romance into high gear.

Interesting.

[nakymaton]

Minding the cold is like longing for intimacy, I think. Jack knows he wants it and bitch when he doesn't get it. And as hard as Ennis tries to pretend he doesn't need it, he does.

(Because having someone to spoon with makes the world a warmer place.)

[Brown Eyes]

Heya Mel,

That's a really nice way to think about it.  Yes, both men crave intimacy with each other and maybe the cold is two different manifestations of what happens to the each of them when their intimacy is kept in check or denied expression.  For Jack maybe cold is like pure frustration... and like you note, Jack is likely to speak up about something like frustration in the form of bitching or outward expressions of displeasure.  For Ennis maybe the cold is a manifestaion of repression.  He hates the cold too, but usually will "stand it" silently, except notably for the night of TS1. (I think I may just be restating in different terms what you said... it's a really great way to look at this).
 

[nakymaton]

For Ennis maybe the cold is a manifestaion of repression.  He hates the cold too, but usually will "stand it" silently, except notably for the night of TS1.

I would say that toughing out the cold is a manifestation of repression for Ennis. But at that one crucial moment, he just can't take it. He gives in to the very human need to be warm.

Cold as a metaphor also explains why Jack goes to Mexico for sex (rather than going to, say, some highway rest area). Jack's lonely... and looks for warmth.

[ednbarby]

How interesting, guys.  I never thought about this stuff before.  Is there no end to the symbolic delights this movie can give us?  (Answer:  Yes, there is no end.)

Also interesting - I've never minded the cold.  Love it, in fact.  But my husband always has.  Hates it.  I'll be walking around at night in a tank top and boxer shorts, and he'll have on jammie pants (he likes the hospital scrubs - orders 'em online), a T-shirt, sweatshirt on over that, and SOCKS.  We keep the house at 76 degrees, so it ain't exactly chilly in there.  Hmmmmm...

It's interesting how Lureen's amount of clothing in and of itself never changes.  But her hair does.  Maybe she's just right on her intimacy-cravings (but unfortunately for her picked the wrong guy to satisfy them) - she's neither hot nor cold, but her craving of Jack's attention manifests itself in her ever-lightening hair color and ever darkening lipstick and nail polish.

[belbbmfan]

this is an interesting discussion.

It was the cold which brought ennis and jack together, but it was also the cold (snow) that brought an early end to their idyllic life on the mountain. The early snow like an omen, announcing that their union was not to be, no matter what.

It was also very fitting that the reunion took place in the summer, they really found a piece of brokeback when they went fishing for a couple of days. (Hence the skinny dipping scene - no clothes, warm and sunny)
But during the final fishing trip the cold was there again, even though they tried to keep it at bay with their camp fire.
It was cold of course, but it really represents what a struggle it was to keep their relationship from turning cold too.

God, i'm feeling all sad again, writing this 
Their love really should have grown old

[Br. Patrick]

Annie Proulx writes how they would often start their love making around the fire where it would be warmer:

"Without getting up he (Jack) through deadwood on the fire, the sparks flying up with their truths and lies, a few hot points of fire landing on their hands and faces, not for the first time, and they rolled down into the dirt.  One thing never changed: the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings was darkened by the sense of time flying, never enough time, never enough."