Author Topic: Jack was maligned unfairly  (Read 14149 times)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #30 on: January 11, 2008, 05:16:22 pm »
Little by little Ennis let his guard down with Jack, and on the fateful nite of TS1, Jack opened the door and Ennis entered. The ensuing dead sheep of the movie was a foreboding sight for Ennis but didn't shake his resolve to go full throttle with Jack. In the story, there is no dead sheep. Let me repeat, there is no dead sheep the next morning. There are no bad consequences at all after TS1. Even when Aguirre came up on them being naughty, he waited patiently until they had buttoned up their jeans before he approached them. And another thing, he made a SECOND trip up the mountain to tell Jack that his Uncle hadn't died after all. And he still didn't say anything critical, about the switch in jobs, about the being naughty, or anything. He just gave Jack a "bold stare."

After TS1, Jack boldly went to Ennis on the mountain as his workday was ending. But it was Ennis who set forth the parameters of what they could and couldn't do, could and couldn't say. And Jack readily agreed (in the story Ennis said it during or right after sex, and it was almost a joke). The rest of the summer was Ennis's to own, as he came and went to and from the sheep and Jack, owning the mountain and all on it. Until the day of the hailstorm.
 
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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #31 on: January 11, 2008, 06:16:52 pm »
The story shows the "tent not looking right" starting with the hailstorm in August. Ennis spent the whole nite with Jack, and the sheep wandered and got tangled up with a foreign herd (what Chilean sheep were doing on Brokeback Mountain, I have no idea). This led to disorientation in Ennis's mind and no amount of work to untangle the sheep could put it right. Thus, Ennis was on pins and needles when he came down from the mountain in mid-August and found Jack packing up. There Jack was, cheerfully tearing down the tent which was all the home Ennis had at that point. He overreacted, as Ennis often did, and even more when Jack playfully lassoed him and knocked him off his feet. The last straw (after Ennis chewed on it) was when Jack accidently kneed him in the nose, causing a nosebleed!! The whole summer unraveled right there on the hill, and Ennis lashed out at Jack. Ennis's primitive need for survival, his fight-or-flight instinct, took over and required him to assert control, physically and emotionally, over Jack. Ennis's last words to Jack were "Well see you around, huh." Around the coffeepot, looking for the handle? Instead he had flown off the handle. Jack's instinct was flight, not fight, and he ended up driving grooves across Texas trying to forget what could not be forgotten.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #32 on: January 11, 2008, 06:41:20 pm »
If anyone has a different view on this, I would love to hear about it. In fact, I am somewhat distressed that I am seeing the story this way. What happened to Jack was not Ennis's fault, or anyone's for that matter. I guess it was just destiny. And I am not referring to Jack's death altho that certainly was a tragedy. What I am referring to is that both Jack and Ennis only had Brokeback Mountain in the end. That's all they had, and Jack never got to tell of his love for Ennis.

"chewing gum and duct tape"

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #33 on: January 11, 2008, 07:15:29 pm »
Jack drove away from Ennis looking regretfully at him in his rear-view mirror, just as he had when he first met him. And he stayed away four long years. So, when he finally showed the initiative to make contact with Ennis again, Ennis once again seized control, just like he had in TS1. With wonderment and joy Jack opened his heart to Ennis again. But after a short period of bliss, Ennis began to dictate the parameters of the communication again. He failed to respond to Jack, instead saying, "Me, I don't know..." and then he came right out and said "It ain't gonna be like that" when Jack proposed the little cow-and-calf operation. The rules were that they could get together, once in a while, way the back in the middle of nowhere. And Jack agreed to them. I think Ennis was pleased that Jack was married, had a kid, was 14 hours away. The relationship was fine with Ennis. Ennis was in the process of withdrawing from those he knew so that he could more easily hide his true nature from the world. Alma saw this very clearly. Ennis withdrew sex, socializing, singing. He withdrew by drinking, working weekends, spending more time with his horses. He was no longer a conscientious dad, but was fine with dumping the kids on his wife even while she was still at work!!

"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Artiste

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #34 on: January 11, 2008, 11:56:03 pm »
Thanks Front-Ranger!

Your lines are very interesting!

I am puzzled by this you are saying: I think Ennis was pleased that Jack was married, had a kid, was 14 hours away. The relationship was fine with Ennis. Ennis was in the process of withdrawing from those he knew so that he could more easily hide his true nature from the world. Alma saw this very clearly. Ennis withdrew sex, socializing, singing. He withdrew by drinking, working weekends, spending more time with his horses. He was no longer a conscientious dad, but was fine with dumping the kids on his wife even while she was still at work!!



....

Front-Ranger, in many ways, am puzzled by much said in different lines here.

Hugs!!

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #35 on: January 12, 2008, 02:15:32 am »
I am puzzled by it too, Artiste! But I am just telling you what I have experienced and seen, and lived!
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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #36 on: January 12, 2008, 05:55:26 pm »
What changes occur through the movie! Yet they happen so subtly, so gradually, that we are lulled into thinking nothing much is happening. In fact, we may even come away thinking, why couldn't Jack be satisfied over time with the status quo as Ennis laid it out??

But let's look at some of the details more closely. Jack started out being at large and in charge. He was the first to light up his cigarette after leaving Aguirre's trailer, using his lighter rather than a down-scale match. He smoked whole cigarettes, whereas Ennis had to put his cig out partway through and save it for later. Jack had two beer bottles in front of him at the bar, as opposed to Ennis's one. But as early as the bar scene, Ennis was already borrowing Jack's lighter. Later, Jack was out in the cold on the mountain, forbidden by Aguirre from having a fire, looking down on Ennis's "night fire." Jack was also sharing his whiskey with Ennis. In fact, Annie Proulx writes that they had some drinks that were "on shares." (My theory is that Jack brought the whiskey stash up there himself because the employer would be unlikely to provide it and he had learned the year before when surrounded by stinking electrocuted sheep's carcasses how important it was to have whiskey.)

Ennis got bolder and bolder. In fact, when Jack offered him a canteen, he said "Got whiskey or somethun?" Ennis was clearly upset about having to ask for whiskey, so Jack learned to provide it without having to be asked. In fact, Ennis didn't like touching, so instead of passing him the bottle, Jack poured the whiskey in Ennis's coffee cup. Later after the boys were both soused, Jack got bolder and passed the bottle, but he still grasped the neck, giving Ennis plenty of room to grab the bottle without touching his hand.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Artiste

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #37 on: January 12, 2008, 06:38:31 pm »
Thanks, Front-Ranger!

Wow, Front-Ranger, you sure detail greatly. I really like your details!! More please...

Jack was infatuated since he had immediately a crush on Ennis when he first say Ennis, in the BM movie... I figure. You think so too?

But the first year Jack worked there, do you think that Jack had booze then? Was he an alcoholic?


So Jack somehow trained Ennis, by being so very careful and training himself not to touch Ennis first few times, so that Ennis would touch him eventually??

Answer any if you like!!

Awaiting you news, and continuation of your story within a story like...

hugs!

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #38 on: January 12, 2008, 07:00:22 pm »
I really like your details!! More please...

Jack was infatuated since he had immediately a crush on Ennis when he first say Ennis, in the BM movie... I figure. You think so too?

Okay!! You bet!! Yup I agree a hunerd percent. How else would Jack put up with everything unless he was infatuated with Ennis? And, can you blame him? For all his weaknesses and control-freak behaviour, Ennis is eminently and enigmatically enchanting!!

But the first year Jack worked there, do you think that Jack had booze then? Was he an alcoholic?
He was a little young to be an alcoholic but he was certainly on his way to being one! Doesn't he answer the profile of the addictive personality though? Yes, he does.

So Jack somehow trained Ennis, by being so very careful and training himself not to touch Ennis first few times, so that Ennis would touch him eventually??
On the contrary, I think Ennis trained Jack. He told him what he could do and what he could not do. Thru his body language, he dictated even more. How he reacted to Jack's ideas trained Jack even more. You can just see it in Jack's eyes...what can I get away with without setting him off? The way he says, late in the movie, "Well, maybe you should get out of there...maybe go to Texas." And then, realizing that he had stepped into the shoot-em zone, was cutting fence..."I was just thinkin out loud. Go live your own miserable life." And Ennis seemed to be telling him, when he said "You're a real thinker there" not even to THINK about them being together, much less give voice to those thoughts.

hugs!
Thanks, I needed that!!

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Offline Artiste

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Re: Jack was maligned unfairly
« Reply #39 on: January 12, 2008, 07:59:24 pm »
Thanks again Front-Ranger!

So, it was Ennis who trained Jack? In many ways. Was that because, Ennis had right away realized that Jack had an immediate crush on him, at that trailer to get themselves a job from Aguirre??

But, where (from whom) does Ennis get this way to method how to control a man?

Hugs!! Always happy to hug you even when I am presently in dire pain since I moved furniture and am still with broken bones because 4 had beaten me as you know, and always it is great to read your comments, and awaiting your next ones!!