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Op/Ed: The Good Shepherd of Brokeback Mountain

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Lynne:
This piece has a terrific analysis of Jack/Lover/Shepherd symbolism in Brokeback Mountain:

http://www.gayalliance.org/content/view/360/88/
http://www.gayalliance.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=360&Itemid=46

Here's an excerpt:

"To present afresh the 2000-year-old image of the Good Shepherd, there could be no better convention than to hide him as a 1960s ranch hand who falls in love with another man. Hidden in the character of Jack Twist is the ancient image of the Good Shepherd.

And like the Good Shepherd, Jack Twist’s violent death becomes the main catalyst for conversion. In the aftermath of Jack’s death, his lover Ennis experiences a profound conversion experience which plays itself out in a shift in his relationship with his daughter. Like the Good Shepherd of our Easter celebration, it is Jack’s blood-stained garments which, as relics, come to embody and memorialize the love of these shepherds."

The author goes on to discuss the Lover aspects of Jack, parallelling the Bible's Old Testament figures of King David and Solomon.

-Lynne


--Modified to update link to the article. --Lynne

Aussie Chris:
Hi Lynne, I'm actually a little surprised by this article.  The author going into somewhat romantic parallels and a desire to see Brokeback analogies presented in sermons.  Am I being a little too cynical when I say I seriously doubt they we will ever see a Brokeback reference in a Christian (or otherwise) church?

Lovely sentiments from the author though - and I love the poem.

TJ:
Speaking (or more literally, typing) here as a formally educated thelogian who was a graduate theology student for 5 semesters at Oral Roberts University as well as the son of an Assemblies of God (AG - Trinitarian Pentecostal) evangelist/pastor and a person who has been Sunday School teacher and even preached, too, the "Good Shepherd" images in the text of the Bible itself are not the same as in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain.

Real shepherds, not just those in the Bible, lead their sheep, not drive them as in the movie. We never see Jack and Ennis in front of the sheep.

If one attempts to drive sheep, they scatter. While sheep might follow an individual lead sheep, when they are left by themselves, they wander off in all different directions.

All those guys had to do to get the sheep to follow them up the mountain is to take one of the spring-born lambs and carry it on his horse and ride in front of all the sheep. When the mother of the lamb walked to keep up with her off-spring, the other sheep would follow.

Also, a lot of the "shepherd" imagery in the movie is not even in the book. There's not that much emphasis on religion nor spirituality in the book. The total sum of any reference to religion in Annie Proulx's short story is when Jack favors the sad hymn, "Water-Walking Jesus," which his mother who believed in the Pentecost taught him. And, Jack sings it like one sings a dirge at a funeral or at a "Good Friday" church service.

Every person claiming to be a Christian and has attended church regularly literally believes in the Pentecost, even if the church which they attend is not Pentecostal or a Charismatic one. The Methodist Church like all Protestant chuches (the non-Baptists and non-Pentecostals) has the observance of Pentecost Sunday 7 weeks after Easter Sunday. In Pentcostal churches, denominational or independent, Pentecost is celebrated at every church service, not once a year as in Mainline (i.e. Protestant) denominations.

TJ:

--- Quote ---One has only to think of the Shepherd King David and his beloved, Jonathan.
--- End quote ---

I find the translation/interpretation of the names of David and Jonathan interesting.

Tradtional Christian Orthodoxy theologians and their lexicons say that "David" means "beloved." But, one of the Hebrew pronunciatons of David, which is spelled only with transliterated consonants in the Hebrew "DVD," is "dood" (sounds like "dude"). "DVD" also means "uncle."

Jonathan is the combination of "YH" and "NThN." "YH" (yah, Yeh, Yoh) is the short form of the name of the Divine, YHWH, which was pronounced by Jews, even orthodox ones, until after 70 AD. "NThN," (the "Th" is a different consonant that the letter "T" by itself but Th may be pronounced as "T" also) means "gift."

So, "Jonathan" can mean "God's Gift" in translation.

Both, David and Jonathan had wives and for a period of time Jonathan was David's brother-in-law. Jonathan was ten or more years older than David.

David had been anointed to be the king to replace Jonathan's father, King Saul; but, David was not a king when Saul and Jonathan were living.

Lynne:

--- Quote from: Aussie Chris on May 03, 2006, 02:41:49 am ---Hi Lynne, I'm actually a little surprised by this article.  The author going into somewhat romantic parallels and a desire to see Brokeback analogies presented in sermons.  Am I being a little too cynical when I say I seriously doubt they we will ever see a Brokeback reference in a Christian (or otherwise) church?

Lovely sentiments from the author though - and I love the poem.

--- End quote ---

Chris - First, you know I love you, so you know I mean no disrespect.   :-*  But... I *do* think you are being just a bit too cynical in this one, tiny, narrow instance.  I was all set to point you to a sermon I thought I'd posted here before...I've tried to find it with no luck.  So I will repost & hope I'm not being redundant.

Here is an article printed in a Presbyterian publication by Dr. David Jenkins, School of Theology, Emory University in Atlanta.  The text alludes to it being delivered as a sermon during Epiphany, but I have not been able to substantiate the where and when of the sermon.  There are too many good parts to excerpt - IMO, it needs to be read in its entirety.

http://www.covenantnetwork.org/sermon&papers/jenkins.htm

"I believe that the official rulings and language of our churches about something  we call “homosexuality” only serves to strengthen homophobia’s hateful grip on our world. The recent United Methodist and Vatican rulings do not simply function as ecclesial decisions guarding ordination and church membership.  Like judgments from the Inquisition, they are as lethal as a tire iron in the hands of violent men, for these rulings continue to isolate human beings from communities which are called upon to be life-giving. Couple this isolation with language that dehumanizes men and women as “innately disordered” or worse, and the self-hate and desperation often lead to death. Gay and lesbian teenagers in the U.S. attempt suicide at more than five times the national average.  Annie Proulx noted the “fact that Wyoming has the highest suicide rate in the [U.S.], and that the preponderance of those people who kill themselves are elderly single men.”  Ennis and Jack managed to stay alive for each other as long as they could, the way soldiers do in war, not fighting for great causes or honor, but for those particular soldiers with whom they had become inextricably bound."

The note about the high rate of suicide among gay and lesbian youths is a point that speaks directly to me b/c of my previous experience working in that area.  It's pot & kettle for me to talk about you being cynical, because I frequently feel hopeless and discouraged in my quest to communicate why this movie has made such a big impact on me with the 'non-believers'.  I'm still pondering Jack as Old Testament/Biblical lover...that romanticized idea may be stretching the point.  However, the mere existence of this sermon gives me some hope that with open hearts we can eventually get to a place where homosexuality is accepted without footnotes.  I hope you feel similarly encouraged.

((Hugs))
-Lynne

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