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eye contact

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serious crayons:
Interesting theory, meryl!

I just watched that "quit you" scene today and was scrutinizing Ennis' behavior for clues as to whether his distress in this scene is because a) Jack's Mexico revelation forces him to confront his and Jack's sexuality, OR b) he fears he's losing Jack (or c) some combination of the two).

When pleading with Jack to lighten up, Ennis is looking at Jack, still pretty upbeat. Then Jack says "I did, once," (that ominous past tense) and Ennis storms up to him -- fierce eye contact -- and issues the threat about Mexico. Jack, glaring right back at him, launches into his angry monologue. As soon as Jack starts talking, we see Ennis frown, as if he's starting to cry already, then turn his back, bowing his head very low. He remains turned away like that, then disappears from the frame until Jack's done talking. Then the camera swings around and he looks up,  crying and (music starts up) says "why don't you, then?"

I'm not sure why I'm going into all this detail here, except to say that I don't see this as the behavior of a man upset at confronting his sexuality. Aside from the possibly homophobic Mexico threat, Ennis seems distraught at what is happening in their relationship and the emotional toll it is taking and his frustration over feeling he can neither fix it nor stand it. And I think his eye contact -- especially his avoidance of it while Jack is talking -- gives an important clue as to how to read the scene. (Though admittedly, this was also my opinon BEFORE I did the research, and I suppose people with the opposite opinion might read the same clues differently.)

nakymaton:

--- Quote from: meryl on May 05, 2006, 12:09:51 am ---One thing that strikes me is that in the scenes where Ennis and Jack are actually discussing their relationship rather than just acting on their affection for one another, there is always an eye contact issue.
--- End quote ---

Maybe that's what I was trying to figure out? Yes, you're right.


--- Quote from: meryl on May 05, 2006, 12:09:51 am ---This may be a topic for another thread, but for the most part Ennis owns screen left and Jack owns screen right when they are shot together.  Exceptions are the handshake outside the trailer, the campfire scenes before Ennis switches jobs with Jack, the second tent scene, the introduction of Jack to Alma, and the beginning of the lake scene.  Even in their individual scenes with other characters, Ennis is often on the left and Jack on the right.  Could Ang have had a reason for this?  Left and right can symbolize passive/active, malign/benign, emotional/practical, hidden/open.   Perhaps something like that was at work here.

--- End quote ---

Oh, wow. Damn. I have to watch the movie again now.

And to Amanda, about whether Ennis knows that Jack loves him... I agree, Ennis should have known. All the evidence is there. But... I don't know. I mean, it seems like love is one thing that most people tend to be really irrational about, even if they're rational about everything else. So Ennis might have known at some level, but not really believed it. Maybe? I don't know. I go back and forth about whether Ennis consciously knew he was in love with Jack, too.

I need to watch the movie again, not just to look for Meryl's left vs right observations. I was thinking more about eye contact, and started thinking about how eye contact can mean so many different things. I've been looking at it as a sort of emotional openness, a kind of willingness to let the other person see what he is feeling. But eye contact can also be sort of aggressive, and avoiding eye contact can be a way of avoiding conflict. (I think I read one review, at least, that saw the opening scene as a couple of men sizing one another up, not as potential friends or lovers, but as competition (for what, I don't know).) Anyway, now I want to watch the movie can try to figure out what all the various eye contact (and lack of eye contact) means. (I want to look at the first tent scene, especially, because there's vulnerability there, but it's also filmed like a fight scene, so the eye contact might be saying a bunch of conflicting things.)

Brown Eyes:

--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 05, 2006, 12:54:25 am ---I'm not sure why I'm going into all this detail here, except to say that I don't see this as the behavior of a man upset at confronting his sexuality. Aside from the possibly homophobic Mexico threat, Ennis seems distraught at what is happening in their relationship and the emotional toll it is taking and his frustration over feeling he can neither fix it nor stand it.
--- End quote ---

I really like this reading of the scene.  I think it's important that the "I can't stand this anymore" line is the last thing we hear Ennis say to Jack in "real time" (whereas "see you in the morning" is the actual last thing we hear him saying to Jack, though out of sequence via the flashback.  And the problem lingers as to what was said during the time we miss in the 'argument' scene due to the interruption caused by the flashback).  This "I can't stand this anymore" line presents a nice harmony with the book, since the last line in Proulx's story is "If you can't fix it you have to stand it."  Yes, I think that absolutely the main, conscious thing on Ennis's mind here is what's happening with his relationship with Jack.  And, it's just amazingly touching.  I do think that Ennis's worry over how to identify his own sexuality can still be a subtext here (the kind of worry that bubbles under the surface and that an individual would be unlikely to really notice during such an argument).

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: atz75 on May 06, 2006, 08:05:02 pm --- I do think that Ennis's worry over how to identify his own sexuality can still be a subtext here (the kind of worry that bubbles under the surface and that an individual would be unlikely to really notice during such an argument).

--- End quote ---

Thanks for agreeing on the reading of the scene. Amanda. And yes, it is SOOO touching to think of it that way. True, Ennis' anxiety over his sexuality is not a non-issue, but it's not the main issue. Ennis is breaking down over the stress of not being able to respond to Jack in the way they BOTH really want him to. Going back to what I just finished posting on the "eye contact" thread: I find it a more appealing interpretation than the one that thinks Ennis is breaking down over having to confront his sexuality. I would much RATHER see it that way; it makes me feel better about all the sadness. But I don't think that's blind optimism. My interpretation of the facts supports it, too.

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