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If you were Alma............
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 08, 2006, 06:16:24 pm ---The way I read it, she knows what is going on.
And here's another thing: I was just thinking (in that ridiculous way I have of devoting all my daily thoughts to what characters in BBM should or shouldn't have done, as opposed to devoting them to my own work) that however much Alma was wronged over the years, her confrontation on Thanksgiving is unspeakably rude. She waits all those years when it would have made sense to mention something -- and then finally does so gratuitously, on a holiday, with their daughters in the other room. Is it because Ennis seems so much more manly than Monroe and that makes her uncomfortable? Is it because she feels financially secure enough at that point to express her bitterness openly?
--- End quote ---
I agree, it is rude.
I remember a discussion on the Thanksgiving confrontation back at IMDb. I remember thinking and writing at the time that perhaps the fact that the girls still so plainly idolize their father, after all he's put their mother through (not that the girls know that), finally goads Alma to the breaking point. But that doesn't necessarily speak to the question of why she confronts him at that Thanksgiving dinner.
But let me ask the ladies a question, and no disrespect intended but some of you will have had an experience that I'll never have: Could or does the fact that Alma is pregnant--and pregnant with Monroe's child--at the time have anything to do with the timing of her confronting Ennis?
cricket99999:
Being pregnant, she may be feeling more tired and exasperated than usual. Emotionally, she may be feeling some sense of power from her pregnancy in the sense that she is set from now on, ie no longer working-class. But I don't think her pregnancy is a major reason for the outburst.
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 08, 2006, 06:51:26 pm ---I remember thinking and writing at the time that perhaps the fact that the girls still so plainly idolize their father, after all he's put their mother through (not that the girls know that), finally goads Alma to the breaking point. But that doesn't necessarily speak to the question of why she confronts him at that Thanksgiving dinner.
--- End quote ---
I think it's at that Thanksgiving dinner because that's the one where he's in spitting distance of her, and she's never had the chance to air her grievances. Doubt she planned on doing so, but then (as you mentioned) the girls fawned over Ennis and later Ennis made his "once burned" comment, and she lost it.
delalluvia:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on May 08, 2006, 06:51:26 pm ---But let me ask the ladies a question, and no disrespect intended but some of you will have had an experience that I'll never have: Could or does the fact that Alma is pregnant--and pregnant with Monroe's child--at the time have anything to do with the timing of her confronting Ennis?
--- End quote ---
This was brought up on an IMDb post, Jeff, and I was in agreement that the combnation of being pregnant, raging hormones, the clear idolization of the girls, the discomfort of a not-so-happy family and Ennis finally putting the blame on her for the divorce "Once burned..." finally just made her crack.
Perhaps, had she not been so encumbered by child and hormones, she might have kept the lid on as she had all this time.
Kat and others,
the reason I mention Story Alma as possibly not knowing what is going on during the reunion scene, is because when you read later why she divorced Ennis, while his 'embrace' and the 'fishing trips' are on the list, there are many other things wrong with her marriage to Ennis. IMO it seems that the reason she objects to the 'fishing trips' with Jack is because Ennis doesn't take HER and the girls anywhere. It's as if he took them to Disneyland or a dance once in while, that would've been OK with her, tit for tat. It's like Story Alma puts Ennis' affair with Jack lower down the list of things wrong.
serious crayons:
Yeah, I forgot about the "once burned" crack. That could have annoyed her. Although "once burned" could also mean something less insulting, such as, "I've already tried marriage once and was hurt when it didn't work out." Which, judging from his expression at the divorce procedings, is true.
Jeff, good point about her being annoyed at the girls still idolizing their father. Alma looks pretty peevish after the rodeo story. But I don't think the pregnancy would make much difference.
Del, I think even Movie Alma had other reasons for divorcing Ennis that may have been higher on the list than his affair, or at least close behind it. The main one: money. (And, of course, the two are connected.)
cricket99999:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 08, 2006, 08:22:34 pm ---Although "once burned" could also mean something less insulting, such as, "I've already tried marriage once and was hurt when it didn't work out."
--- End quote ---
I think that IS what the statement meant to Ennis, and that it was not an insult. But I think Alma misinterpreted it as such, which would be easy enough to do.
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