Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

Intriguing Perspective on Bobby Twist's Paternity

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ednbarby:

--- Quote from: opinionista on June 22, 2006, 12:40:52 pm ---I don't think Jack was disconnected from Bobby. He loved him very much, despite the fact that he felt out of place within Lureen's family. Jack was very much of a dreamer. He was the sort of person who had a solution for everything. When they were at Brokeback and there was no food, he came up with the idea of killing a sheep. Since Ennis refused, then it was an elk. When they meet four years later, and realized that Brokeback got them good, he comes up with the idea of the little cow and calf operation so they could be together and not worry about money. So, I guess he did the same thing regarding Bobby. I don't think he was willing to just leave his son and forget about him. I'm sure he would come up with a something to be with Ennis, and stay in Bobby's life.
--- End quote ---

You make a good point.  Jack's willingness to leave Lureen (and Bobby) shows his devotion to Ennis and fearlessness where making a life with him is concerned much more than it shows any kind of disconnection from Bobby.  Ennis was not any more connected to his daughters, really.  Now that I think about it, while of course he loved them dearly and was as good a dad as anyone, I think he tended to use them as excuses to keep from dealing with the reality of his longing for Jack, just as he used his jobs as excuses to keep from dealing with anyone who needed more from him than a cameo appearance once in a while.

whiteoutofthemoon:

--- Quote from: ednbarby on June 26, 2006, 02:53:07 pm ---You make a good point.  Jack's willingness to leave Lureen (and Bobby) shows his devotion to Ennis and fearlessness where making a life with him is concerned much more than it shows any kind of disconnection from Bobby.  Ennis was not any more connected to his daughters, really.  Now that I think about it, while of course he loved them dearly and was as good a dad as anyone, I think he tended to use them as excuses to keep from dealing with the reality of his longing for Jack, just as he used his jobs as excuses to keep from dealing with anyone who needed more from him than a cameo appearance once in a while.

--- End quote ---

I think symbolically, though, the film seems to represent that Jack was more distant from Bobby than Ennis was to his daughters.  The only time you see Jack and Bobby (coincedental shout-out to the Kennedys) interacting is in that tractor scene.  But otherwise, in the nursing scene (two boxes of formula), you see Jack in the doorway while Lureen and her parents coo over the baby; and in the TG scene, Bobby is curiously seated next to his mom, with an empty table space between Jack and Bobby.   

I'm still torn as what to believe in regards to this thing about Bobby's paternity, but I was struck from the beginning at how Jack did not seem to display (at least as what was portrayed in the movie) any significant amount of fatherhood tendencies. 

opinionista:

--- Quote from: whiteoutofthemoon on June 26, 2006, 04:00:43 pm ---I think symbolically, though, the film seems to represent that Jack was more distant from Bobby than Ennis was to his daughters.  The only time you see Jack and Bobby (coincedental shout-out to the Kennedys) interacting is in that tractor scene.  But otherwise, in the nursing scene (two boxes of formula), you see Jack in the doorway while Lureen and her parents coo over the baby; and in the TG scene, Bobby is curiously seated next to his mom, with an empty table space between Jack and Bobby. 

I'm still torn as what to believe in regards to this thing about Bobby's paternity, but I was struck from the beginning at how Jack did not seem to display (at least as what was portrayed in the movie) any significant amount of fatherhood tendencies. 



--- End quote ---

That's true, Jack and Bobby aren't shown together that much in the movie. However, it does show that Jack was pretty much involved in Bobby's education. At the "where's my blue parka?" scene Jack gets mad at Lureen for forgetting to call Bobby's school to request a tutor. He says the teacher won't speak with him because he has been calling a lot. So my guess is that the whole scene means that Jack did care about his son, and was involved in his life to some extent, perhaps more than Lureen.

As for the paternity thing, I just don't agree with that guy from IMDB. The whole idea of Bobby not being Jack's son seems competely off topic and does not provide anything important to the plot. That guy's analysis is unconvincing, at least to me. I tried to discuss it with him but he got aggresive because I didn't agree with him. I think the date thing is just a goof.

twistedude:
Who's Bobby? I haven't read this thread.
"This is my house, this is my child, and you are my guest. So sit down, you old sonofabirch, befrore I kick your ignaorant ass into next week.""

It's a goof.  There are dozens in the movie.

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun,
Crying like a fire in the sun.
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Bucky:
It seems to me that Jack met Lureen sometime in August or September of 1964.  I know Jack went to see Joe Aguirre about a job on Brokeback Mountain in the spring of 1964 and also asked Aguirre if Ennis Del Mar had been around.  So Jack figured that Ennis hadn't been around and left on his rodeoing adventures.  Sometime he tried to pick up the rodeo clown in a saloon.  Then when we see Jack again he watches Lureen do her barrell racing contest which I am of the opinion was the same year that he tried to pick up the rodeo clown.  I remember in the motel scene he told Ennis that he made $2,000 dollars that year but before that he liked to starve to death.  Now I am still of the opinion that is in the late summer of 1964 when he met Lureen Newsome more than likely September of 1964.  However if he did that then his baby would have been in about June or July of 1965 and older than eight months in 1967.  Well the movie is unclear about it so I will just assume that he met Lureen sometime in 1965 and who knows maybe Jack didn't get Lureen pregnant after all in their first sexual encounter. 

Actually folks it is all speculation anyway because the movie is not really clear about the dates of Jack and Lureen's first sexual encounter.  All we know for sure is that he did meet Lureen Newsome and that she did get pregnant either before or after they married and his son was eight months old at the time of his first reunion with Ennis since they worked together on Brokeback Mountain. 

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