Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"I figured you were sore from that punch"
Brown Eyes:
So, I've been thinking a little bit tonight about the somewhat serious topic of the punch at the end of the Brokeback summer. I'd be curious to hear what people really think about that situation. I think we've all thought a lot about all the complicated motivations that led Ennis to feel so upset at this particular moment, in contrast to Jack's relatively playful mood. But, what justifies a punch like that? Somehow this moment of violence has never tainted my idea of how much Ennis and Jack love each other. In my real life, it's clear to me that there's never, ever a reason to hit one's lover (regardless of gender). But somehow this moment in BBM, again, hasn't tainted how I feel about this particular relationship between Ennis and Jack.
I think it's adorable that they both seem to like "rough-housing", wrestling, etc. My guess is that the ability to be rough with one another is a big part of the attraction between the two of them... The contrast between the kind of "tussling" that Jack and Ennis do on the mountain vs. the gentle wrestling in the snow that Ennis does with Alma is very clear. I think we're meant almost to feel the difference in the kind of physical touching that went on with Jack vs. Alma with this sledding scene in particular. Ennis has to hold back more with Alma than he probably would with Jack. But, the punch is an entirely different level of "rough", and both Jack and Ennis recognize this (in terms of the physical reaction to it... the change in the tone of the tussle, Ennis's need to bring it up years later in the motel, etc.). I would guess that the level of "rough housing" that goes on with Jack would feel very unacceptable to lots of viewers if Alma was in Jack's place. If Ennis had hit Alma in the kitchen during the "Jack nasty" argument, I think perceptions of Ennis might be very different for some audience members. And, I can't imagine how a scene would work with Ennis and Alma having a long conversation if Alma had a large bruise on her face (as happened with Jack).
I think Ennis's guilt over hitting Jack plays a large role in his "dry heaves" moment in the alleyway and he's clearly been worrying about it for four years leading up to the chat in the motel. It's also interesting to me that Jack doesn't respond to Ennis's comment "I figured you was sore from that punch." Jack just furrows his brows and talks about his return trip to Aguirre's trailer. In the story we get the whole back story about K.E. and Jack does respond to the punch topic. And, I think Proulx brings the topic of the punch up 3 times in different places in the story (I could be mistaken about this... I don't have the story right in front of me). But, Jack does not respond in the movie and a viewer would have no idea of the K.E. back story if they hadn't read the story. My interpretation of Jack's non-response to Ennis statement largely has been that he'd long gotten over it... or he let it roll off of him, like he does so many things. But, sort of sweetly, Ennis was clearly thinking all these years that the punch was one of the reasons (maybe the main reason) why Jack hadn't contacted him. Ennis leads into the punch comment by saying "I didn't think I'd hear from you again." I think Ennis has a sweet, caring and probably too-sensitive personality and the punch mortifies him. And, I truly believe that Ennis would never hit Alma. And, we realize and Jack clearly comes to realize that Ennis lashes out physically when he's sad. In the last argument scene when Ennis pushes Jack (almost a "bookend' to the punch) and says "get off me", Jack has by now learned to ignore this and to hug Ennis tighter.
Still, I'd really like to hear what people think about the punch. And, the bloody nose that Jack gives Ennis too.
Jeff Wrangler:
Try as I might when I watch the film, I can never quite see how Jack gives Ennis that bloody nose. I don't have the story in front of me here at work, but my memory of it is that while they're tussling, Jack accidentally hits Ennis's nose with his knee. In any case, the bloody nose is purely accidental, and I think we're supposed to understand that it's an accident in the film, too.
Ennis's punch, on the other hand, was completely deliberate. Why does he do it? Well, we know he's an emotional wreck over the unexpected early termination of their summer on the mountain. Also, I think in the culture and environment where Ennis was raised, even if your folks was good Methodists, you don't "turn the other cheek" to something like that bloody nose. I'm inclined to think it's almost like an instinctive reaction, to hit back and hit harder. At the same time, at another level, I think Ennis does know that his bloody nose was an accident, and Jack is trying to stop the blood flow when Ennis' wallops him. I think this is what bothers him for four years--he knows he was wrong to clobber Jack like that.
serious crayons:
I agree with most of what you said, Amanda. And Jeff, I can't quite figure out how Ennis gets the bloody nose, either. (In the story, isn't the whole fight reduced to a much later, mostly unexplained reference to the punch?) So here are my other random thoughts:
My take on the punch is that it's a combination of impulse (Ennis just got physically hurt and his reflex is to hurt back) and his anger at Jack for not being more upset about leaving the mountain. IMO, it's not, as some have said, about his confusion over his own emotions, or the need to get them under control, or the desire to start separating himself from Jack and going back to his straight life -- but bewilderment that Jack appears not to be be distraught about leaving, as he is. So I guess actually both reasons could be described as "Ennis just got hurt and his reflex is to hurt back."
For the next four years, I think he misses Jack like crazy and worries -- assumes -- that he'll never see Jack again. He probably goes over and over the punch in his mind, not only because he fears it makes it even more unlikely he'll see Jack, which he's probably not very hopeful about anyway, but because he's sorry they parted on that note. When he brings it up in the hotel, it's in the context of also asking about Jack -- using the exact same words Jack had used when they parted: "So the army didn't get you?" Obviously he's never stopped thinking about that moment.
My reading of Jack is that it's long been all but forgotten. "Well, the next summer I drove on back up to Brokeback" -- he's changing the subject and telling Ennis how much the punch didn't bother him, that he just wanted to see Ennis again.
You're right that if Ennis punched Alma and then Alma's face was bruised, we'd think of it differently. I don't think this is sexism or a double standard on viewers' parts, though, it's a matter of the balance of physical power. Obviously Ennis could beat up Alma if he wanted to. Could he beat up Jack? Maybe, but it would be a lot closer fight. Jack is a tough guy, he's used to getting thrown off bulls and getting busted up. He gets thrown by his horse, he crashes backward over the buckets when he's goofing around. And he and Ennis were wrestling in the first place, the wrestling turned more intense and serious on both sides, and Jack did inadvertently hurt Ennis. So we as viewers know we needn't feel too sorry for Jack over one punch. That doesn't make it OK, and if it kept happening, that would be different. But in all other times (except for the lakeside argument), Ennis is gentle and protective with Jack.
Also, it's not like he's going all out to really injure Jack. I think one reason for the 4th of July scene is to show the contrast between Ennis' fight with Jack and the way he fights with men he's not in love with.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: goadra on June 29, 2006, 12:58:26 pm ---There’s so much conflicting stuff in Ennis that I don’t see the punch as malicious or deliberate--it’s done deliberately but it’s probably not meant that way, if that makes any sense.
--- End quote ---
It does make sense, and that's how I see it, too.
nakymaton:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on June 29, 2006, 12:17:08 pm ---IMO, it's not, as some have said, about his confusion over his own emotions, or the need to get them under control, or the desire to start separating himself from Jack and going back to his straight life...
--- End quote ---
Ok, I'll stand up and just disagree here, because I think the punch is the result of all these things and more. (I agree that it isn't something Ennis thinks out; I think it's almost instinctive. I don't think Ennis intends to hurt Jack... but he does, nonetheless. And I guess that statement covers emotional hurt as well as physical hurt.)
I can't leave my reading of the story behind when it comes to the punch. In part, that's because that part of the movie, in particular, matched the movie that played in my head when I read the story. And it's also because the Ennis of the movie really IS my Ennis from the story. If I had seen the movie without reading the story, maybe I would interpret things differently... but I didn't.
So for me, the story description of Ennis learning to punch K.E. is really significant. I don't have the story with me, but isn't there a line about "hurting him until he stops"? (Damn, I wish I had the story with me; I know the actual line was like a knife through the heart when I read the story the nth time and realized that the line could be taken in more than one way.) Anyway, I think that there was a tension within Ennis that just hurt so much that he couldn't take it, a tension between loving Jack and feeling like he shouldn't, couldn't, mustn't. And when Jack touched him, it was too much to take... and Ennis hit, because it hurt so much and he didn't understand it and he wanted it to just stop hurting. (Like a little kid who just strikes out, hitting and biting, when he's awoken in the middle of the night with some kind of fever or tummy ache. Or like a wild animal who bites the person trying to get the barbed wire off its leg.)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version