Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"I figured you were sore from that punch"
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: Mikaela on July 11, 2006, 05:48:01 pm ---Yes, it is all that. But why all that sadness and tragedy, those squashed hopes and twarthed longings and wasted lives should hold such a spell over such a long time..... it's a topic that belongs in the "Why are we like this" thread I suppose. But I'm still not sure that I fully know the answer.
--- End quote ---
Well, I think that tragic romances are essentially the most classic type of romance. It seems that the romances that stand the test of time (Romeo and Juliet... to name only the most obvious) and even classical romances (a la the Classical Allusion thread from TOB) are all about a core of sadness... or a bittersweetness. It's hard to think of a lot of great romances (literary or cinematic) that have happy, happy endings.
And, I've said it before, but I'll repeat it here. My very first reaction to BBM walking out of the theater after my first viewing was... "wow, they were lucky." Of course this is a profound tragedy on many levels- from the very obvious (Jack dies young - and maybe is murdered-, Ennis had a tragic childhood, they each spend a lot of time being lonely, they couldn't figure out a way to live together, etc.) to extremely subtle emotional tragedies. To me one of the biggest tragedies is how much time they lost by being apart so much. The 'never enough time' tragedy really stings for me. BUT, in the end there are little triumphs too. Even after he's dead, Jack is able to express his love for Ennis and reach out and comfort him - help him find a little closure -with those shirts. And Jack gets the commitment that he wanted from Ennis. Many people don't find a true-love like they had. And, eventhough their time together was fraught with separations... they still had twenty years of being in love. They made each others lives happy and exciting. To have had one kiss like the reunion kiss is something profoundly wonderful (and I think we can assume that they had more like that...).
I guess I'm preaching to the choir here... but there's really a lot of sweet with the bitter here.
jpwagoneer1964:
--- Quote from: atz75 on July 19, 2006, 10:32:13 pm ---
Well, I think that tragic romances are essentially the most classic type of romance. It seems that the romances that stand the test of time (Romeo and Juliet... to name only the most obvious) and even classical romances (a la the Classical Allusion thread from TOB) are all about a core of sadness... or a bittersweetness. It's hard to think of a lot of great romances (literary or cinematic) that have happy, happy endings.
And, I've said it before, but I'll repeat it here. My very first reaction to BBM walking out of the theater after my first viewing was... "wow, they were lucky." Of course this is a profound tragedy on many levels- from the very obvious (Jack dies young - and maybe is murdered-, Ennis had a tragic childhood, they each spend a lot of time being lonely, they couldn't figure out a way to live together, etc.) to extremely subtle emotional tragedies. To me one of the biggest tragedy is how much time they lost by being apart so much. The 'never enough time' tragedy really stings for me. BUT, in the end there are little triumphs too. Even after he's dead, Jack is able to express his love for Ennis and reach out and comfort him - help him find a little closure -with those shirts. And Jack gets the commitment that he wanted from Ennis. Many people don't find a true-love like they had. And, eventhough their time together was fraught with separations... they still had twenty years of being in love. They made each others lives happy and exciting. To have had one kiss like the reunion kiss is something profoundly wonderful (and I think we can assume that they had more like that...).
I guess I'm preaching to the choir here... but there's really a lot of sweet with the bitter here.
--- End quote ---
Amen! They were so lucky in so many ways
Brown Eyes:
Hi jpwagoneer1964! Thanks for the nice post and timely photo!
The more I think about it... the little triumphs seem to be an interesting theme or trend. Of course it all ends with the "biggest" triumph (probably) which is the "I swear...". Jack has died, Ennis is sad and lonely, "society" has kept them apart in many ways, their relationship was going through some big tests at the time of their last meeting, etc. But still through all of this the core, important thing is there... Ennis and Jack still love each other. None of these seemingly devastating things have really rocked that core.
Ellemeno:
I'm late to this party - womderful thread chock full of favorite posters. I think the reason Jack doesn't really answer Ennis in the movie (about being sore from that punch) and replies tangentially in the story (something like "You won't catch me like that again") is because he has long since forgiven Ennis. I think Jack forgives Ennis easily again and again.
mvansand76:
--- Quote from: Ellemeno on July 20, 2006, 02:55:07 am ---I'm late to this party - womderful thread chock full of favorite posters. I think the reason Jack doesn't really answer Ennis in the movie (about being sore from that punch) and replies tangentially in the story (something like "You won't catch me like that again") is because he has long since forgiven Ennis. I think Jack forgives Ennis easily again and again.
--- End quote ---
And I think Jack understood why Ennis threw that punch, he understood the underlying emotions like no one else, because he had the same emotions, he was feeling the same pain. That's why he wasn't acting angry anymore at the time they said goodbye...
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