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What Scene Could have been left out

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ednbarby:

--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on July 05, 2006, 07:04:25 pm ---But the Twist Thanksgiving scene was clearly invented just to balance the uber-essential "Ennis and Alma Thanksgiving confrontation," and I don't think it really does much for the plot. That was the basis for my decision.
--- End quote ---

I beg to differ.  It shows that Lureen is on Jack's side where L.D. is concerned (and yes, I know her look to him in the doorway when L.D. says "Isn't [Bobby] just the spittin' image of his grandpa?" does that, too, but it doesn't hurt to reinforce that).  It shows that Jack doesn't just take it when someone implies that he's not a real man, which L.D. is clearly doing when he says "You want your boy to grow up to be a man, dontcha?  And men watch football (implication: You're not a real man so therefore you don't care to watch it)."  It shows that Jack is involved in raising Bobby.  And perhaps most important, it shows that Jack views his relationship with Lureen and Bobby as a team effort.  He's not just phoning it in like Ennis is.  He may have settled, too, but he's more invested in the Now aspect of parenting and marriage than Ennis is.

Yep.  I'd say that does a lot for the plot.

Sheyne:

tough call.. but the fireworks scene got it for me.. only just..

The others, probably with the exception of Jack dancing with LaShawn, were all integral to the plot..

ednbarby:
Just want to say that I love your sig line, Sheyne.  Reminds me of mine at another board:  "Studies show jogging adds years to your life.  But then you spend them jogging."

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: ednbarby on July 06, 2006, 10:51:40 am ---"Studies show jogging adds years to your life.  But then you spend them jogging."

--- End quote ---

 :laugh:

How did I miss this thread before now? Now there's so much to catch up on! My first reaction was, none of the above, I'd give up something really tiny, like the scene of Ennis throwing hay off the truck -- and immediately realized, no way, I want every single second of Ennis intact. How about Jack showing Bobby how to drive the combine -- no, that scene establishes Jack's nice relationship with Bobby (in contrast to Jack's with his own dad).

Then I thought of the pissant scene -- perfect. It's short, inessential to the plot, virtually pointless, and seems unfair to both Jack and Lureen. Why is it necessary to establish Jack's unpopularity with anyone except for LD Newsome and maybe Jimbo? As Mikaela says, why would anyone not like Jack? And why show Lureen treating Jack disrespectfully? To me, she seems a perfectly loving wife, setting aside her increasing bitterness over you-know-what.

But Katie, I suspect you chose more important scenes to make the decision more challenging. So among those, I'd pick the fireworks scene. It accomplishes some fairly important things -- demonstrates Ennis' hot temper, gives us the memorable biker characters, shows how Ennis fights with men he's not in love with, contrasts with his less effective fighting on Thanksgiving, expresses his frustration over missing Jack or his resentment of rude heterosexual men or whatever, and sets up the iconic American image -- so striking as the finale to the movie trailer! -- of cowboy with fireworks. (I know some argue that it causes Alma to fear Ennis' violence, which to me seems unrealistic.)

But if it were omitted from the movie, I don't think we'd miss much, whereas with all the other scenes listed, we would.

Scott, now that you mention it, that DOES remind me of Billy Jack! Because Ennis kicks the one biker in the face, just like Billy Jack does when he beats up the racists! I think this registered subconsciously, but it took your post to make me realize it.

Jeff Wrangler:
Does the "pissant" scene demonstrate that people dislike Jack, or that people disrespect Jack? I submit that dislike and disrespect aren't necessarily the same thing. Indeed, who wouldn't like Jack? But I think that it's perfectly possible to find someone likeable but for any variety of reasons, justifiable or unjustifiable, not have much respect for that person--other than, one would hope, for the modicum of respect that all human beings owe each other.

I'm holding my ground on the dispensability of the Twist Thanksgiving scene. It adds to the film by it's presence, but we wouldn't miss anything essential from the plot if it weren't there.

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