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Green with Envy

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ruthlesslyunsentimental:
Colors are used symbolically in the film and blue, brown, red, and white have been discussed at some length.  I haven’t seen much time devoted to green, which, to me, is one of the most significant colors in the film.  So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to offer my observations and a few twists that I have for the color scheme of Brokeback Mountain.

First, I should say that colors are obviously found everywhere since all things reflect light giving off a particular wavelength, etc., etc.  But here, I’m talking about the overt use and placement of color.  In many scenes, there is some color, but it’s pale and not prominent and then all of a sudden there’s an object that reeks of a particular color.  It is of this I speak.


Blue and brown (tan)

It seems universally acknowledged that blue is the color of Jack and brown (tan) is the color of Ennis.  These colors are apparent in their clothing – when worn by themselves, signifying themselves; when worn by the other, signifying keeping the other one close.

Jack is blue, as the vast expense of the blue sky which carries Jack’s spirit in the form of the wind.  Ennis is brown (tan), representing the color of land, of the earth where his spirit treads.

Everyone seems to agree on these ideas, so enough said.  (Besides I’m about to get really long-winded, so hang on.)


Green

Green is the other extremely dominant color in their lives.  When they are on the mountain, Jack (blue, sky) and Ennis (brown, land) come together in the natural trees, bushes and grasses (green) that grow from the land and reach up into the sky, moved by the wind. 

Green is the color of the natural relationship that exists between Jack and Ennis that formed as a force of nature.  Green ties Jack and Ennis together.

Throughout their time on the mountain, they are surrounded by green as their relationship begins as a friendship and grows to a natural, coupled relationship.  But as they come down from the mountain, there is less and less beautiful and obvious green until they finally part in a dusty parking space.  Soon after, when Ennis has his breakdown, he is framed as a silhouette with a backdrop of blue sky (Jack) and green foliage (their natural relationship).

Each goes on with his life, and green plays a small part.  Ennis marries Alma.  Significantly over their heads in a tri-color stained glass window.  Orange, white, and green.  The green in the stained glass window signifies that Ennis is taking the natural relationship he had with Jack and is transferring some of it to a new, unnatural relationship with Alma.  (I call it unnatural because it’s not what his relationship in life is supposed to be.)  Orange represents the falseness that has been transferred by Ennis of the green of his natural relationship.  (Yellow is Jack’s color of the falsity of the transfer.)  The white in the stained glass window is the color of death.  Mix the green relationship that Ennis falsely transferred (orange) and death of the relationship (white) will occur.

As marriage to Ennis goes on, Alma will have more green transferred to her.  For example, she wears a green smock for her job, her children wear green clothes at times.  But when Jack reappears, the green is covered or intermingled.  Just as Alma steps back into her kitchen after seeing Jack and Ennis playing tonsil hockey, there is a green can (about the size of a hat box) behind her under where the coats are hung.  It has bits of orange and yellow in it, signaling that the married relationships of Jack and Ennis have had green relationship falsely transferred to them.  After the reunion, Alma huffs off to work against Ennis’ protest.  She is wearing her green smock, but it is covered by a blue coat.  Jack’s presence is eclipsing the bit of relationship that Ennis transferred to her. In Ennis’ preparation for the “You’re late” scene there are several notable orange items and, of course, the orange horsey in their living room during their quiet evening of TV watching.  These signify that the relationship (green) that he transferred to Alma is false.

In Jack’s life, he transferred very little of his share of the green to Lureen – in the beginning.  There is a small green jardinière by Lureen in her bedroom scene.  Later, she has a few small potted plants in her office.  But very little green is transferred to Lureen until after the post-divorce scene, after Jack realizes his hopes for a relationship with Ennis are futile, when suddenly her living room at Thanksgiving has a much larger number of green plants in it.  Jack begins to transfer more of his share of the green of his relationship with Ennis to Lureen.  But it is false.  There was a little bit of yellow around Lureen in the beginning (the paper she holds in the parka scene) but by Thanksgiving, she has a bright yellow chair and several bright yellow cushions in her home, that now has more green in it.  Each time Jack left one of his trysts with Ennis, he left having gotten a bit more disillusioned about their relationship and he seems to work harder at his family relationships… more green is transferred, but it’s false, yellow.

By the time of Alma’s Thanksgiving Spectacular, Ennis’ loss of his share of the green has transferred to a new relationship that Alma builds with Monroe.  In a sense, Alma grabbed it away from Ennis -- she was probably green with envy of Ennis' relationship with Jack.  Alma, Jr. wears a green dress and the walls of the kitchen are green.  And later we see that there is a lot of green foliage outside her home with Monroe whereas there never was around either of her homes with Ennis.  Back to Thanksgiving -- Alma Sr.’s dress is now rust and there is a rust-tone to the entire scene.  The orange that was Ennis’ part in the falsity of the non-Jack relationship has done its job and has turned from orange to rust, as does Jack’s truck after this scene. 

Apart from each other, there is very little green around them, but when they’re together, there is a lot of green – out in the middle of nowhere where their colors of blue and brown can intermingle in the green foliage again.  However, as their relationship dwindles, so too the green.  In the post-divorce scene, Jack drives to Ennis along a road completely devoid of green.  All of the foliage is brown and dead.  Jack should have noticed.  Bad omen.  (But who can blame him?  After all, he is a potato.)

The next scene with the two of them is at the suspicious mind scene.  Here, again, much foliage.  But, what has changed?  Notice that in the previous scene of them in nature, the “you’re late scene,” there is a green cooler next to Jack.  In the suspicious mind scene, the cooler has changed to red… the color of death of the object.  Although there will always be green foliage metaphysically retaining the natural relationship of Ennis and Jack as it grows from the land into the sky, this object that Jack brought along, the cooler, is Jack’s hope for the relationship and it goes from green to red, symbolizing the dying of Jack’s hope for their relationship.

Also, the final lake scene starts at night when it’s dark and there is no green.  The next morning, they’re by a still lake with green foliage far off in the distance, but they’re standing in the middle of a dead parking area… just as they did when they parted at the end of their first summer.

After Jack has died, there is very little green around Ennis.  When he goes to the Twist home all of the foliage is dead and brown.  But there is a green bowl on the kitchen counter.  Note how it is prominently seen and prominently green AFTER Ennis finds the shirts, but not before.  It stands as a reminder that the relationship was not completely lost with Jack’s death.  (In fact, this is one of the best examples in the film of how an object is overtly made to exude its color only at a particular moment.)  And as he drives home from the Twist home, Ennis, in his truck, is suffused with an eerie green wash.  He is alone physically, but with Jack in spirit, and the relationship continues in full-screen green.  Immediately around Ennis’ trailer, it’s dry and dead, but off a little in the distance is tall green grass.  This is prominently and symbolically seen out of Ennis’ window at the very end – the final shot shows us blue (Jack), brown (Ennis), and their relationship (green) with Jack’s spirit (the wind) blowing over the relationship.


Red and white

Red with an object signifies a symbolic death or dying occurring for that object or for what it represents.  For example, Jack’s red vest on his blue shirt (and earlier covered by his blue parka) in the suspicious mind scene signifies the relationship dying for Jack -- this is their first scene together after Jack learned at the post-divorce scene that Ennis’ real reason for not living with Jack was his fear, not his marriage or children, or job.  Ennis’ tan with red lining vest at the swing set scene signifies the relationship dying for Ennis – this scene occurs immediately after Ennis put the big breaks on their relationship with the Earl death story.  And Ennis knows that it’s his fears that are his primary motivators for not having a life with Jack.  Jack doesn’t learn this until the post-divorce scene. 

White is the overt color symbolizing Jack’s death (the white truck, the coming snow).  I’ve seen a lot of agreement on these points, so I won’t elaborate.

However, there is a greater symbolism to when red and white come together.  When these two colors come together, there is a death brought about by Jack not tending to what he should be tending to.

Everyone seems to notice the symbolism in the death of the sheep (a white coated animal gutted to its red interior) and the parallel to Alma at the reunion kiss scene where she wears her white sweater over her red dress as if she’s been gutted.  And there seems to be an assumption that the focus is on Ennis.  However, this would not explain the red and white associated with Jack and Lureen’s meeting and the continuance of it with his truck.

No, the focus should be on Jack.  Who was supposed to be guarding the sheep the night the significant sheep died?  Jack.  He was set up as herder by Aguirre – like God setting the rules for the inhabitants of Eden – and it’s only because Jack and Ennis switched roles that Ennis is the one who rode off and found the dead sheep.  But Jack was supposed to have been the good shepherd and HE wasn’t doing his assigned job.  Similarly, when Alma is gutted, one could blame Ennis – after all, she’s his wife.  But the whole reunion occurred because Jack was not tending to what he was supposed to be tending to – his marriage relationship.

When Jack meets Lureen, it’s a veritable whirlwind of red and white colors.  Jack is the one (of the Ennis-Jack relationship) who understands and accepts himself more fully for what he is, gay.  When he meets Lureen, he brings a death not only to her (signified by her wearing of red and white), but also to himself by not being true to what and who his is – signified by his driving a red and white truck.  Jack didn’t tend to the most important thing that he should have, his own self.  And so he is bathed in red and white.


Two final notes –

Since I mentioned the blue parka above, it’s also interesting to note that Jack is looking for his blue parka to keep himself warm so he doesn’t freeze to death.  And Lureen hasn’t got his goddamn parka – she has no idea what will keep him warm, what will ward off his death (as signified by his being cold and the coming snow), nor does she seem to care.

And since I just mentioned Jack’s death, purple seems to be the pall that casts itself over his home signifying his impending death – blue (Jack) + red (death) = purple (Jack’s death).


So what have we learned?

Keep your relationships green, don’t mix red and white, and Jack is still a potato.

JennyC:
Wow, I am blown away again by your "ruthlessly unsentimental" analysis.  I had to admit that I have not noticed the significance of the colors in the movie.  I will leave our more eloquent members to comment on your analysis.  Just want to say that I read it and really appreciate your insights.  Thanks for sharing this with us.

slayers_creek_oth:

--- Quote from: JennyC on July 04, 2006, 09:12:22 pm ---Wow, I am blown away again by your "ruthlessly unsentimental" analysis.  I had to admit that I have not noticed the significance of the colors in the movie.  I will leave our more eloquent members to comment on your analysis.  Just want to say that I read it and really appreciate your insights.  Thanks for sharing this with us.

--- End quote ---

Ditto!  I am still processing your other post...LOL

ruthlesslyunsentimental:

--- Quote from: JennyC on July 04, 2006, 09:12:22 pm ---Wow, I am blown away again by your "ruthlessly unsentimental" analysis.  I had to admit that I have not noticed the significance of the colors in the movie.  I will leave our more eloquent members to comment on your analysis.  Just want to say that I read it and really appreciate your insights.  Thanks for sharing this with us.

--- End quote ---

Anytime.  Thanks.  You’re very kind.  It's just that some things really seem to pop out of the film.  Like all of that red and white around Lureen and Jack when they first met.  It just screams out "figure this out!"  So, whenever I'm doing mundane things (like driving    :)   ) I think about these things.  Since I've seen the film somewhere around 150 times, I can play it over in my head and see just about everything again and again.

But!  Here's something that I hadn’t noticed at all until just earlier today...

When Ennis drives up to the Twist house, Mrs. Twist comes out the front door to greet him, right?  Just before she opens the door you can see her come and look out the window of the door before she opens it.  I don’t think it has any significance, but it's just another subtle detail that makes the film so realistic.  Others probably saw it on their first viewing.  There’s just so much to pick up in this movie, but never enough time.

serious crayons:
Ruthlessly, there are so many really interesting ideas here. I like your overall theory a lot.

I don't agree with every last tiny detail. Regarding some of the home furnishings, I hate to be one of those people who says this because I hate when people say this to me, but, well, some of them seem sort of incidental to me. I know, I know, nothing is incidental. But still ... Maybe that's just a sign of me only watching the movie 15 times to your 150. Early in my Brokeback career, I thought the same thing about all color symbolism, but eventually I wised up. So maybe I will change my mind again.

And I have different ideas about red and white (see below).


--- Quote from: ruthlesslyunsentimental on July 04, 2006, 03:07:01 pm --- But as they come down from the mountain, there is less and less beautiful and obvious green until they finally part in a dusty parking space.
--- End quote ---

The least green scene of all must be the Earl flashback, hunh? The setting is completely arid and lifeless -- the force of nature is dead in that place.

Also, when Ennis rides away after TS1, he rides along a rockier, less green landscape than we see the rest of the time on Brokeback. Maybe because the relationship's viability is momentarily in question?


--- Quote ---Apart from each other, there is very little green around them, but when they’re together, there is a lot of green – out in the middle of nowhere where their colors of blue and brown can intermingle in the green foliage again.  However, as their relationship dwindles, so too the green.  In the post-divorce scene, Jack drives to Ennis along a road completely devoid of green.
--- End quote ---

One exception to the scarcity of green when they're apart: when Ennis is on the road crew, and he turns away from Timmy (after Timmy talks about breakin his back) and gazes off at all the green in the distance, thinking of his relationship with Jack. The tar-crew job -- Ennis' prospective bleak future sans Jack -- means, by definition, paving over (burying!) green.


--- Quote ---Also, the final lake scene starts at night when it’s dark and there is no green.  The next morning, they’re by a still lake with green foliage far off in the distance, but they’re standing in the middle of a dead parking area… just as they did when they parted at the end of their first summer.
--- End quote ---

Good one ... the idyllic green mountains do look pretty distant at that point.


--- Quote ---After Jack has died, there is very little green around Ennis.  When he goes to the Twist home all of the foliage is dead and brown.  But there is a green bowl on the kitchen counter.  Note how it is prominently seen and prominently green AFTER Ennis finds the shirts, but not before.  It stands as a reminder that the relationship was not completely lost with Jack’s death.
--- End quote ---


--- Quote --- This is prominently and symbolically seen out of Ennis’ window at the very end – the final shot shows us blue (Jack), brown (Ennis), and their relationship (green) with Jack’s spirit (the wind) blowing over the relationship.
--- End quote ---

The green bowl at the Twists is a home-furnishings interpretation that does sound very deliberate. And that's an excellent reading of the view outside Ennis' trailer window.


--- Quote ---Red with an object signifies a symbolic death or dying occurring for that object or for what it represents.  For example, Jack’s red vest on his blue shirt (and earlier covered by his blue parka) in the suspicious mind scene signifies the relationship dying for Jack -- this is their first scene together after Jack learned at the post-divorce scene that Ennis’ real reason for not living with Jack was his fear, not his marriage or children, or job.  Ennis’ tan with red lining vest at the swing set scene signifies the relationship dying for Ennis – this scene occurs immediately after Ennis put the big breaks on their relationship with the Earl death story.  And Ennis knows that it’s his fears that are his primary motivators for not having a life with Jack.  Jack doesn’t learn this until the post-divorce scene. 

White is the overt color symbolizing Jack’s death (the white truck, the coming snow).  I’ve seen a lot of agreement on these points, so I won’t elaborate.
--- End quote ---

Regarding red and white I have a somewhat different view. I think of red as representing passion and/or love, which is why spunky Lureen starts out bright red and progressively fades as the movie goes on and she becomes embittered. Alma wears dull reds in the reunion scene and Thanksgiving scene -- she's not as passionate a gal as Lureen, but it's there. Both the men's red-lined vests signify, to me, secret passion kept close to the heart. In the lakeside scene, Jack's parka is tan with a dark reddish-brown lining -- the passion has dulled a little, but it's still there, and it's still for Ennis.

White I'm less clear about. In the Twist's house, it certainly seems to allude to Jack's death. And I guess on the sheep. But otherwise white seems to me to warn of the end of a relationship. That would explain the white pickup (and perhaps, by extension, Alma's sweater in the reunion scene -- though in that case it would be her relationship with Ennis that's threatened).

Snow is a white form of water, their relationship. On their final night, Jack predicts snow -- suggesting the relationship will end. But then it doesn't snow. Things go on as they had, for now. But it's always so friggin cold when they're together that it could snow at any time. (If only they could go south, to Mexico or Texas, where snow is rare.)

BTWy, there's a red-and-white plaid shirt hanging in Ennis' closet at the end.


--- Quote --- Jack is looking for his blue parka to keep himself warm so he doesn’t freeze to death.  And Lureen hasn’t got his goddamn parka – she has no idea what will keep him warm, what will ward off his death (as signified by his being cold and the coming snow), nor does she seem to care.
--- End quote ---

That last remark seems a little unfair -- Lureen cares about as much as any wife should be expected to care about her husband's goddamn parka if he can't keep track of it himself. But you're right, it does suggest she has no power to ward off his death.

We haven't even gotten into gray -- Ennis' dad's jacket, Ennis jacket in the final scenes, the blackish/grayish blues that Jack wears post-divorce scene (and, interestingly, in the wood-chopping scene with Aguirre) -- but there's always enough time for that, always enough.

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