Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Would Ennis Commit Suicide?
Marge_Innavera:
--- Quote from: dly64 on August 03, 2006, 02:45:10 pm ---Gosh, you and Katherine are very optimistic. I usually am, but I am not in this case, How much change is Ennis capable of making? I think very little.
--- End quote ---
I think it's pretty damn hard to tell, considering at what point in time the movie ends.
I heard Diana Ossana give a lecture last April, and she made it clear that the ending, quite changed from the original story, was intended to be ambiguous. She also said that he'd taken a "baby step", but how much more is reasonable to expect at that point? IMO, not much.
To me, the ending leaves it up to interpretation how much change Ennis is capable of making, especially since he's just at midlife. (Not a redundant thing to point out - some comments I've read over the past months seem to imply that he's 105 years old and has one foot in the grave.)
And for the record, I don't think that seeing Ennis as a changed man from the beginning of the film is that overly optimistic, as unfashionable as optimism of any kind is in some quarters.
jpwagoneer1964:
Just thought I would add this'
I really think even though Ennis was not well educated and had few options, he did enjpy the work he did, like being around animals and caring for them. This and knowing how much he had meant to Jack helped him carry on with his life.
moremojo:
--- Quote from: jpwagoneer1964 on August 03, 2006, 04:51:52 pm ---Just thought I would add this'
I really think even though Ennis was not well educated and had few options, he did enjpy the work he did, like being around animals and caring for them. This and knowing how much he had meant to Jack helped him carry on with his life.
--- End quote ---
I concur. Note how Ennis rebuffs Alma's suggestion to apply at the power plant, begging off due to alleged clumsiness. I have felt it far more likely that he was loath to relinquish the kind of work he was used to, i.e. working with animals and being outdoors. He was obviously skilled at this work, and worked hard, seemingly enjoying it as well. He barely subsists above poverty throughout the story, but he was still pretty lucky in being happy with the work that he did. This, added to his love for his daughters and his abiding love for Jack's memory would indeed be wonderful assets in getting him through his mortal existence.
Momof2:
I do not think Ennis would commit suicide. I think he was just in such pain. The person he loved was gone and what was even worse he really had no one to share his pain with. He had to deal with it on his on. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
A boy I dated in High School and was truly and deeply in love with died less than 1 month after we started college. I thought I would literally die from the hurt. When you loose the love of your life to death it is harder than them being alive and just not being with them. It is forever. You are never going to see them again. You only have memories. It took me years to get over him. I am married now and my husband is the love of my life. It took me a long time to let go. I still think about him alot. My now husband knew him and what he means to me. He is very understanding. His girlfriend killed herself. I guess in a weird way we have a "bond" through death. I went to the cemetery the other day. He is buried right in front of my sister. There is a picture on his headstone and it is the beaming, happy face of a boy I loved so very long ago.
I think Ennis knew this kind of pain and just accepted the fact that that he would never be with Jack again. If he couldnt fix it, he had to stand it. I'm sure he felt alot of grief over the fact that he could never let go and just be with Jack. So very, very sad. I think he trudged along without Jack in the same way he did with him alive. Atleast he had his dreams.
serious crayons:
It's true, Diane, we don't see eye to eye, and ultimately we will probably have to agree to disagree. So many of our discussions wind up at this impasse over Ennis' psychology.
But, oh well, it's not like we have a million other things to talk about! So, while we're on the subject ... ::) ;)
I think the views that Ennis' attitude toward homosexuality doesn't change much, that he blames gayness rather than killers for Jack's death, that he's unable to experience his own feelings, that he didn't accept Jack's love, and so on -- those views don't giving Ennis enough credit.
Being raised homophobic and terrified doesn't, in my view, preclude Ennis' ability to change. Many people overcome, at least partly, childhood prejudices and terrible baggage. Why would Ennis be any less capable? He's uptight and inhibited, but not stupid or insensitive. And he has a lot of experiences of the sort that would lead one to change.
Just because Ennis is withdrawn doesn't mean he has no understanding of his own emotions. Yes, sometimes they are explosive, and he is skilled at hiding and repressing them. But I see no evidence (in the movie) that he never recognizes them at all. The last day on Brokeback, for example, BEFORE the fight, he goes off and broods. Not about his lost pay, I'm pretty sure. There are lots of times when he appears to be wracked by his own feelings. Granted, he never talks about them to anyone, even Jack. But we, the viewers, can see them pretty clearly. (That's the genius of Heath's performance, if you ask me.)
Just because Ennis is homophobic doesn't mean he would be morally blind enough to blame gayness itself, rather than murderers, for Jack's death. I don't think he interprets even Earl's death that way, let alone Jack's. He was warped by his father's bigotry, but I think he knew full well that Earl's murderers were wrong.
To me, the main plot of the movie is Ennis coming to terms with his sexuality -- albeit too late. That's the tragedy. He does take some leaps -- TS1 was a biggie -- and he makes gradual progress throughout the movie (people "suspect"). And by the end, well, I'm not saying he goes on to become a gay rights activist or anything, but I think that in realizing what he his homophobia cost him, he comes to some degree of private peace with his sexuality.
Not with his grief, though. Maybe it's just that his grief shows him there are worse things in the world than being gay.
--- Quote from: dly64 on August 03, 2006, 02:45:10 pm --- Had Ennis been able to accept Jack’s love
--- End quote ---
I think he did accept it, completely. Only on his own terms, though, which meant seeing each other occasionally in the wilderness rather than living together openly.
--- Quote --- Ennis realized how he squandered their 20 years together. Ultimately, Ennis hates himself for what he did and didn’t do, what he lost and what he’ll never have.
--- End quote ---
I think the time they spent together was wonderful. I'd be overjoyed to have a relationship like that, even on an occasional basis (though of course, like Jack, I'd want more). But yes, he's undoubtedly mad at himself for letting his fears keep him from enjoying all the time they could have had together.
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