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I did once (have a better idea)... to go to Mexico???

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serious crayons:
Thanks, Chris. I hope you do pose some more of these intriguing questions. I love these discussions.

A bit OT maybe, but today I was just going about my business when I started thinking about Ennis' fate and BURST INTO TEARS. Keep in mind that I don't have the DVD, haven't seen the movie in a month or so. I tried reminding myself that, hey, these are fictional characters (however much their story may reflect thousands or millions of real-life ones). But that didn't help. It was just too sad. What is with me? As someone asked a long time ago back on the imdb board, when does the devastation end???

moremojo:

--- Quote from: latjoreme on April 26, 2006, 11:31:40 am ---Thanks, Chris. I hope you do pose some more of these intriguing questions. I love these discussions.

A bit OT maybe, but today I was just going about my business when I started thinking about Ennis' fate and BURST INTO TEARS. Keep in mind that I don't have the DVD, haven't seen the movie in a month or so. I tried reminding myself that, hey, these are fictional characters (however much their story may reflect thousands or millions of real-life ones). But that didn't help. It was just too sad. What is with me? As someone asked a long time ago back on the imdb board, when does the devastation end???

--- End quote ---
Some folks on TOB on IMDb insist that when we cry over BBM, we are really crying over ourselves, our regrets, disappointments, and fears regarding our own lives. While I recognize some truth in this, this doesn't explain the extent and duration of the strange grieving I have been experiencing for over two months now over this story.

I think the heartbreak at the core of the story is existential and archetypal in quality. Pain and sorrow are inherent in merely existing (at least existing in this one dimension of reality), and the story highlights this fact in such a poignant and real way. Ennis becomes an avatar of Loneliness, a universal exemplar of a universal human emotion--he will forever be ensconced in his story, alone, in love, and bereft of his heart's desire. No amount of working through our own processes, trying to get on with our lives, will ever change this. To paraphrase Joseph Conrad, there is an intransigent 'heart of darkness' at the center of this beautiful, troubling tale, that is tied inextricably to the human condition. Ennis transcends fiction when we are confronted by this, for we all become Ennis, insofar as we are moved and transformed by his story, and must bear the burden of learning how to comfort the loneliness and pain in our own hearts. We cannot escape our painful humanity, at least while we still draw breath, but we can try to mitigate this with joy and love. Indeed, the movie's implications challenge us to do so, and in offering this gift, it stands as perhaps the most important film yet made.

Scott

serious crayons:
Beautiful post, Scott!

twistedude:
Whoever said "Mexico was hot, I mean.." could have simply stopped with Mexcico was hot. Even Ennis had heard what they had in Mexico for boys like you...I like the way JaCk doesn't back down, or get insulted: "You have no idea how bad it gets!" "I'm not youl I can';t make it on a couple of high altitude fucks once ior twice a year."  "..and then you say you'll kill me for needin' something I almost never get"--you tell him, Jack.

Someone said Jack mentioned being partneRs twice..he mentions it almost every time he sees Ennis! First after the reunion, after the diVorce, the previous time they were together, when he suggests Ennis move to Texas, only to be greeted by saRCASM, AND i THINK WE GET THE IDEA THAT THE SUGGESTION HAS not BEEN LIMITED TO THE TIMES WE'VE HEARD IT.

Sometimes I get so mad at Ennis, you'd think I'd married him...

Ellemeno:
Forgive me if this has already been said in the thread, I don't seem to be alert enough to read through it all now.

Chris, I asked this question once.  Because Ennis's comeback about Mexico seems like such a non sequitur.  And the answer I got that rang right to me (but I forgot which of our wise pals said it) was that when Jack says, "I did once," Ennis feels so guilty that he turns the negative focus on Jack by bringing up trips to Mexico, to take the shame/guilt spotlight off himself.

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