BetterMost, Wyoming & Brokeback Mountain Forum
Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond => Brokeback Mountain Open Forum => Topic started by: serious crayons on April 07, 2007, 12:47:45 am
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One night in the chatroom, someone asked what lines the other people felt were most emblematic of the whole movie. Everybody started shooting out the obvious lines: "If you can't fix it, you've gotta stand it," for instance.
But what was interesting was that. as we went along, just about every line we named somehow encapsulated the themes of the movie as a whole: "No more beans." "This is a goddamn bitch of an unsatisfactory situation." "Ain't no reins on this one." "I think my dad was right." Even the goofiest and most seemingly minor lines seemed to carry some larger meaning.
So let's talk about lines that resonate with meaning (including those above). Name a line, then discuss its meaning -- the less obvious the better. I'll modestly start with my own username:
"I need crayons."
Doesn't Ennis need crayons -- that is, some color in his life? Don't we all need crayons? But Ennis is denying it, telling hiimself "not now" (if ever). Responsibilities come first.
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I love your new user name! And I agree, the way Alma Jr. said, "I need crayons" it was like a primal scream, or a primal declaration, anyway.
My personal favorite of the moment is "Because the Bighorn Mountains ain't in Texas." I love it because the Bighorn Mountains is like the Garden of Eden for me right now, and to suggest that you could achieve satori anyplace else is sorta sacrilegious.
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But Ennis is denying it [the crayons], telling hiimself "not now" (if ever). Responsibilities come first.
But it was Alma who said "not now".
Joe Aguirre after they came down the mountain: "Some of these never went up there with you."
The herd of sheep wasn't the same that went up there and would never be the same again - just like Ennis and Jack.
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But it was Alma who said "not now".
True, but I'm going under the assumption that the person to whom the line applies need not be the person who says it. Ennis doesn't get crayons then, for sure. Later, he maybe gets a few colors, but never the whole box.
Joe Aguirre after they came down the mountain: "Some of these never went up there with you."
The herd of sheep wasn't the same that went up there and would never be the same again - just like Ennis and Jack.
Good one, Chrissi! :)
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True, but I'm going under the assumption that the person to whom the line applies need not be the person who says it. Ennis doesn't get crayons then, for sure. Later, he maybe gets a few colors, but never the whole box.
Yup, makes sense. :)
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A line that grips me every viewing is when Ennis is nervously awaiting Jack's reunion-visit. After many cigarettes and beers, he peers longingly out the window with a forelorn look like a child waiting for the Christmas arrival of Santa Claus and says "..see if he shows".
the line is filled with anticipation, fear, sense of disbelief, wonder, and near childlike anxiety. to me, it sets the stage for Ennis' future understanding of Jack.