Author Topic: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way  (Read 121657 times)

Offline serious crayons

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So many lines in Brokeback Mountain are ambiguous or have multiple meanings. I guess the most obvious one is "I swear" -- there's a whole thread devoted to the many interpretations of that one. And there's another thread about the implications of Lureen's "Husbands don't never seem to want to dance with their wives," (something like, "Husbands don't never seem to want to have sex with their wives.")

Then today, a discussion came up on another thread about when John Twist says

"Tell you what, I know where Brokeback Mountain is ... pppfffftttttppp ... Thought he was too damn special to be buried in the family plot."

Obviously, he's saying he could find Brokeback go put the ashes there himself if he wanted to, which he doesn't. And he apparently resents Jack leaving the Twist ranch, refusing to spend his life in that bleak place, moving to Texas and so on.

But it also implies another meaning: "Tell you what, I know Jack was gay." Mr. Twist may not be saying so consciously, but because we know what Brokeback symbolizes, the line is a clue. And in the next sentence, he may be saying Jack figures that, because he's gay ("special"), he thought he could live outside society's rules rather than follow the "family plot."

So what other lines  have multiple meanings? They could be lines that we aren't even sure what they're supposed to mean, like "I swear." Or they could be lines that have a surface meaning and a subtext, like "Husbands don't dance with their wives."

Suggest some lines that resonate, and we can discuss. (If you know of any that absolutely have only one meaning, say those, too! And we'll argue if you're right or wrong!).


Offline Mikaela

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2006, 06:40:53 pm »
I'll start off with this one, before hurrying off to bed:

When Aguirre has ordered the boys and the sheep down from the mountain, and Ennis gripes, Jack says:

Quote
I can spare you a loan, bud, if you're short on cash. Give it to you when we get to Signal.

Which at face value is an offer for a loan, but the subtext is Jack saying that he doesn't want to lose contact with Ennis, and he's looking for a way to achieve that in such a manner that Ennis can defend it to himself, too, even after they've left the mountain and that supposed one shot thing behind. Giving him a loan means the loan would have to be repaid - so they'd have to stay in touch for that.

Offline nakymaton

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #2 on: May 23, 2006, 06:43:27 pm »
Heh. I was going to start with the first words spoken in the movie:

JACK (kicks truck): Shit.

Meaning #1: Ladies and gentlemen, this is an R-rated movie, in case you hadn't heard. Also, you know that line in the story where it says that Jack "was not himself the swearing kind"? Well, you can scratch out one potential meaning for that one.

Meaning #2: Contrast the first appearances of Jack and Ennis. Jack's car doesn't run well, so Jack kicks it and swears at it. Ennis doesn't even have a car; all he's got is a sack with a change of clothes. But Ennis just seems to accept it as if it's the natural way of things.

That first line sets up the conflict of the whole story, even before they look at each other.

Meaning #3: Ever notice that the first line in the movie is Jack swearing, and the last line is "Jack, I swear..."?
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Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2006, 08:51:47 pm »
That's great Mel! Actually, I came to this thread because I wanted to talk about "I know where Brokeback Mountain is" but you beat me to it! Everything in this movie has a double meaning as far as I'm concerned but that line is the epitome. Another one that is really good is "Texans don't drink coffee?" To me, this line really means, Texans (or Your Texan, to be exact) don't act the way that's expected of them?
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Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2006, 08:55:22 pm »
Okay, can't resist another one. This line is "You bet." It's written not spoken, on a post card Ennis sends to Jack in response to Jack's post card asking him to "tell me if your there." To me it means, "Let's throw caution to the wind" or "let's take a chance." Or...it could mean "if you take a chance by coming here, I will take your bet and see you one hell of a kiss." I could go farther, but I guess I should stop there.
 :)
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Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2006, 09:11:30 pm »
-"I'm sending up a prayer of thanks... for you forgetting to bring that harmonica."  - can be translated into "I'm so thankful that you're back in my life."

-"For how long?"... "For as long as we can ride it."-  can be translated into "How long will our love last?"... "For as long as humanly possible." 

-"There ain't no reigns on this one" - can be translated into "I love you so much that I feel completely out of control when I'm around you."  Or it can be translated into "There's no way for us to control how society will view our relationship."  - Or when combined with the lines above... it can be translated into... "I'll love you for the rest of my life even though this situation makes me feel completely out of control." or "I can't help loving you forever even if we can't control our relationship the way we'd like due to societal pressures." etc.

-"all the traveling I've done is around a coffeepot looking for the handle."-  well, *ahem,* this can be translated into a fun sexual metaphor.  I will leave this up to the imagination.
 ;)
Or, it can be translated into... "I'm still trying to find myself and work my way out of my confusion about this relationship and/or my identity."
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2006, 12:09:04 am »
I love those translations, Amanda. And Mel, it would have never even occurred to me to translate "shit," but you're right! Same for you, Mikaela and Lee. BTW Lee, how do you explain the completely nonsequitor coffee line that preceeds that one? (I think of it as a Larry McMurtry Texas in-joke, but maybe there's something more to it.)

"That fire and brimstone crowd? No thanks."
1) Most obvious: he doesn't want to hang out with judgmental churchy types
2) Pretty obvious: he doesn't want to hang out with churchy types who would judge him harshly if they knew he was gay.
3) Least obvious: he doesn't want to hang out with anybody, because the whole world would judge him harshly if people "suspected."

"Um, it's a pretty short story. I was only on that bronc for about three seconds, and next thing you know I was flyyyying through the air. Only I wasn't no angel like you girls."
1) Most obvious: an entertaining fatherly tale.
2) Least obvious: a metaphor for his relationship with Jack. It went by in what seemed like three seconds, and next thing you know he was flying off the mountain and crashing to the ground. And if he wasn't a sinner beforehand, he sure wasn't no angel afterward.

« Last Edit: June 15, 2006, 08:40:31 am by latjoreme »

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2006, 12:25:14 am »
Very good Katherine. 

OK~
-"Jack F***ing Twist" can be translated perhaps 3 ways for the 3 times we hear Ennis utter this-
1) the reunion- "Jack F***ing Twist" = "little darlin"
2) the "maybe Texas" camping trip- "Jack F***ing Twist" = "little darlin, I'm so frustrated that you keep bringing up the issue of living together... but I'm mostly frustrated because I can't visualize a way of making that happen."
3) the argument scene- "Jack F***ing Twist"= "little darlin, the thought of you seeing other men makes me incredibly jealous because I love you and now I feel threatened and worried."
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Offline nakymaton

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2006, 12:34:22 am »
They really express the relationship in rodeo metaphors, don't they? Both As long as we can ride it... there ain't no reins on this one. and Ennis's description of his saddle bronc career. (I'm very impressed with Ennis's ability to keep up the happy face for his girls during that story... it must just ache to talk about rodeos, given how Ennis associates rodeos with Jack.)

Along that line, how about This ain't no rodeo, cowboy in what became the angry tussle?

(1) Affectionate teasing, going back to that first time when Ennis opened up to Jack.

(2) This ain't a game; this is serious.

(3) But I wanted to ride you for more than eight seconds!

About the Texans and coffee: tell you what, I laughed at that line when I heard it in the theater, because it seemed like gratuitous Texan-bashing. ("You wouldn't want him in here; he's a Texan, and you just can't tell what they'll do." In my corner of the world, Texans have a reputation for driving rental jeeps off of trails until they're stuck somewhere on a cliff and need rescuing.) But maybe a more realistic interpretation is "You have no idea how incoherent I get when I'm post-coital." ;)

And yeah, Lee, "You bet" sure means a lot of different things. I particularly like this one:
Quote
"if you take a chance by coming here, I will take your bet and see you one hell of a kiss."

(Just caught Amanda's while I was posting -- yes, totally agree about the "Jack F**** Twist!"s.)
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Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Double meanings: Lines that can be taken more than one way
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2006, 01:04:28 am »
They really express the relationship in rodeo metaphors, don't they? Both As long as we can ride it... there ain't no reins on this one. and Ennis's description of his saddle bronc career. (I'm very impressed with Ennis's ability to keep up the happy face for his girls during that story... it must just ache to talk about rodeos, given how Ennis associates rodeos with Jack.)

I know!  I've always thought that this was such a painful moment of repression.  We know that Ennis is dying to mention Jack somewhere in this conversation.  I mean, come on, Jack is his rodeo cowboy... and Jack even wins once in a while.  Plus riding bulls seems more exciting than riding broncs.

Quote
About the Texans and coffee: tell you what, I laughed at that line when I heard it in the theater, because it seemed like gratuitous Texan-bashing. ("You wouldn't want him in here; he's a Texan, and you just can't tell what they'll do." In my corner of the world, Texans have a reputation for driving rental jeeps off of trails until they're stuck somewhere on a cliff and need rescuing.) But maybe a more realistic interpretation is "You have no idea how incoherent I get when I'm post-coital." ;)

LOL!   :laugh: :laugh:
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