Why do some of you think Ennis was not a chauvinist? Most men were like that during the 1960's, so it's pretty much expected that both Ennis and Jack behave that way too.
Like many viewers, the Ennis/Jack scenes hold my interest more than the others; but one scene I thought was remarkable was the one where Ennis and Alma are still living outside Riverton, he comes home from work and is trying to tend to the two crying babies at once. Didn't notice this in the first few viewings for some reason, but Alma doesn't even ask Ennis to look in on the children; he just goes and does it and looks rather tired and harried but not really unhappy about that. And in the next scene, it's obvious that he's the one who puts the kids to bed at least part of the time.
I remember the early and mid-1960s very clearly, and believe me, that wasn't typical behavior for a young husband. Ennis is very much a man of his era in his view of his own sexuality but the way he's shown in those two scenes is quite remarkable for that time.
There's also his going into the kitchen and offering to help Alma after Thanksgiving dinner - not typical either, even for the late 1970s. Just five or so years ago, The Husband and I were dinner guests at Thanksgiving and the husband piled up the plates in front of the wife and me, invited my husband into the next room for TV and said "I'll leave you girls to clean up." I'm afraid I wasn't, um, too gracious about it.
