It could be this way...

[Brown Eyes]

Heya,

For some reason this question has occurred to me recently and I thought I might as well start a thread about it to see where we can go with it.

I think probably most of us regard the lines from Jack - "You know, it could be this way.  Just like this, always" - during the prayer-of-thanks camping trip during the reunion as a particularly romantic and hopeful set of lines.

I was thinking about the fundamental ambiguity of the way those lines are actually written.  What is the "this" in these lines?  How is Jack imagining the scenario he's proposing to Ennis?  Besides the literal proposal of starting a cow and calf operation... how do we imagine Jack would explain the "this" in his sentences?  Is this Jack's version of Ennis's somewhat equivalent statement about "this thing" that goes on between himself and Jack (what we often assume to mean attraction and/or love)?

And, it also occurs to me that Jack's sentences here are very poignant since, the actual scenario of this particular reunion camping trip is how it ends up being for Jack and Ennis on a more or less permanent basis.  The meeting-up in secret in the middle of nowhere... means like it will be "like this always" for the relationship... obviously well-short of what Jack really hopes for.

[Front-Ranger]

I don't have the movie with me, but as I recall, Ennis was layin' back, looking up at the stars and smiling, and I imagine Jack was just ecstatic at the simple happiness of it all...just the two of them by the fire with the roaring water beside them. So when he said, "It could be like this, just like this, always" I thought he was referring to them being together like they were on top of Brokeback. They always used pronouns instead of verboten words like love, destiny, forever, and together. No instruction manual needed. They both knew what "it" meant.

[Monika]

My interpretation is similar to Lee's


I think Jack meant "this" to mean the two of them being alone together, away from everyone and everything else. "A little cow and calf operation" does sound like something that would ensure them privacy.

What always breaks my heart in this scene is how relaxed and happy Jack looks. It´s a rare moment.

[Katie77]

My interpretation is.........the IT means US or WE........We could be like this always.....the THIS meaning, comfortable, happy, nothing to worry about, just the two of us to worry about.

It was very close to the equivalent of a proposal......and also it was Jack's way of making Ennis think, that what he was feeling did not have to be just a temporary thing, it could be permanent.

[Lynne]

This is unquestionably one of my very favorite scenes in the movie.  The look of contentment and awe as Ennis gazes up 'into the heavens', Jack's hopeful proposal...For a minute (or less), all seems right and like it could stay that way.  Then it becomes one of my very least favorite scenes, when Ennis dashes Jack's dream, telling the story of Earl and Rich.  Jack reaches out to Ennis, though...he understands how damaged Ennis was by that childhood trauma.

[Katie77]

This is unquestionably one of my very favorite scenes in the movie.  The look of contentment and awe as Ennis gazes up 'into the heavens', Jack's hopeful proposal...For a minute (or less), all seems right and like it could stay that way.  Then it becomes one of my very least favorite scenes, when Ennis dashes Jack's dream, telling the story of Earl and Rich.  Jack reaches out to Ennis, though...he understands how damaged Ennis was by that childhood trauma.

Isn't that the truth........Actually, when you think of it, it was Jack who was always positive and Ennis who was always negative.

[Brown Eyes]

Thanks for these great responses Buds!

This is unquestionably one of my very favorite scenes in the movie.  The look of contentment and awe as Ennis gazes up 'into the heavens', Jack's hopeful proposal...For a minute (or less), all seems right and like it could stay that way.  Then it becomes one of my very least favorite scenes, when Ennis dashes Jack's dream, telling the story of Earl and Rich.  Jack reaches out to Ennis, though...he understands how damaged Ennis was by that childhood trauma.

I very much agree with your reactions to the scene.  This is how I tend to think about it too.

I don't have the movie with me, but as I recall, Ennis was layin' back, looking up at the stars and smiling, and I imagine Jack was just ecstatic at the simple happiness of it all...just the two of them by the fire with the roaring water beside them. So when he said, "It could be like this, just like this, always" I thought he was referring to them being together like they were on top of Brokeback. They always used pronouns instead of verboten words like love, destiny, forever, and together. No instruction manual needed. They both knew what "it" meant.

And, I also agree that the meaning of Jack's emotions and sentences here seem very easy to understand on some kind of gut level for most viewers.  

But, I'm still struck a-new at how the actual words of his sentence (just simply looking at the vocabulary used) hardly say anything.  "It"... "could".. "this" and "way"... are all such undefined terms.  They're either conditional ("could") or refer to something outside the sentences themselves.  Pretty amazing writing when you think about it... that combined with the acting and sentiment of the story, that something so vaguely written could convey something so powerful and somehow seemingly concrete.

I don't think many of us have much doubt about what Jack means here, and it's pretty incredible that that's the case given the actual structure of the writing.

[fernly]

And, it also occurs to me that Jack's sentences here are very poignant since, the actual scenario of this particular reunion camping trip is how it ends up being for Jack and Ennis on a more or less permanent basis.  The meeting-up in secret in the middle of nowhere... means like it will be "like this always" for the relationship... obviously well-short of what Jack really hopes for.

So, and so sadly, true. Thank you for a stunning new insight on this pivotal scene. The collective impact of the dreams shattered in this scene...Jack's expressed dream, Earl's and Rich's too-short-lived dream, and Ennis never-hardly-dared dream...is now added to by the awful prescience of Jack's words. That the wish rejected by Ennis, is actually granted (at least the painful literal meaning of it). What's the saying...don't wish for something, you might just get it.

[Brown Eyes]

Thanks Fernly.

It's interesting how much this proposal by Jack relies on the viewer's imagination to fill in the blanks.  It also indicates a level of perceived certainty on Jack's part when it comes to having a sense of Ennis's feelings and level of interest in the relationship.  We as viewers see so little of their romantic interaction on Brokeback in '63 after the "happy tussle"... that we as viewers begin to make assumptions and imagine how things must have been between the two of them once they became lovers.  And, clearly, beyond the reunion kiss and motel rendez-vous, Jack has nothing more to go on (beyond what they established in '63) to have a sense about Ennis's emotions.  And, yet, he seems so confident in this "it could be this way..." proposal.  I think that confidence in understanding the nuances of the relationship transfers to the viewer.  But, still given the total ambiguity of the sentences themselves, each viewer could be assuming (with a lot of certainty) something completely different from other viewers.