The post-divorce scene observations

[ednbarby]

At the request of a very dear friend, I am hereby starting a thread on this topic that I just hinted at over at Jake Jake Jake! but that really doesn't belong there.

This picture was posted:



and a discussion about the wardrobe choices there led me to say that I liked how it seemed as if Jack had picked out all his spiffiest, shiniest things to don to go claim his prize - the trophy belt buckle, the laced leather jacket (I don't care what you say, Pipedream - I think it's *hot* ), a crisp new hat, a shirt in his very best color...  When I went back to look at the picture again (how can ya help it?), I noticed that that shirt is not completely solid - there is a faint pattern on it in the same shade of brown as the jacket and hat.  And this, I think, is only one of two times that Jack ever wears a patterned shirt, the other being when he goes back to Aguirre's trailer to look for Ennis the next summer after Brokeback.  Similarly, his clothes are layered, though not quite as much - for protection.  So he was going to claim his prize but felt vulnerable about it from the beginning.

Thoughts?

[ednbarby]

Ooh - and something else I just noticed.  Look how he's fingering that wedding band.  Wow.  Could these guys have gotten any more subtle?

Where's that number for the f***ing Academy?   

Sorry.  I digress.  Anyway, there he is ready to give it all up for Ennis, but when Ennis starts to pull away (I wonder where exactly in the scene he's doing this - right after Ennis stops to fret about the truck in the distance?  Or right after he says his bit about "I don't know what to say...  I got the girls this weekend.  I missed last month..."), his subconscious reaction is to worry the thing that is the symbol of the lie Ennis is forcing them to live.

God, I love this movie.

[tamarack]

...a crisp new hat in Ennis's color, no less.

I've been so busy watching Ennis in this scene that I have barely noticed any of these things before. You guys are amazing! I wonder how many times you have to watch and how many times you have to discuss it before this movie stops being new anymore?!

[Front-Ranger]

I was so excited to see his shirt because I own one almost exactly like it, and it's from the Rockmount Western Wear store in Denver that supplied the famous shirts for the movie. Mine is a dark blue and you can't really tell if it's blue or black until you're up close. The stripe is what's called a "chalk stripe" in white, very subtle. This is a cowboy dress shirt. Definitely you are right on in saying Jack's dressing up almost like for a weddin. My shirt has white pearl snaps, square and set diagonally, which are called diamond snaps. Interesting yoke treratment and triangular pocket stitching. The diagonal shape is like a mountain and these shapes are attractive to a person on a quest. The lacing reminds us of the time when Jack said, "Let's git less you want to sit around tying knots all day." As we know, Jack came up there so they could git together, but Ennis wanted to tie knots still. 

[fernly]

I was wondering about the wedding band. Why wouldn't Jack have removed it, if not in Childress, at least on the drive north?
Having it still on his hand, though, gives that visual of one kind of knot-tying that he thought Ennis was done with, only to find out he's not done with any of them knots.
Though Ennis does introduce Jack to his daughters at least...

[jpwagoneer1964]

At the request of a very dear friend, I am hereby starting a thread on this topic that I just hinted at over at Jake Jake Jake! but that really doesn't belong there.

This picture was posted:



   And this, I think, is only one of two times that Jack ever wears a patterned shirt, the other being when he goes back to Aguirre's trailer to look for Ennis the next summer after Brokeback.  Similarly, his clothes are layered, though not quite as much - for protection.  So he was going to claim his prize but felt vulnerable about it from the beginning.

Thoughts?

Jack also wears a plaid shirt on the first campout "it could be like this..."under his jacket, similar to ennis's other shirt at Brokeback.

[Brown Eyes]

Wow!  Great thread!  I have little to add, but I definitely agree that Jack got all dressed up for the post divorce visit.  I've always noticed that the jacket is special and everything he's wearing appears crisp and fresh.  Oh, poor Jack.
 

[opinionista]

I'm not sure if Jack thought about dressing up to meet Ennis. I think Jake's wardrobe in this scene means to show what Jack was willing to give up. He was definitely getting used to a life where he had everything he wanted, yet he would just throw all that away, and go back to being poor as long as he was with Ennis. I know he had plans to open a ranch, but not all ranches make money. Also, it will probably be a few years before they actually begin profiting from a ranch, if they ever bought one.

If you really look at this scene, there's a strong contrast in it. Jack driving rather fast into the driveway, pulling off at once, happy and joyful, willing to start a new life right there. And as the rich man he is, he's wearing expensive clothes, a nice texan jacket, a good hat and is driving a new truck. However, all you see around him is an old house, a beat up truck, and a man dressed in old clothes. I think that's what the fancy clothes means: Jack's will to give it all up for Ennis.

[jpwagoneer1964]

I'm not sure if Jack thought about dressing up to meet Ennis. I think Jake's wardrobe in this scene means to show what Jack was willing to give up. He was definitely getting used to a life where he had everything he wanted, yet he would just throw all that away, and go back to being poor as long as he was with Ennis. I know he had plans to open a ranch, but not all ranches make money. Also, it will probably be a few years before they actually begin profiting from a ranch, if they ever bought one.

Good point!!!

[Jeff Wrangler]

Sorry, don't mean to sound grumpy, but since this is a serious discussion of wardrobe and its relation to what's going on in the scene, I'll ask: Is that jacket leather? It doesn't look like leather to me. Looks like a little leather reinforcement at the edge of the pocket (visible under Jack's left arm), but I don't know about the jacket.