Author Topic: Honest criticism welcome  (Read 2844 times)

moremojo

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Honest criticism welcome
« on: January 19, 2007, 07:20:10 pm »
I touched on this topic briefly earlier today on my blog, but also wanted to post here as well to better promote the ideas I touched on there.

This is the situation: A good friend of mine watched Brokeback Mountain on DVD not too long ago, having been informed by me how much the film had affected me, and of how much it meant to me. He knew I was anxious for him to see it as well, and to learn what his impressions were.

He did enjoy the film, and was pleasantly surprised by the excellence of the performances, especially commending Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, and Anne Hathaway. His tastes run towards more stylized forms of cinema, but within the range of naturalistic/realistic filmmaking, he found the movie to be throroughly accomplished.

He did hint at some opinions that might not resonate as warmly with me, but upon my reassuring him that I was interested in everything he had to say, he went on to share that he did not find Jack and Ennis appealing as people, within the framework of the fictional universe they inhabit. Ascharacters operating within a fiction, he found them quite effective, and praised director Ang Lee for conveying a story that was all the more powerful for its characters being flawed human beings. But he did not find the characters attractive, and Ennis, in particular, he saw as someone who in real life he would go to great lengths to avoid.

My friend added that he found it unlikely that those claiming great affection for and/or attraction to Ennis and Jack would be as enthusiastic or sympathetic were we to encounter these men in real life. As someone who has felt great love towards Ennis in particular, I have pondered my friend's comments, and felt uneasy in the reflection that he very well may be right. There is so much about Ennis that is, at least on the face of things, unappealing: his emotional obtuseness, his lack of articulation, his willingness to deceive/betray others in order to pursue fulfillment, his propensity for violence, and his homophobia. Were I to encounter someone like Ennis in the real world, it is quite likely that he would view me, insofar as he considered me at all, with contempt or misunderstanding, and I would likewise most probably see little if anything to cultivate in knowing such a man. And yet it is no small measure of Annie and Ang's achievement that Ennis finds such warm refuge in so many hearts, perhaps awakening us to the fuller humanity of those who we might previously have disregarded. It is, at any rate, an interesting thing to ponder, and I thank my friend for opening this perception more acutely in my consciousness.

I go on at such length to basically say that observations and perceptions such as my friend's that might be called 'negative' or 'critical' can be of great insight and usefulness. I don't think such comments, if honestly felt and sincerely offered, should be shunned or discouraged. Indeed, all honest criticism can hone our own understanding by challenging our own biases and preferences. In the process, we and the artistic/cultural phenomenon called Brokeback Mountain can emerge all the stronger and clearer, and our lives thus indelibly enriched. I welcome all commentary on the story and film, covering the entire conceivable spectrum of emotional and intellectual engagement, and it is for this that I post this message.

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Honest criticism welcome
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2007, 07:49:45 pm »
Hi dear eloquent Scott,

I have thought about this too.  Particularly when I want to console Ennis to the best of my ability, I occasionally muse on how unwelcome my attentiveness would likely be.  You think he might not care much for you - I'm an urban woman.  And sometimes I think how appalled he would be at the scrutiny he has received from so many people.

When we were on IMDb, for a while my sig line was, "Ain't nobody's business but ours - and our IMDb friends."  I think I kept that as my sig line for only a few days, because while it was funny and cute, it was also insensitive to the horror I'm aware Ennis, and maybe Jack too, would have felt had he known we were paying so much attention.

It's sort of like the movie The Truman Show and sort of like the recent Stranger than Fiction.  Characters who become aware that they are characters.  We are kinda sorta Ennis's worst nightmare, and all we want is to love him.


moremojo

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Re: Honest criticism welcome
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2007, 08:06:10 pm »
We are kinda sorta Ennis's worst nightmare, and all we want is to love him.
So true, Clarissa. Ennis (and maybe even Jack) would be mortified were he to realize how much knowledge we have of the men's secret, private world. He can't even open up to his own daughter, who clearly loves him, in regard to this central and defining experience of his life. He is a man who, for whatever array of reasons, inspires love in others (Jack, Alma, Alma, Jr., and Cassie, at the very least), but is so stunted in his ability to embrace and nurture the relationships that others seek in him.

I usually see us (the receptive viewers) as becoming like Ennis by the end, in that we, like him, remain haunted by the memories of Jack and Brokeback, but insofar as we feel sympathy for Ennis, we might be more like Jack, wishing for resolution that will never come. In pat psychological terms, this might even be viewed as a kind of codependent mentality, though such a term does not do justice to the spiritual depths inherent in the story.

squashcourt

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Re: Honest criticism welcome
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2007, 08:46:04 pm »
OK, I'll throw in my view -

Most of us come from different backgrounds and lifestyles. including education, than Jack and Ennis.  Don't forget that was in 1963 ( I wasn't even born then).

The two characters come from a poverty background with not much of an education to their credit.

They articulated in their own ways to show their friendship and eventual a love that lasted even after Jack's death.  The last scene in the movie is Ennis's undeniable love for his friend Jack. 

To me, words can sometimes be meaningless; but just a simple soft glance or a protective gesture is more convincing.

Affectionately,

Pierre -  ;)



moremojo

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Re: Honest criticism welcome
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2007, 09:07:31 pm »
Hi, Pierre, and thanks for your reply! It is true that these characters originate from backgrounds quite different from my own, and, however much I would wish otherwise, I do think these kinds of formational differences can create veritable gulfs between people, even in the realm of friendship. I think that a real-life Ennis would find little of interest or appeal in the concerns of my world, as I'm certain that much of his attitudes and behaviors would strike me as alien and even, at times, offensive.

And yet I thank the film for making me more conscious and sympathetic towards this very different milieu. The film has made me receptive to country-and-Western music to a degree I had never before evinced, and has awoken an interest in the Western heritage of my home state of Texas, a subject in which I was heretofore largely and blithely ignorant. And I do feel love for Jack and Ennis, these rough-and-tumble cowboys, whose erotic appeal would have always spoken to me as a gay man, but whose inner lives I would never have as fully apprehended were it not for this sensitive and inspired work of art.

I really like what you wrote here:
To me, words can sometimes be meaningless; but just a simple soft glance or a protective gesture is more convincing.
I, who tend to live in a world of words, am reminded by this that words, however sweet, can sometimes lie, while the true look or touch can speak more persuasively and deeply than any verbal litany. Thank you for this.

In BBM comradeship,
Scott

injest

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Re: Honest criticism welcome
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2007, 11:47:43 am »
Garry says that the story of Brokeback Mountain is one that won't hit you unless you are in a place in your life where you CAN hear it....

I think that is why some people don't 'get' it like we do....they just aren't in that place in their lifes.

Also, for me, it took seeing the movie a couple of times for it to really get under my skin...

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

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Re: Honest criticism welcome
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2007, 03:53:29 pm »
I have been struck by the differences betwixt the Ennis and Jack of the short story, and Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal's portrayal's in the movie. The make up folks did a good job aging them, but in real life they may have been so plain and not to have turned a head. In Jack's case he comes across as appearing somewhat goofy.

I agree with your friend Scott, I think Ennis would have been incosolable because of the person he was. I welcome a fresh perspective too.
"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."