Okay... just watched Brokeback mt. **possible SPOILERS**

[Texasgal]

I have a few questions....

Was Jake gay?

Did Jake die of the "flat tire" or was he beat up, if he was...why?

I had a hard time understanding Ennis, was it just me?

BTW- I LOVED the movie, I thought it was beautiful.

[Cannikin]

1. God I wish I could quit you.

[Texasgal]

2. *giggle*

No answers to my burning questions? :P

[Cannikin]

3. I'm afraid I haven't seen it yet. I just know that line.

[Texasgal]

5. Oh DAMN YOU!

:spank: :P

Anyone?

[AirmensMom]

4. I haven't seen it yet.

We're a little behind schedule.:shrug:

Seems like it's a must-see, from what I've heard everyone else say. :hi:

[Texasgal]

8. It is truly a love story...

The cinematography is beautiful!

Yes... you need to see it!

[AirmensMom]

9. I'm a sucker for a good love story.

We'll buy it next time we go out. :bounce:

[Pale Blue Dot]

6. My take (definite spoilers):

Yes, Jake was gay. In fact, he was getting ready to move back to his father's ranch with the neighbor's husband, someone caught wind of it, and he was killed like the man that Ennis's father made him go to see the corpse of earlier.

Ennis mumbles a lot. I thought it was appropriate for his character. Heath Ledger was incredible.

[Texasgal]

10. Okay, that makes sense...

I wondered...

Wow... I guess I need to pay attention a little bit better. :)

[Arugula Latte]

13. I thought Jake Gyllenhall did a better job than Heath.

Heath was very good, but the mumbling was a little much for me. To coin a Seinfeldian term, he was an Over Mumbler.

[Texasgal]

14. I thought he was great..

But the charater was hard for me to understand. Was he just conflicted?

Yeah, the mumble was difficult,but I think it was all part of trying to define him... ofcourse, I wasn't able to figure that out!

[Cannikin]

7. OK....My S.O. says he was beaten, but the wife told the other guy

that it was the tire.

[Texasgal]

11. You need to see it...

It really is a beautiful story...

[Cannikin]

12. I'll do that very soon

[Canadian Socialist]

15. That was filmed where I live

here in Alberta. And yes, it really is that beautiful here.

[Texasgal]

16. God... it IS beautiful!

Now I must go and VISIT!!!

[Canadian Socialist]

19. Please do!

If you're from Texas, best time to come would be during Stampede (1st week of July, usually).

With regards to the landscape, as my brother so eloquently puts it... it's just one goddamn majestic mountain scene after another. heee.

[Texasgal]

20. I cannot even begin to imagine

how beautiful that landscape is in person... WOW!

Lucky you... living in a place so gorgeous!

[ldf]

17. yes, jake character was gay, otherwise he wouldn't have made

the trips to mexico. and he wouldn't have been able to leave his wife, just for an occasional man on man fling. when he thought the situation had changed, he was REALLY looking forward to settling down with ennis.

and i think he was murdered, probably set up by "the wife" telling "daddy" who "had it taken care of", otherwise, why would we have gotten those flashes of the murder? i don't think ennis was projecting his childhood visions on his present. i think those were actual flashes of the murder.

it was such a depressing movie. very good, and REAL, but depressing. (in spite of the mumbling, which i frequently couldn't understand. but that was his character.)

[Texasgal]

21. Yes,, you are correct.. It was depressing

Beautifully made... but depressing...

I am glad I saw it.

[Left Is Write]

18. I did not see the movie, but I read the story.

I was left with the impression that Jack Twist was in fact beaten to death, murdered like the man Ennis had seen when he was a child.

[Misunderestimator]

22. 1. Of course. 2. Beaten by bigots 3. May not be just you, but...

it surprises me that you, being from Texas, didn't understand him. I understood every word... he sounded a lot like one of my brothers. I loved the movie too... it was absolutely beautiful. :hi:

[Texasgal]

25. Yeah...well...

I don't encounter too many mumblers here! LOL!! :P

I guess what I meant by not "understanding" him was that I had a hard time understanding the character... he seemed so conflicted.

What a sad way to live.. being in love with someone and no one being able to accept it... it's just so damn sad...

[izzybeans]

23. The implication was he was beaten and left for dead.

I couldn't understand him either. But he reminded me of every country boy I went to high school with. Great acting.

[AccessGranted]

24. My Answers (I Just Saw It Recently Also)

Jake was gay and wanted to own the fact that he was but lived in a world that was unaccepting so he attempted to stifle his gayness.

Jake was beaten up I believe by a bunch of gay-haters while he was changing a tire. They were kind of vague about that but the way his wife reacted when Ennis asked her how he died indicated that it was a reason that was scandalous and she seemed almost accusing. Also, they mentioned once or twice in the movie in discussing the fear of being open about being gay that the end result could be being killed or beaten by gay-haters.

I don't think Ennis was gay. I don't think he ever thought about being with another man before or after his relationship with Jake. I think he just fell in love with him as a person and it would not have mattered if he (Jake) was male or female. I think Ennis was just caught up in an empty, forced life and was trying to do what he believed was right or expected. I think that being with Jake freed his spirit in a way and it was the only time he ever felt whole and complete and felt the beautiful gift that life could be. I think that Jake saved his life in a way.

And I agree the movie was well done and beautiful.

[Kathryn STone]

27. good essay on the movie,there. I agree with all you said, AG

[xchrom]

29. if you think about it through the lens of

masculinity -- jack -- in an unprobable way was more masculine than ennis, and that's part of the fascination that draws us in.
ennis uses that western stoicism to escape the thing he can't face -- jack owns up to it.

just wanted to add to what you said.

the thing about a really good story well told -- there are lot's of things to to talk about -- it has real meaning.

[riderinthestorm]

26. I thought Ang Lee tried to make it clear that the times on Brokeback

were fairly serene, full of peace and love.

That's what clarified Ennis for me - his scenes with Alma were always tense and squalid and stark but he never strayed other than when he went to Brokeback. The scenes when he was on Brokeback however were always beautiful - I think Ang Lee was trying to show that for Ennis, his love for the Jake Gyllenhaal character was tangled up in that place. Heath Ledger played a guy who loved that one man, and who loved how they were there. I never got the sense that Ennis felt they could be a gay couple elsewhere thus I'm not sure Ennis was truly gay. Heath Ledger's character never sought out other gay partners.

But Jake's character was definitely gay. He was definitely seeking out gay sex elsewhere and with other partners.

[xchrom]

30. the message at the end of the movie was that he could.

it took jack's death to open that pathway for him.

that classic self denial is what failed him -- but the shirts redeem him.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. Can't say for SURE but it appears that Jake (Jack)? was beaten to

death in a homophobic act, like the one that Ennis had witnessed the aftermath of as a child.

The implication in the film is that the widow's story is probably the "official version" but is likely B.S. covering up the real, violent, circumstances of what was probably a murder and hate crime.

On Edit:

One of the things that I thought made this film so great... The scene where Ennis is bathing, or changing, and is nude, and Jack is whittling a stick or something, and never steals a glance sideways although we know he wants to. Just great little scenes like that...