Sheffield Marie N.

Maravilla GED109_A12

Film Review: Brokeback Mountain

"There were two old guys shacked up together. They were the joke of the town, even

though they were pretty tough old birds. One day they were found beaten to death.

Ennis says: "My dad, he made sure me and my brother saw it. For all I know, he did it."

-Ennis Del Mar from the film Brokeback Mountain in 2005.

This childhood memory is always present in Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain,"

like a ghost in the room, because Ennis was taught to hate his own feelings when his

father taught him to hate homosexuals. Ennis was one of the film's main characters; he

was a 19-year-old male from Riverton who was already engaged to Alma Beers when

he met Jack Twist, also a 19-year-old male from Texas who had homosexual feelings

for Ennis. They were both raised on a ranch. Despite his obsession with the glamorous

rodeo society, Jack Twist is a little wealthier than Ennis.

At first, the relationship between Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar began as a

professional one. They both consider themselves a worker who just needs to look after

the sheep. After several days they became friends and unexpectedly something

happened between them. At first, they denied that neither two of them are queer.

However as they spend more time in the mountain, it progressed to a platonic love that

was too deep to end there and eventually blossomed into an uncommonly deep and

broad romantic love. They part ways at the end of the summer of 1963 and do not

reunite for another four years. By the time they meet again, they are both married with

children, but their romance is reignited, and they reunite every summer in the Wyoming

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mountains for several years, all the while remaining in their respective homes and lives,

Ennis in Wyoming and Jack in Texas.

3. Using the lens of Gender Fluidity, explain in your own words the acceptability and the
normality of their relationship assuming that it happened at the present time. What are
your ethical and moral stand in this situation? Elaborate your stand using evidence-
based sources.

Throughout their first few days of working in the mountains, both men had

chemistry already going but they keep it just within themselves until one evening, Ennis

slept outside the tent and it went freezing, Jack offered Ennis to sleep inside the tent

and Jack grab Ennis hand unexpectedly and they’ve both released their emotions to run

wild. At first, I thought it happed just to satisfy human needs because it is natural. After

that scene, they both denied to themselves that they are not queer or anything This

befuddlement reflects their denial of their sexuality and fear of coming out as

homosexual gentlemen. Despite the fact that they had both stated openly that they were

not homosexual earlier in the day, they ended up making love and start sharing special

moments. This suggests that, despite what their thoughts suggest, they are sincerely

trying to connect and have become irresistible magnets drawn to one another by their

souls' desires.

At the end of the summer, their work in the mountains is already done, and they

bid farewell to each other having the opportunity to already express what they have felt

for each other. They have been busy with their own lives They married, Ennis to Alma

Beers, a grocery store employee, and Jack to Lureen Newsome, a wealthy Texas rodeo

cowgirl, and had their own family, with Ennis having two beautiful daughters and Jack

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having one son. The fact that Ennis and Jack choose to keep their feelings for another

man hidden while marrying a woman in order to follow society's rules is just one

example of the social norms depicted in this movie. Out of fear of the consequences,

they both put their personal feelings and desires aside and continue to have a "normal"

heterosexual relationship.

After 4 years, Jack continues to look and think for Ennis and gladly they reunited

and Jack visited Ennis’s home welcoming them with a warm hug and kiss. Ennis’ wife

Alma saw them kissing outside their house. The result of their hidden love and her

awareness is a ruined marriage that lasts far longer than it should. Alma harbors

resentment toward Ennis, and their marriage, which ends in divorce. For the past 20

years, Both of them have been going to Brokeback Mountain every few months to hide

their love behind the guise of a fishing trip. To have a genuine relationship with Ennis,

Jack speaks these words. Due to the incident with his father when he was a child,

Ennis' impression of being homosexual is fallible and perverted. Ennis is still haunted by

the events of that night, and he appears to believe that would be too complicated for

them to reconcile.

5. What are your three (3) learning insights after watching the film?