Conventions Of Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is a western genre story and film that expresses a relationship between two male characters. Within this short story the reader sees the development of this relationship, while the movie is able to express emotions through expressions. The short story differs from the film in many ways, especially through emotions and relationships. There are significant changes between the short story and the movie that are shown through emotion and relationships that refer back to the idea of the western genre. The Western seems to be a flexible genre because it incorporates romance, action and also comedy. Western is a genre that is seen throughout stories, films, and even televisions shows. An important part of this genre is the atmosphere,
time and place. Usually Westerns tell a story that have taken place in the later nineteenth and twentieth century. The atmosphere is set upon mountain ranges in open land, and many times vast plains.
Within untamed frontiers, this genre often includes a conflict between the good guys and the bad guys. Many times, good guys are distinguished by their white hats, and the bad guys by their black or darker colored hats. Western genre also includes cowboys. These cowboys are usually seen wearing their hats, boots, denim and jeans. Both the story and film of Brokeback Mountain have introduced many of these ideas throughout their story making it a Western genre. In the short story, “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx, Ennis and Jack share a deep friendship together. This friendship was developed more throughout the short story, rather than the film. In the beginning of the story, Proulx focused more on the times that were shared between these two men, while the film Brokeback Mountain, seemed to rush through this. Earlier in the short story, when Jack and Ennis leave each other for the first time after since Brokeback Mountain, Ennis felt sick. Proulx described the way Ennis felt by saying, “He stopped at the side of the road and, in the whirling new snow, tried to puke but nothing came up. He felt about as bad as he ever had and it took a long time for the feeling to wear off” (Proulx 8). The movie however, was able to show how emotional Ennis was after this departure. Then as the story
continued, Jack and Ennis laid in bed together after four years of not seeing each other, at the Motel Siesta. Jack explains to Ennis, “When we split up after we got paid out I had gut cramps so bad I pulled over and tried to puke, thought I ate somethin bad at that place in Dubois. Took me about a year a figure out it was that I shouldn’t a let you out a my sights” (Proulx 12). The short story went into more detail about this night spent at the motel, while the movie did not. This scene shows the close bond that Jack and Ennis shared. It was able to compare the feelings that both of the boys had for each other, and you see that they had felt the same. Although the story shows the connection between these men, the film was able to show just how strong this connection was through emotion. The film was able to make up for the missing scene at the motel through the emotions that Jack and Ennis portrayed on their faces. As the intimate scenes approached, you see how strong this relationship is. This scene was able to express the love relationship between the two men, as the romantic camp fire lighting glistened, and the softness of the mens touch. The way they look at each other is something the short story was unable to achieve. The movie was also able to show the strong emotion Ennis felt for Jack after his passing. The last scene that was add to the movie helped prove how much Ennis really did care for Jack. Ennis had taken Jacks flannel, that he had found in the bottom of his closet. In this part of the film, you see just how much Ennis truly misses Jack because he had the flannel hanging on the door in his closet. This flannel was the one that Jack wore during their fist fight. Ennis looks back to this flannel in the last scene, showing the feelings he had for Jack were still there. The short story and the film both accomplished making the reader feel something, especially when Jack says to Ennis, “I wish I knew how to quit you” (Proulx 20). In this part of the movie, you can see how Jack’s words mean so much. He speaks with such emotion and from the bottom of his heart. In the short story when you read this scene, you are only given Ennis’s reaction. Through both the film and the short story, you can tell how much both these men mean to each other, and the movie did a better job of showing that. However, the short story did a better job in showing the development of this relationship. As a reader, you don’t really see much of Ennis and Jack’s wives throughout the short story. Proulx doesn’t acknowledge them as important characters in the story. However, the movie gave Alma, Ennis’s wife, and Lureen, Jack’s wife, more of a role. By giving them such a strong role throughout the movie, the reader is able to see how much Jack and Ennis’s relationship affected their lives away from each other. You can see the difference in the relationships the men and their wives shared, compared to the relationship the two men shared. Ennis seems to have more of an excitement when he’s about to hang out with Jack and doesn’t acknowledge Alma the way he should. In the short story Alma goes to reach in her pocket for money and Ennis already guessed she was going to ask for him to pick up cigarettes just to bring him back sooner. She goes to ask him for smokes, “ “Ennis--” said Alma in her misery voice, but that didn’t slow him down on the stairs and he called back, “Alma, you want smokes there’s some in the pocket a my blue shirt in the bedroom.”” (Proulx 10). Ennis quickly left after saying that and in the short story, that was the last you see of Alma for a while. The film however, showed Alma crying after Ennis left, making her more of an important character. In doing so , you see that Jack seems more important to Ennis than his own wife does. The film also added a scene in which Jack and Lureen are sitting at the table and Lureen’s father is not getting along with Jack well. Jack seems like he does not want to take anyone’s attitude anymore because he is upset about what has happened between him and Ennis. He quickly snaps at the father, and shows that he is the man of the house and what he and his wife say, goes. In this scene you see how much of this relationship between Ennis and Jack affected Jack. Affected him enough that he showed it throughout his household. The short story mentioned a small part Jack’s wife is in and how it shows that Jack and Ennis’s relationship together meant a lot to Jack. “ “...He used to say he wanted to be cremated, ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain. I didn’t know where that was. So he was cremated, like he wanted, and like I say, half his ashes was interred here, and the rest I sent up to his folks” (Proulx 22). This line spoken by Lureen, goes to show the reader that Jack really never stopped thinking of Ennis, he brought the memories of Brokeback Mountain everywhere he went. These memories really meant a lot to Jack. The film added more to the story by giving the wives more of a part. Giving them an important role, the audience was able to see the difference in the relationship between each character. Being able to see emotions throughout the film and short story, is something that makes the audience sympathize with the characters. In the film, the audience has more of a visual of the main characters making it easier to see the way Jack and Ennis look at each other and how they act towards their wives. In the short story, the readers has a more developed image in their minds of the men’s friendship and how each of them felt after leaving one another. Although the movie is able to show many emotions through facial expressions, the short story is able to give the reader a feel of how close Ennis and Jack really are.