I thought the portrayal of adultery in BBM was interestingly fuzzy, and all sorts of things can be read into it. My own take was that while the wife certainly perceived it to be adultery (actually, he loves someone else but OMFG, it's a man), I'm not sure that Ennis sees it as such. What the audience certainly sees is the awful, sapping effects on their relationship.
That's an excellent point that often isn't brought up, especially when people see it in terms of our own common distinctions of straight and gay. Ennis certainly seems to see his thing with Jack as a thing with Jack that's not like being married. I suspect he'd see cheating on Alma with a woman completely differently--and wouldn't do it. Likewise Ennis can have an affair with a rancher's wife but not a rancher. I'm sure it would be hard for him to explain, but it's not just a case of his rationalizing, imo. I'm glad you also brought up the love aspect (he LOVES someone else) because I think that both Lureen and Alma would have lived with their husbands occasionally sleeping with a woman that meant nothing to him. Part of the problem is the humiliation to the wife, the usurpation of her place.
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Date: 2006-01-06 06:19 pm (UTC)That's an excellent point that often isn't brought up, especially when people see it in terms of our own common distinctions of straight and gay. Ennis certainly seems to see his thing with Jack as a thing with Jack that's not like being married. I suspect he'd see cheating on Alma with a woman completely differently--and wouldn't do it. Likewise Ennis can have an affair with a rancher's wife but not a rancher. I'm sure it would be hard for him to explain, but it's not just a case of his rationalizing, imo. I'm glad you also brought up the love aspect (he LOVES someone else) because I think that both Lureen and Alma would have lived with their husbands occasionally sleeping with a woman that meant nothing to him. Part of the problem is the humiliation to the wife, the usurpation of her place.