Topic: Alcohol and the boys.

[Brokeback_1]

It was all a facade. When Jack died she fell apart. there are clueds like the fingernail polish, etc, the catch in her voice when she realised just who and what ennis WAS. She was about as charitable to ennis as any wife might be to 'the other <wo>man". Cause that's what ennis was.

But i am way OT

[tpe]

I had wondered if even Lureen drank a lot.  Not as much as Jack, perhaps... But she certainly smoked a lot.  If Jack became increasingly alcoholic, one would think that there would have been no dearth of alcoholic beverages in the house...

Jack never seemed to have become violent or abusive to Lureen.  This is quite telling.  Of course, one does not have to be violently drunk to be an alcoholic, and yet it would seem that the most we can accuse him (and her!) is to develop an indifference as far as the marriage waqs concerned.

[Brokeback_1]

I wondered that myself thomas, but it looks as if she retreated into ever-blonder varieties of Miss Clairol instead....although at Thanksgiving that glass of white wine WAS prominently displayed inf ront of her! Even her wine was blonde lolol. And that BLOUSE. Even as a guy, what the hell was that woman thinking??

[welshwitch]

The blonde/blonder/blondest hair and Jack's drinking seem to me to be aspects of the same thing - escape from aging, loneliness, emotional emptiness. Ennis also escapes via alcohol, whereas Alma escapes into a different life. Alcohol has always been a more acceptable escape mechanism for men than for women, I think.

[manhattangirl]

I wondered that myself thomas, but it looks as if she retreated into ever-blonder varieties of Miss Clairol instead....although at Thanksgiving that glass of white wine WAS prominently displayed inf ront of her! Even her wine was blonde lolol. And that BLOUSE. Even as a guy, what the hell was that woman thinking??

The blonde/blonder/blondest hair and Jack's drinking seem to me to be aspects of the same thing - escape from aging, loneliness, emotional emptiness. Ennis also escapes via alcohol, whereas Alma escapes into a different life. Alcohol has always been a more acceptable escape mechanism for men than for women, I think.

This is my idea.  Could it be Lureen was trying to reassure herself of her womanhood.    Though it was never really touch upon, Lureen was trying prove that she was still an attractive,  desired woman.  As time when on, and Jack's deepening relationship with Ennis, had to an effect on the marriage, most importantly the most intimate part of the marriage.  Her ever changing hair color, is the a sign of the ever widening gap between her and Jack. and Jack's drinking stems out wanting the one he loved, and couldn't have, and watching Ennis waging a war against himself.   

[welshwitch]

I had a mental picture of the touch-me-not hair-do carefully arranged on a pillow, and Jack, probably smelling of whiskey, being discouraged from approaching. I wonder if Lureen wondered what caused Jack to drink so much, or perhaps she didn;t worry as long as it kept him out of her hair - literally!

[Brokeback_1]

I had a mental picture of the touch-me-not hair-do carefully arranged on a pillow, and Jack, probably smelling of whiskey, being discouraged from approaching. I wonder if Lureen wondered what caused Jack to drink so much, or perhaps she didn;t worry as long as it kept him out of her hair - literally!

Now THAT is a mental picture which will haunt me from now on. <shudders>

[tpe]

I wondered that myself thomas, but it looks as if she retreated into ever-blonder varieties of Miss Clairol instead....although at Thanksgiving that glass of white wine WAS prominently displayed inf ront of her! Even her wine was blonde lolol. And that BLOUSE. Even as a guy, what the hell was that woman thinking??

OT: Yes, she did seem to have her own insecurities and addictions!  She and Jack were well-matched...

[welshwitch]

The early examples of drinking - in the bar the first day they met, up on the mouintain, may also have been a macho thing, each wanting to impress the other with how much he could drink?

Drinking is also a way of constructing a barrier from someone you're with and don't specially want to be - drinking as a wayof turning your back on someone (metaphorically). Ennis does this with Alma and  maybe Jack does with Lureen.

[tpe]

The early examples of drinking - in the bar the first day they met, up on the mouintain, may also have been a macho thing, each wanting to impress the other with how much he could drink?

Drinking is also a way of constructing a barrier from someone you're with and don't specially want to be - drinking as a wayof turning your back on someone (metaphorically). Ennis does this with Alma and  maybe Jack does with Lureen.

It is related to the desire to forget, I suppose.  Alcohol provides the ability to forget and not be bothered by oneself or others...

 

[welshwitch]

I think it's a bit more hostile than that - drinking in front of someone, specially when they aren't, is a way of saying you're not even interested enough in them to stay sober. It also implies that you have something you want to escape from, and that could include them.

[tpe]

I think it's a bit more hostile than that - drinking in front of someone, specially when they aren't, is a way of saying you're not even interested enough in them to stay sober. It also implies that you have something you want to escape from, and that could include them.

I see what you mean.  It is a mode of attack.  The weakness becomes a weapon in and of itself...

[Brokeback_1]

^^WHAT THEY SAID!!!

[tpe]

^^WHAT THEY SAID!!!

Sorry, Brokeback_1, if  that was a bit cryptic.

I guess what I was trying to say is that people use their being drunk also as a weapon.  IN a sense, it can be a form of agression, especially to those who would have to deal with the consequences.

 

[Brokeback_1]

no, I was agreeing with the 2 of you!

[welshwitch]

Good I like people who agree with me! I know, 

[tpe]

no, I was agreeing with the 2 of you!

OT: Thanks, Brokeback_1.  Sorry, I am sometimes not very sure if my posts become a bit opaque sometimes.