Topic: Why cremation?

[tpe]

I don't seem to recall, but I think that in the 1980s, cremation was no longer so exotic in the USA.  I suspect that he must have made the decision later in life, since I think that during the 1960s, people in the USA still had qualms about cremation -- am I correct?  The fear of cremation is rooted in the belief of bodily resurrection, and the notion that in cremation, regular fire touches the body and burns it in the usual way.

Cremation was convenient for lureen also.  

Here's a possible twist:

Perhaps Jack only commented that he wanted his ashes to be brought to BBM -- not literally, but in a way we express a desire to be buried in some place.  He could have meant cremation, or actual burial, perhaps, when he made such a comment.   I suspect that Jack didn't have a will, and that he only commented at one point to lureen that he wanted his ashes scattered on BBM.  But after the "accident", perhaps lureen thought it expedient to cremate the body, in order to hide the marks of violence and avert suspicion as to the nature of death.  

 

[vedrana]

I don't seem to recall, but I think that in the 1980s, cremation was no longer so exotic in the USA.  I suspect that he must have made the decision later in life, since I think that during the 1960s, people in the USA still had qualms about cremation -- am I correct?  The fear of cremation is rooted in the belief of bodily resurrection, and the notion that in cremation, regular fire touches the body and burns it in the usual way.

Cremation was convenient for lureen also.  

Here's a possible twist:

Perhaps Jack only commented that he wanted his ashes to be brought to BBM -- not literally, but in a way we express a desire to be buried in some place.  He could have meant cremation, or actual burial, perhaps, when he made such a comment.   I suspect that Jack didn't have a will, and that he only commented at one point to lureen that he wanted his ashes scattered on BBM.  But after the "accident", perhaps lureen thought it expedient to cremate the body, in order to hide the marks of violence and avert suspicion as to the nature of death.  

You always have a good reply tpe!

Do you believe that Lureen had something to do with jack's death? I can't believe so, cos she loved him at least at the beginning and for me it would be devastated that even the person Jack was living with was his enemy. I really hate to think that and it is hard for me to believe it.
Maybe she even didn't see his corps... :\'( , but only made a decision, not knowing about his (maybe) violent death.

[myprivatejack]

Even if it seems difficult to understand,I have just found this old topic today and it's rather interesting,IMO.I can't speak about if cremation was an usual costume in the rural America of the 80's ,but about Spain,it has been more usual even than the bury in the last years,but not so much in this time.
However,I suppose that Jack had spoken about this possibility as he had signed already a will,as a way of letting everything arranged for his wife and,above all,his son.Yes,he was young enough as not to think about this still,but,as Tammy has said,his way of living-travelling a lot and,even,why not?,thinking in some unlucky "accident" during his Mexico trips...-might perfectly oblige him to have all these questions already decided.And it could be a good excuse for Lureen in order that nobody could see the signals of his violent death-specially,if it was not a mere traffic accident...-,what maybe was then the most important thing for her.I think they were living far from each other enough the last years as not to be interested in the way Jack had his last home,if it's could be moreover a "problem" for her social status.
As regards to Jack's wishes to be cremated,well,as a matter of fact this would be the only way of being free in the only place he had felt happy and he had been himself.For an only and last time in his life,the wind runs in his favour...

[tpe]

You always have a good reply tpe!

Do you believe that Lureen had something to do with jack's death? I can't believe so, cos she loved him at least at the beginning and for me it would be devastated that even the person Jack was living with was his enemy. I really hate to think that and it is hard for me to believe it.
Maybe she even didn't see his corps... :\'( , but only made a decision, not knowing about his (maybe) violent death.

Well, in a separate thread about the subject, I did bring up the possibility that Lureen had something to do with Jack's death.  I don't recall exactly where it is at the moment, but the thread something like "How did Jack die" or something like this...

If she had something to do with Jack's death, then cremation would have been quite convenient, I guess...  It also ties in beautifully with his not informing Ennis about the death.  The explanation is that she didn't know his address.  But I wonder sometimes...

Conspiracy theories!   

[tpe]

Even if it seems difficult to understand,I have just found this old topic today and it's rather interesting,IMO.I can't speak about if cremation was an usual costume in the rural America of the 80's ,but about Spain,it has been more usual even than the bury in the last years,but not so much in this time.
However,I suppose that Jack had spoken about this possibility as he had signed already a will,as a way of letting everything arranged for his wife and,above all,his son.Yes,he was young enough as not to think about this still,but,as Tammy has said,his way of living-travelling a lot and,even,why not?,thinking in some unlucky "accident" during his Mexico trips...-might perfectly oblige him to have all these questions already decided.And it could be a good excuse for Lureen in order that nobody could see the signals of his violent death-specially,if it was not a mere traffic accident...-,what maybe was then the most important thing for her.I think they were living far from each other enough the last years as not to be interested in the way Jack had his last home,if it's could be moreover a "problem" for her social status.
As regards to Jack's wishes to be cremated,well,as a matter of fact this would be the only way of being free in the only place he had felt happy and he had been himself.For an only and last time in his life,the wind runs in his favour...

I think that like in Spain, rural America was just as conservative in this regard.  Things were changing in the 80s, but I suspect that most people still looked at cremation with some suspicion.

About the will -- I don't know.  I see your point about it being natural for him to mitigate risks.  But Lureen was really his partner in supporting the family -- perhaps the dominant partner, even.  And this is reflected by Jack's ready willingness to leave his family to live with Ennis -- he knew that Lureen could get by with the family business.  So I don't think that he ever wrote a will -- as is still common here in the US...

[vedrana]

Well, in a separate thread about the subject, I did bring up the possibility that Lureen had something to do with Jack's death.  I don't recall exactly where it is at the moment, but the thread something like "How did Jack die" or something like this...

If she had something to do with Jack's death, then cremation would have been quite convenient, I guess...  It also ties in beautifully with his not informing Ennis about the death.  The explanation is that she didn't know his address.  But I wonder sometimes...

Conspiracy theories!   

Well, anything is possible... but I hate to imagine him in so hostile environment that not only never accepted him, but also have him killed finally! Uh, when it comes to Jack... :\'(

Anyway, for me it's logical that Jack didn't share Ennis' address with Lureen. I mean, we can really speculate huge here, but I don't believe that she has anything to do with his dead (if he's been murdered).

[vedrana]

I think that like in Spain, rural America was just as conservative in this regard.  Things were changing in the 80s, but I suspect that most people still looked at cremation with some suspicion.

About the will -- I don't know.  I see your point about it being natural for him to mitigate risks.  But Lureen was really his partner in supporting the family -- perhaps the dominant partner, even.  And this is reflected by Jack's ready willingness to leave his family to live with Ennis -- he knew that Lureen could get by with the family business.  So I don't think that he ever wrote a will -- as is still common here in the US...

Poor Jack - never made a dominant partner! 

  - I hate cremation too, even more and more people here now chooses to be cremated. 

[myprivatejack]

I think that like in Spain, rural America was just as conservative in this regard.  Things were changing in the 80s, but I suspect that most people still looked at cremation with some suspicion.

About the will -- I don't know.  I see your point about it being natural for him to mitigate risks.  But Lureen was really his partner in supporting the family -- perhaps the dominant partner, even.  And this is reflected by Jack's ready willingness to leave his family to live with Ennis -- he knew that Lureen could get by with the family business.  So I don't think that he ever wrote a will -- as is still common here in the US...

Yes,I understand what you're saying,but he perfectly could wish to have something arranged for his son if he wasn't there; as a matter of fact,that he wanted to leave his family to be with Ennis,doesn't mean that he was going to forget Bobby.Nowadays,divorce is a very natural and usual fact,and in the main part of the cases,the marriage break doesn't go along with the oblivion of their duties about their children.One can stop being a wife or a husband,but they will never let to be a father or mother...
However,maybe everything was a plan made between Lureen and his father to avoid that Jack's wounds could be seen,as we said formerly; maybe she hadn't anything to do with his murder,but I'm sure she knew more than she said in her conversation with Ennis...And,of course,having a good social ad economical status there're some "skeletons" that must be saved into the "wardrobe".

[babytammy7]

The SS says that LD was already dead before Ennis and Jack last fishing trip…..so I keep thinking that LD had nothing to do with Jack’s death.

Also, for me cremation is the only way that Jack could have returned to Brokeback. I don’t understand why cremation would be a wrong choice. I mean, people used to think that we need our bodies for the future resurrection, but the truth is that Catholic Church accepts cremation and has not problem with it. When people are cremated you can scattered their ashes where they wanted them to be, or you can keep those ashes with you forever, like a way to have the one you loved always with you. If Catholic Church admits cremation it is because people buried rot, are eaten by worms, and even then bones, after some years, become dust….(hence the Biblical saying “dust you are and dust you’ll be”…sorry for the bad translation), so our bodies will be not there for the resurrection either.

I totally prefer my Jack Twist being tiny specks of dust or ash mixed with the soil of Brokeback or his childhood land than being rotten, eaten by worms and then becoming dust nonetheless….

Just my humble opinion. Thank you. 

[vedrana]

Well, BT was just a minutes quicker. I also wanted to say that LD was dead for years when Jack died.

 : I know that Catholic church allows cremation, but I want to give the worms a lot of pleasure!  and watch them enjoy from above!  .

[myprivatejack]

Well, BT was just a minutes quicker. I also wanted to say that LD was dead for years when Jack died.

 : I know that Catholic church allows cremation, but I want to give the worms a lot of pleasure!  and watch them enjoy from above!  .

Yes,he was; but not in the movie... However,with or without a father by her side,Lureen needed a social image to be held,and having a husband killed for being gay was not the best for this image...
  If Catholic Church says that we need our bodies for the resurrection(?)and we end eaten by worms and turned into dust,where is our body then?...Sorry for being so off topic,but I'm agnostic and what Church says it's not my cup of tea...

[vedrana]

Yes,he was; but not in the movie... However,with or without a father by her side,Lureen needed a social image to be held,and having a husband killed for being gay was not the best for this image...
  If Catholic Church says that we need our bodies for the resurrection(?)and we end eaten by worms and turned into dust,where is our body then?...Sorry for being so off topic,but I'm agnostic and what Church says it's not my cup of tea...

It's not the church matter with me! I'd like to feed a big bunch of worms and not to radiate so much CO2 in the air and also feel so hot while turning to the ashes!

But this is a personal decision for each person.

What do you mean by this - a husband being killed for being gay? You mean that she wanted to hide this fact with the story about an accident? If so, that is very possible!

 

[myprivatejack]

It's not the church matter with me! I'd like to feed a big bunch of worms and not to radiate so much CO2 in the air and also feel so hot while turning to the ashes!

But this is a personal decision for each person.

What do you mean by this - a husband being killed for being gay? You mean that she wanted to hide this fact with the story about an accident? If so, that is very possible!

I have always thought from the very moment I saw the movie that she suspected something in the end-even if she didn't know for sure the reasons for being killed-,that Jack was killed for being gay and that she must hide all this.

[vedrana]

I have always thought from the very moment I saw the movie that she suspected something in the end-even if she didn't know for sure the reasons for being killed-,that Jack was killed for being gay and that she must hide all this.

That makes a lot of sense, but I don't believe that she was personally involved! She was a bit of a cold woman, but to kill her husband? NO!

In the movie LD is not mentioned any more, but we don't see him alive for a long time, so I suppose that he was gone by the time Jack died.

Also, Jack's death is not clear. Maybe he really died by an accident! I don't know! 

[myprivatejack]

That makes a lot of sense, but I don't believe that she was personally involved! She was a bit of a cold woman, but to kill her husband? NO!

In the movie LD is not mentioned any more, but we don't see him alive for a long time, so I suppose that he was gone by the time Jack died.

Also, Jack's death is not clear. Maybe he really died by an accident! I don't know! 

No,she didn't kill his husband by herself,even nor knowing if someone else was involved.But it's more than possible that she suspected WHY he had been murdered,and her conversation with Ennis only made her realise what has been a suspicion.
As regards to the causes of Jack's death,you're right; they are not clear,unless you believe Lureen's words about an accident.But,bearing in mind Ennis and Jack's environment in a rural and close-minded 60`s America,I have never found anybody who doesn't believe that it was an homophobic murderer...

[vedrana]

No,she didn't kill his husband by herself,even nor knowing if someone else was involved.But it's more than possible that she suspected WHY he had been murdered,and her conversation with Ennis only made her realise what has been a suspicion.
As regards to the causes of Jack's death,you're right; they are not clear,unless you believe Lureen's words about an accident.But,bearing in mind Ennis and Jack's environment in a rural and close-minded 60`s America,I have never found anybody who doesn't believe that it was an homophobic murderer...

As I said once, I keep that fact open, not concluded. In my mind his death is soooo awful, sooo devastated and meaningless that I really don't care how did it happen. Especially cos both possibilities are so squelchy stupid. The way his death was presented, the two possible causes, the months after Ennis found out, the cremation, John Twist's disrespect, and finally the shirts of his youth desires .... every little detail made the death of my dear Jack so profoundly devastating that I think that I feel worse about it than Ennis in that shaky trailer. :\'(

[tpe]

This weekend, I happeend to see part of a TV show on the History Channel here in the US about burial paractices and the technology that is used relating to them.  The section I saw happened to be about cremation, and it is interesting that they did imply that the practice was probably not widespread until the later part of the 20th century...

[lancecowboy]

Goodness gracious, so many interesting new threads you guys are working on.

Here are my contributions:

Cremation has been a tradition for many cultures, from norse to hindus to other asian cultures. It may not be a greco-christian tradition, but it is not totally unusual.

I think Jack wanted to spend eternity on Brokeback Mountain, with or without Ennis, which meant cremation so the ashes can be moved there. I was surprised at only half went back, and the other half stayed in Texas. That was probably Loreen's idea because she really loved him. She would not have tears, and kept half his ashes if she killed him. That's just unthinkable, in my opinion. It would be totally out of character. She was not a vengeful person. She buried herself in her work and family after Jack started drinking. A vengeful woman would have kicked his ass out of there and divorced him long ago. She was still in love with the debonair cowboy who rushed to pick up her hat, who was too shy to approach her at the dance. She was a victim of Ennis and Jack, not a murderer. The only aggression in her was in the backseat of her daddy's car.

[babytammy7]

Gorgeous post, Andrew, and I agree with every word, except the idea of Lureen burying herself in work after Jack started to drink. Jack started to drink after the divorce scene, when he really understood that Ennis was not gonna live with him, with Alma or not in the picture. Before that, Jack was his sweet chatty smiling self as he was in BBM. In the parka scene, when Jack is looking for his blue parka, Lureen is so busy with work...She's not even listening to him, and she's not doing for Bobby what Jack asked her to do. Jack there was not drinking. If I remember well he was not even 30, and you can see in the next scene, the fishing trip, his brilliant smile when he sees Ennis arriving. He was happy!! But Lureen already was so busy with work.

I just only wanted to write my take on that, because I think too that Lureen really loved Jack, and that she had nothing to do with his death. I think she cried because she was really sad. Not matter if they were not the perfect couple, or even a couple anymore....Jack was her husband and the father of her son, and that was enough for her. JMHO.

[vedrana]

Goodness gracious, so many interesting new threads you guys are working on.

Here are my contributions:

Cremation has been a tradition for many cultures, from norse to hindus to other asian cultures. It may not be a greco-christian tradition, but it is not totally unusual.

I think Jack wanted to spend eternity on Brokeback Mountain, with or without Ennis, which meant cremation so the ashes can be moved there. I was surprised at only half went back, and the other half stayed in Texas. That was probably Loreen's idea because she really loved him. She would not have tears, and kept half his ashes if she killed him. That's just unthinkable, in my opinion. It would be totally out of character. She was not a vengeful person. She buried herself in her work and family after Jack started drinking. A vengeful woman would have kicked his ass out of there and divorced him long ago. She was still in love with the debonair cowboy who rushed to pick up her hat, who was too shy to approach her at the dance. She was a victim of Ennis and Jack, not a murderer. The only aggression in her was in the backseat of her daddy's car.

Your contribution is always more than valuable, Lance! 
I especially love your post for I always thought the same of Lureen. You, as expected have much better way to explain things! And you are always so romantic that it's really moving! 

  Love the last sentence too! 

[vedrana]

Gorgeous post, Andrew, and I agree with every word, except the idea of Lureen burying herself in work after Jack started to drink. Jack started to drink after the divorce scene, when he really understood that Ennis was not gonna live with him, with Alma or not in the picture. Before that, Jack was his sweet chatty smiling self as he was in BBM. In the parka scene, when Jack is looking for his blue parka, Lureen is so busy with work...She's not even listening to him, and she's not doing for Bobby what Jack asked her to do. Jack there was not drinking. If I remember well he was not even 30, and you can see in the next scene, the fishing trip, his brilliant smile when he sees Ennis arriving. He was happy!! But Lureen already was so busy with work.

I just only wanted to write my take on that, because I think too that Lureen really loved Jack, and that she had nothing to do with his death. I think she cried because she was really sad. Not matter if they were not the perfect couple, or even a couple anymore....Jack was her husband and the father of her son, and that was enough for her. JMHO.

I agree that Lureen was buried in her job from the beginning (I especially hated LD's picture above the desk ), but I am not sure about the point when Jack started to drink. In fact, he was drinking a lot on the Brokeback... 

[babytammy7]

Hey, babe. 

I think that Andrew is talking here about heavy drinking. But I'm sure he'll tell us later. Of course Jack drank whiskey up in BBM, the same as Ennis, Loreen. Men in that place, that era, working hard in ranches and on mountains used to do that. Way to forget the hard work, way to open and start a conversation, a social behavior in bars and rodeos, a way to keep the body warn in cold nights. I think cowboys started to drink young, you know.

Also Ennis always drank whiskey on those fishing trips just like Jack did. And then beer after beer in bars (Cassie scene).

That's why I think we are talking here about heavy drinking. We never noticed in the film that Jack was drinking more than Ennis. We only know that because Lureen told us, and I think that even Ennis was surprised to hear that. I bet Jack drank way too much when he was in Texas, far from Ennis, hurt and desperate. Sharing a bottle up on the mountain sure seemed normal to Ennis, but he didn't know how much Jack was drinking every day.

But this is only my opinion, babe. 

[vedrana]

Hey, babe. 

I think that Andrew is talking here about heavy drinking. But I'm sure he tell us later. Of course Jack drank whiskey up in BBM, the same as Ennis, Loreen. Men in that place, that era, working hard in ranches and on mountains used to do that. Way to forget the hard work, way to open and start a conversation, a social behavior in bars and rodeos, a way to keep the body warn in cold nights. I think cowboys started to drink young, you know.

Also Ennis always drank whiskey on those fishing trips just like Jack did. And then beer after beer in bars (Cassie scene).

That's why I think we are talking here about heavy drinking. We never noticed in the film that Jack was drinking more than Ennis. We only know that because Lureen told us, and I think that even Ennis was surprised to hear that. I bet Jack drank way too much when he was in Texas, far from Ennis, hurt and desperate. Sharing a bottle up on the mountain sure seemed normal to Ennis, but he didn't know how much Jack was drinking every day.

But this is only my opinion, babe. 

BT ,
you gave a thought to every little thing in BBM. I respect that a big deal.
I have to say that I didn't notice Ennis' surprise after Lureen said about Jack's drinking. In fact I had the idea that their drinking was far too heavy from the beginning. In SS before the motel scene they bought a bottle of whiskey. For one night!

Some "old" Brokies (you included of course) always surprise me with their insight of so many little details in BBM. I never noticed this and never connected his drinking behavior with Ennis' divorce, but I'm also not saying that it's not so. 
I'll have to think a little more about this!
  to you too!

[lancecowboy]

Thanks, ladies. It's always a pleasure to see your posts, too, and find a new perspective to share the movie's intricate detail.

I don't think we can split hair and mark the exact moment when Jack became a heavy drinker (itself a fuzzy qualitative term) and when Loreen buried her affections in her work (it was probably a gradual process beginning with the old Newsome ridiculing Jack at every opportunity - culminating at Bobby's birth, and Jack's decision to find Ennis for the reunion). Jack was a drinker from before he met Ennis. He always had a whiskey bottle handy, and he wasn't even staggering when Ennis was drunk before FNIT. He was used to liquoring up, probably got it from his old man John Twist. The drinking surely got worse after the divorce scene, no doubt about that. I suspect, like most relationships, Jack's drinking and Loreen's workaholic hours probably increased in tandem. The more Jack drank, the more Loreen worked; the more Loreen worked, the more Jack drank. Jack's drinking started from other earlier factors (his dad, etc) and from missing Ennis most of all. Loreen's workaholic hours were a way to escape facing the conflict between her father and her husband. She felt guilty not defending Jack, and for wishing Jack would be more ambitious and capable. All mixed with her wish for Jack's slowly waning affection after Bobby's birth. They never talked about it after that scene with the old man throwing rodeo the keys. The resentment festered and they both grew apart, one in alcoholic drinks, the other in workaholic hours.

Loreen's tears choked up when Ennis told her about how they met, one summer on Brokeback, and knowing that is where Jack was the happiest, even happier than with her, she knew.

Ennis was not surprised by Loreen saying Jack drank a lot. They did it together, passing the bottle back and forth at every opportunity. Ennis was, in my opinion, feeling guilty, knowing that he contributed to Jack's unhappiness, and heavy drinking.

Great discussion! Love exploring the final phone call. 

[ksxks]

BT ,
you gave a thought to every little thing in BBM. I respect that a big deal.
I have to say that I didn't notice Ennis' surprise after Lureen said about Jack's drinking. In fact I had the idea that their drinking was far too heavy from the beginning. In SS before the motel scene they bought a bottle of whiskey. For one night!

Some "old" Brokies (you included of course) always surprise me with their insight of so many little details in BBM. I never noticed this and never connected his drinking behavior with Ennis' divorce, but I'm also not saying that it's not so. 
I'll have to think a little more about this!
  to you too!

I don't think it was "heavy" drinking that they did when young, on the mountain and during the reunion time together.  As lancecowboy said also, drinking was just common and natural in their circumstances -- not a big deal at all, unless you were "religious."  It would have been totally common to buy a bottle of whiskey to go to the motel, and what they didn't drink, they'd take with them.  Not such heavy laws back then about driving with an open bottle and all that.

I have no real ideas about Jack's later supposed heavy drinking, because we didn't see it.  What Lureen may have thought is "a lot" might not be all that much.

kathy

[lancecowboy]

I don't think it was "heavy" drinking that they did when young, on the mountain and during the reunion time together.  As lancecowboy said also, drinking was just common and natural in their circumstances -- not a big deal at all, unless you were "religious."  It would have been totally common to buy a bottle of whiskey to go to the motel, and what they didn't drink, they'd take with them.  Not such heavy laws back then about driving with an open bottle and all that.

I have no real ideas about Jack's later supposed heavy drinking, because we didn't see it.  What Lureen may have thought is "a lot" might not be all that much.

kathy

Great point, Kathy. A real heavy drinker wouldn't be able to drive fourteen hours each way to meet with Ennis. And he'd have a much bigger gut than the one Jack developed. He didn't age that much more than Ennis, and we know Ennis was drinking a dozen beer sitting at the bar when he met Cassie. Loreen probably thought THAT was drinking a lot. Then again, whiskey is different from beer. Not sure if we are going to get a definitive answer for this.

[ksxks]

Great point, Kathy. A real heavy drinker wouldn't be able to drive fourteen hours each way to meet with Ennis. And he'd have a much bigger gut than the one Jack developed. He didn't age that much more than Ennis, and we know Ennis was drinking a dozen beer sitting at the bar when he met Cassie. Loreen probably thought THAT was drinking a lot. Then again, whiskey is different from beer. Not sure if we are going to get a definitive answer for this.

Nope, no definitive answer.  Anyway, it wasn't exactly "reality," the movie.  Ennis drank so much beer that he wouldn't have stayed so lean, even doing physical labor as he did.  As to Jack, drinking a bunch of highballs every evening in Texas later in their marriage, with the social life there, wouldn't have been out of place at all.

Says a former "heavy" drinker.

kathy

[Raisa]

I think Jack wanted to spend eternity on Brokeback Mountain, with or without Ennis, which meant cremation so the ashes can be moved there. I was surprised at only half went back, and the other half stayed in Texas. That was probably Loreen's idea because she really loved him. She would not have tears, and kept half his ashes if she killed him. That's just unthinkable, in my opinion. It would be totally out of character. She was not a vengeful person. She buried herself in her work and family after Jack started drinking. A vengeful woman would have kicked his ass out of there and divorced him long ago. She was still in love with the debonair cowboy who rushed to pick up her hat, who was too shy to approach her at the dance. She was a victim of Ennis and Jack, not a murderer. The only aggression in her was in the backseat of her daddy's car.

In the beginning, when BBM was just released, there was a lot of discussion whether or not Lureen was involved in Jack's death, but I don't  believe she was. I don't remember if I thought she could have been involved after I first saw BBM and didn't know her character well, but the more and more I have watched BBM and it has opened to me during these years, and the characters - also others than Ennis and Jack - have become familiar, I simply can't think Lureen could have been involved. She loved Jack in her way. Their marriage had grown cold etc., but I think there was still something left from Lureen's original love to Jack. Buried under everyday life and difficulties and disappointments, but it was there.

[Raisa]

For me cremation is not a strange solution - or the whole thing that a person is thinking his death and burial already at a young age. In the movie the worst thing about burial is John Twist's strong denial, the angry "no". "Tell you what, we got a family plot and he's goin' in it." Jack's ashes belonged to Brokeback Mountain!!!!

[lancecowboy]

For me cremation is not a strange solution - or the whole thing that a person is thinking his death and burial already at a young age. In the movie the worst thing about burial is John Twist's strong denial, the angry "no". "Tell you what, we got a family plot and he's goin' in it." Jack's ashes belonged to Brokeback Mountain!!!!

I am with you Carmilla. Loreen still has feelings for Jack, and so she shed a tear when Ennis called. Old John Twist was a bully even when Jack's dead. He made his family plot sound like a dagn prison, just like the desolate plain, his ranch was a prison to young Jack's boyhood spirit. It's genius from Ang and Heath to have Ennis, as he was leaving, to look up longingly at the window of Jack's room, and the tiny white-picket fenced-in family plot. It's the motivation for Ennis, in the final scene, to set Jack free, "I swear."