Topic: "One shot deal"

[ranchgal]

I too both from the story, which I knew before the movie, and the movie feel that "one shot thing" means this summer with you.  It only includes Jack, and it only includes the Mountain, won't be taken down to the flats, and won't be any other time.

When I think about Ennis' life, what really stays with me is the lack of contact he has had.
When his parents died, his brother and sister raised him, Well I got 5--and none of us hug till we were older, and given the locale and how they were all raised, I will be Ennis' physical--hugs, reading stories, sitting at the kitchen table, pretty much ended when Mom died-----and Jack and Alma, are two of the first people in his life to actually take hold of him, and hang on.

When Jack and he get together---And Jack is so tender with him, even amongst all the wrestling takes, Ennis is finding something that has been missing for so long---so there is no way he is going to just give it up----he doesn't know how to go about keeping it---but of course there is going to be more than just that first night.     He didn't even know what was missing, until he actually got some tenderness again.   This is what it means to me: "ONe shot thing" means here and now with YOU because I am getting something I have needed.

[Allan]

"They went at it in silence except for a few sharp intakes of breath and Jack's choked "Gun's goin off," then out, down, and asleep.
Ennis woke in red dawn with his pants around his knees, a top-grade headache, and Jack butted against him; without saying anything about it, both knew how it would go for the rest of the summer, sheep be damned."  Annie P.

Whatever reticence Ennis may have at admitting it to himself... he knows the "one shot" is for the whole summer.  Allan

[francis.shim]

After seeing the movie freshly last night, I am still of the opinion that
        "one shot deal" can still mean
        "We only have one shot at this and we better get it right or we're dead."
As to how long a period of time that the quote ends up applying to... well, that becomes self-evident in the movie and the story.

Peace,
Frank

[CherryCake]

After seeing the movie freshly last night, I am still of the opinion that
        "one shot deal" can still mean
        "We only have one shot at this and we better get it right or we're dead."
As to how long a period of time that the quote ends up applying to... well, that becomes self-evident in the movie and the story.

Peace,
Frank

I think Ennis meant the summer was a one shot deal. If had meant that previous night foray he would have said: "THAT was a one shot deal"  He was speaking in the present, present being summer, so when he said This is a one shot deal" He meant the time they were on the mountain.

[rabjr1]

"One shot deal"  like when I go out for just "one" ?

Everyone says OSD it only means OSD until it ends - which in this case continued for 20 years.

[lowpro]

After seeing the movie freshly last night, I am still of the opinion that
        "one shot deal" can still mean
        "We only have one shot at this and we better get it right or we're dead."
As to how long a period of time that the quote ends up applying to... well, that becomes self-evident in the movie and the story.

Peace,
Frank

I must be thinking BBM too much.  I agree one shot deal it is.  And don't miss [the opportunity].  Jack confirms and says it's only their business  Nobody else need know.  It is the continuing hunting analogy - Jack misses the coyote, Ennis shoots the elk, they are in one another's sights and then it's a hit.  Twist & Whisper.

I now cannot see how either of them have any complaints with what happened.

After thinking about this overnight I don't know how I could have missed the wording and significance of this scene (homophobic filter?).  This is the making of their "Love Pact for the Summer".  Now the intensity of the reunion 4 years later  makes total sense

lowpro

[jackie62]

Really shows how so much can be said with so few words.

My take has always been that to Ennis the "one shot thing" was the uniqueness of their relationship --- how Jack made him feel and vice versa ---labels didn't apply --- that he could give in to how much he needed and wanted Jack because there was something so unique about them together--- no-one else made him react so strongly --- part of him needed to believe that neither he nor Jack could be "queer" either,because nothing in his upbringing would have suggested such love and tenderness between too people could be normal in a gay relationship.

I saw the movie for the 3rd time 2 nights ago --- this time, Ennis's pain at the early end of their summer came thru so strongly. I began wondering how, as the relationship grew between them, Ennis would have dealt with the coming end of the summer ---if Aguirre hadn't cut it short.

 In one scene, when they are separating the sheep ,Jack is belly aching and Ennis says" we have to stick it out ,Jack, if we ever  want to work for him again".  or something like this --- had Ennis begun to think that they could be together again ?? Then the sudden end ,and his anger, led to the fight and his retreat into what feels safe and his walking away.Had they had another month together, could he have let Jack go completely

[City Slickin' Cowboy]

I saw the movie for the 3rd time 2 nights ago --- this time, Ennis's pain at the early end of their summer came thru so strongly. I began wondering how, as the relationship grew between them, Ennis would have dealt with the coming end of the summer ---if Aguirre hadn't cut it short.

 In one scene, when they are separating the sheep ,Jack is belly aching and Ennis says" we have to stick it out ,Jack, if we ever  want to work for him again".  or something like this --- had Ennis begun to think that they could be together again ?? Then the sudden end ,and his anger, led to the fight and his retreat into what feels safe and his walking away.Had they had another month together, could he have let Jack go completely

I think Ennis believed he could prepare himself for their inevitable separation as the known departure date approached. When Aguirre abruptly cut their remaining time short, Ennis lost complete control of how he perceived this would all end.  An abrupt end, compounded with deeper feelings for Jack, probably made Ennis a basket case on the inside. His reaction to this chain of events made one thing clear to me. Ennis wouldn't have handled their scheduled separation any better.  Whether he acknowledged it or not, he was in love.  :'(

[Matt Nasty]

just thought id make a topic about when ennis mentioned that what him and jack had going on was a 'one shot deal' what would have happened if it had been? if when they came down of brokeback they never seen each other again if ennis never recieved jacks post card, if they lived never to meet each other again. would they be able to live on in a conventional heterosexual marrige would they even be able to live on at all? i suppose the question isnt that important becaue the fact of the matter is they did meet again but im intrested to see what people think would have happened if brokeback was just a 'one shot deal'?

[athena0204]

just thought id make a topic about when ennis mentioned that what him and jack had going on was a 'one shot deal' what would have happened if it had been? if when they came down of brokeback they never seen each other again if ennis never recieved jacks post card, if they lived never to meet each other again. would they be able to live on in a conventional heterosexual marrige would they even be able to live on at all? i suppose the question isnt that important becaue the fact of the matter is they did meet again but im intrested to see what people think would have happened if brokeback was just a 'one shot deal'?

I definitely feel it was just simple denial on Ennis's part after the FNIT. Deep down inside, they both knew this definitely was no "one-shot deal"...they were truly in love and they cemented that forever that night in the SNIT.

[Matt Nasty]

I definitely feel it was just simple denial on Ennis's part after the FNIT. Deep down inside, they both knew this definitely was no "one-shot deal"...they were truly in love and they cemented that forever that night in the SNIT.

hmmm i suppose.
i didnt realise this topic was already existent im not very good with the search bar sometimes 

[tpe]

just thought id make a topic about when ennis mentioned that what him and jack had going on was a 'one shot deal' what would have happened if it had been? if when they came down of brokeback they never seen each other again if ennis never recieved jacks post card, if they lived never to meet each other again. would they be able to live on in a conventional heterosexual marrige would they even be able to live on at all? i suppose the question isnt that important becaue the fact of the matter is they did meet again but im intrested to see what people think would have happened if brokeback was just a 'one shot deal'?

I sometimes felt that it would be impossible for them to have stayed apart for very long.  Granted, perhaps Ennis would have suffered silently without acting, but I think he was waiting and it seemed that he WAS expecting Jack to find him.   Jack of course was the active element, who knew somehow that Ennis expected that Jack find him...

[Matt Nasty]

I sometimes felt that it would be impossible for them to have stayed apart for very long.  Granted, perhaps Ennis would have suffered silently without acting, but I think he was waiting and it seemed that he WAS expecting Jack to find him.   Jack of course was the active element, who knew somehow that Ennis expected that Jack find him...

ummm im not saying imagine if they never tried to find each other i dont think that would happen but imagine for instance ennis had moved from wyoming with alma and jack couldnt locate him...

[athena0204]

I sometimes felt that it would be impossible for them to have stayed apart for very long.  Granted, perhaps Ennis would have suffered silently without acting, but I think he was waiting and it seemed that he WAS expecting Jack to find him.   Jack of course was the active element, who knew somehow that Ennis expected that Jack find him...

Yes, I agree with this. They'd both obviously constantly been thinking about each other for the past four years, and Ennis being the way he was, and Jack being the way he was, it makes perfect sense that Jack would search for Ennis until he found him again, and Ennis would expect that he would meet Jack again. Ennis would just sit around around and wait for him, Jack was the active element who would make it a priority to find Ennis, that's the way their personalities were. It was obvious when they parted that deep down they knew it was only a matter of time before they were reunited.

[myprivatejack]

Coming back to the topic itself,I think Ennis said this phrase as a way of convincing himself that it was going to be really "one shot deal".More this,than a way to convincing Jack or to protect himself before Jack more active and...aggressive? way of taking control.Sometimes we say things trying to avoid losing our control,for many reasons,when we really are wishing to lose it...And it's obvious that Ennis wishes were strong,but it´s more obvious too that then he was struggling between making these wishes stronger than his education and duties,or on the contrary.

[tpe]

Yes, I think "One shot deal" was a way of reassuring himself (i.e., Ennis) that all this was a fluke, and it did at the same time sought to put limits on Jack.  Of course, I don't think Jack really bought it -- and I think Ennis didn't really buy it either.

[welshwitch]

In the ss it's different, as Ennis's "I'm not no queer ( Interesting double negative there - ironically his grammar betrays him!) elicits Jack's "Me neither, A one-shot thing," implying that for him too this is a one-off experience, which is presumably a lie, since the ss tells us that there have been othee men in Jack's life int he four years when he's away from Ennis.

In the movie it's Ennis who says it and the statement is expanded to "It's a one-shot thing we got going here;" the "here" implies to me that he means now, on the mountain, this summer. I've always seen the mountain as a place out of normal space and time for them, so this makes sense in that context - once away from here things will not be the same for  Ennis at least. He'll marry Alma and revert to a straight life.

[jackster]

In the ss . . .  Ennis's "I'm not no queer" (Interesting double negative there - ironically his grammar betrays him!)

         Brilliant, WW!

Read this a million times and never picked that out! 

It may not have been a lie for Jack at the time, Ennis may have been his first (Ouch!!  - it's not really clear, even though he thinks he's a sinner). Jack's others, "not rolling his own" of course come years after this brief exchange.

[tpe]

In the ss it's different, as Ennis's "I'm not no queer ( Interesting double negative there - ironically his grammar betrays him!) elicits Jack's "Me neither, A one-shot thing," implying that for him too this is a one-off experience, which is presumably a lie, since the ss tells us that there have been othee men in Jack's life int he four years when he's away from Ennis.

In the movie it's Ennis who says it and the statement is expanded to "It's a one-shot thing we got going here;" the "here" implies to me that he means now, on the mountain, this summer. I've always seen the mountain as a place out of normal space and time for them, so this makes sense in that context - once away from here things will not be the same for  Ennis at least. He'll marry Alma and revert to a straight life.

Yes, the very language and tone of voice in the ss was very different, no?  And (as you pointed out) so was the meaning/significance.  The use of the addition of "here" is certainly telling. 


And I do love the irony of the double negative. 

[aintfoolin]

I feel that "one shot deal goin on" speaks to and confirms that for Ennis there is something "goin on"  Something's happening. It's everything that has led up to this point. The  growing feeling he has for Jack and  now  he has had the opportunity to physically express what he's feeling.  At least he is acknowledging to Jack that much, but to him it does'nt mean he's ".queer". For the summer on Brokeback he  likes what's "goin on" , but can't admit to himself what it means. That enjoying or falling in love with Jack is not who he is as a whole person. This is his conflict and denial throughout the relationship.  He is unable to fully give himself over to what he surely feels.
Jack's " it's nobody's business, but ours" does little to quell the fears in Ennis, once they leave the mountain. Certain *expectations* in the face of society in the wrong place, wrong time, their dead. To him it's everybody's business in his mind, but as far as his feelings go for Jack, he did get around to closely admitting his love for him when he says " aint no reins on this one". He still won't admit being gay, but Jack is reassured that it's no longer a "one shot deal" off the mountain either.
He sends up a prayer of thanks, not really because Jack forgot the harmonica, but because he knows he's been givin a 2nd chance with Jack.  ( he can't hide that grateful smile) It's what's really been "goin on" since 1963 and that's no "one shot" deal.
When he finds the shirts after Jack's death, he knows the deal was  not one summer on Brockback, but the deal was forever. My opinion.

[tpe]

Perhaps he thought that it was the Mountain and the isolation that made him "different" at that point.  He certainly seemed to admit that he was susceptible...  But I think at that point, he was careful to distinguish his "real" self, from the self that was revealing itself at that very moment...

[babytammy7]

I feel that "one shot deal goin on" speaks to and confirms that for Ennis there is something "goin on"  Something's happening. It's everything that has led up to this point. The  growing feeling he has for Jack and  now  he has had the opportunity to physically express what he's feeling.  At least he is acknowledging to Jack that much, but to him it does'nt mean he's ".queer". For the summer on Brokeback he  likes what's "goin on" , but can't admit to himself what it means. That enjoying or falling in love with Jack is not who he is as a whole person. This is his conflict and denial throughout the relationship.  He is unable to fully give himself over to what he surely feels.
Jack's " it's nobody's business, but ours" does little to quell the fears in Ennis, once they leave the mountain. Certain *expectations* in the face of society in the wrong place, wrong time, their dead. To him it's everybody's business in his mind, but as far as his feelings go for Jack, he did get around to closely admitting his love for him when he says " aint no reins on this one". He still won't admit being gay, but Jack is reassured that it's no longer a "one shot deal" off the mountain either.
He sends up a prayer of thanks, not really because Jack forgot the harmonica, but because he knows he's been givin a 2nd chance with Jack.  ( he can't hide that grateful smile) It's what's really been "goin on" since 1963 and that's no "one shot" deal.
When he finds the shirts after Jack's death, he knows the deal was  not one summer on Brockback, but the deal was forever. My opinion.

I totally agree with every word. And I love what you said at the end. So true.

[lamusica]

I've always wondered about this: When Ennis says: "one shot deal going on", does he mean the FNIT or the whole summer?  This is an important distinction, and I can't decide which I think he means.  Because, if he means just the FNIT, then his intention at that moment, is to let Jack know this was never going to happen again.  That tells us Ennis is ashamed, maybe scared, but certainly not willing to continue having a sexual relationship with Jack.  If, on the other hand, he means  the whole summer experience, including the sexual relationship with Jack, then that means Ennis is glad to share everything with Jack while they are on BBM, but afterwards, no.  The fear of being found out would be too great if they continued their affair after they came down out of their seclusion on the mountain.  How do you guys read it?

[aintfoolin]

I think he maybe recognizing to Jack that there's something going on but only for the summer alone, then he will marry Alma.. He has feelings he can't admit to leading up to FNIT. I feel he was looking to Jack for some assurance that this would remain only between them. Wanted Jack's input about what had happened between them. The contradiction in his sentence "one shot" and "goin on" is a deal between them that they will continue the sexual relationship as long as it's isolated to the mountain. Of course imo , he was greatly underestimated what affect this experience had on him. Once he was turned on by love, it's was not so easy to just turn off those frrlings after they came down. Thus the punch.

[babytammy7]

I think that he was speaking about the summer, not about FNIT and the sexual relationship with Jack. I mean, if Ennis was speaking about FNIT he would have said "it was a one shot deal what we did", but he said "what we got going", so I think he meant the summer.......
 

 

[Matt Nasty]

I think that he was speaking about the summer, not about FNIT and the sexual relationship with Jack. I mean, if Ennis was speaking about FNIT he would have said "it was a one shot deal what we did", but he said "what we got going", so I think he meant the summer.......
 

 

yes i think he meant the summaer aswell he was saying almost while we are here this can carry on but once we come down htats the end. thankfuly this was not the case.

[tpe]

I admit that when I first saw the movie, I thought it only referred to the FNIT. but now I think I understand it as referring to the whole summer, after reading so many insightful posts in this forum.