Topic: Red Jack - Any Significance?

[aimi15]

Hi guys!

I've been meaning to post this for a while but didn't know if it had been mentioned before or if it was just the product of an over-active imagination.

After the reunion kiss and Ennis returns home to pick up a few things for his jaunt to the mountains with Jack, poor Alma looks out of the window and sees Jack - dressed in a RED shirt leaning against his RED truck.

Whats the significance? There may be none for you but to me red signifies a sexiness, a danger - it reminds me of unfaithfulness, a very 'other woman' colour.

Perhaps Jack just liked that red shirt and the red truck, i'm not so convinced. When Lureen is first introduced she is wearing red, maybe this has rubbed off onto Jack in which case is the significance Lureen being 'the other woman'?

I think the symbology and attention to detail in this multi-layered film is a work of genius, and i'm kind of convinced everything means something - i don't mind over-analysing it!

Any thoughts on this?

Ps: if this has already been mentioned elsewhere will someone direct me to it purleeaaaseee

[Toadily]

I think you are very right on, I mean Ennis is always in muted colors.  And Jack's world is more multi colored, he even wears purple later on.  His wife is a platinum blonde, can you see Alma going blonde? 

[Tom]

Overall Jack and Laureen are more gaudy. It talks in the short story about once her dad died they had a bit of cash and Jack gets his teeth fixed and affects a bit of a drawl.

Everything in Ennis's life is muted. You seldom see Alma in anything bright, her face is aglow and she has bright lipstick on when they are bobsleighing together and in the Jack Nasty scene she has a reddy orange number on. She is animated in both these scenes.

So yes maybe everything was planned meticulously by the amazing Mr Lee

[Cowboy Cody]

Color is an important part of the movie. Where Ennis and Alma have a rather drab existence, Jack is the opposite. The fire, the flash, the color. Color's do impart meanings. Don't want to get to heavily into the psychological effects of colors, but they do affect a person's mood. Not only would red signify danger, the other person, but also to 'fire up' the person who's looking intensely at that red truck and the red shirted Jack. Alma had it all boiled up, but she kept the lid on. I thought she was amazing in that scene, the look on her face said it all.

[matsuki33]

actually now that you say that you all are right all Ennis life in teh movie was like death colors but in Jack were more vivid and happy including his wife

[Badarsila]

Well, Jack looks sexy in whatever color he's wearing, and Red makes him looks Waaaayyyyyyy sexier and very yuuuummmyyyy,...

[Lost_Girl]

Hi guys!

I've been meaning to post this for a while but didn't know if it had been mentioned before or if it was just the product of an over-active imagination.

After the reunion kiss and Ennis returns home to pick up a few things for his jaunt to the mountains with Jack, poor Alma looks out of the window and sees Jack - dressed in a RED shirt leaning against his RED truck.

Whats the significance? There may be none for you but to me red signifies a sexiness, a danger - it reminds me of unfaithfulness, a very 'other woman' colour.

Perhaps Jack just liked that red shirt and the red truck, i'm not so convinced. When Lureen is first introduced she is wearing red, maybe this has rubbed off onto Jack in which case is the significance Lureen being 'the other woman'?

I think the symbology and attention to detail in this multi-layered film is a work of genius, and i'm kind of convinced everything means something - i don't mind over-analysing it!

Any thoughts on this?

Ps: if this has already been mentioned elsewhere will someone direct me to it purleeaaaseee

Red & White are Lureen's color.

So...

[justlikethisalways]

to me red signifies a sexiness, a danger - it reminds me of unfaithfulness, a very 'other woman' colour.

I think the symbology and attention to detail in this multi-layered film is a work of genius, and i'm kind of convinced everything means something - i don't mind over-analysing it!

I agree w/you, aimi. To me red mainly denotes danger/warning and sex/seduction. It's also probably the most attention-getting color. Maybe hard-wired into our brains since it's the color of blood. And I also see all kinds of subtle symbols and hints in BBM, but my mind words like that all the time anyway. 

Going a little OT - just want to add that colors do not have universal meanings - e.g. in Chinese culture red has a very positive connotation.

[Jack_ME]

to me red signifies a sexiness, a danger - it reminds me of unfaithfulness, a very 'other woman' colour.

I think the symbology and attention to detail in this multi-layered film is a work of genius, and i'm kind of convinced everything means something - i don't mind over-analysing it!

I agree w/you, aimi. To me red mainly denotes danger/warning and sex/seduction. It's also probably the most attention-getting color. Maybe hard-wired into our brains since it's the color of blood. And I also see all kinds of subtle symbols and hints in BBM, but my mind words like that all the time anyway. 

Going a little OT - just want to add that colors do not have universal meanings - e.g. in Chinese culture red has a very positive connotation.

Glad you mentioned this last part, regarding color in different cultures. Important to keep information like that in mind, so as not to get misled.

While most folks commenting so far, have generalized that Red implies Danger, and/or Sexiness, let me suggest that what Red really does is GRAB ATTENTION, and not necessarily always directly implying either danger or sexiness.

Another fact to keep in mind when discussing the implication of color is that
 consciously or unconsciously, we never consider any color EXCEPT in relation to OTHER colors.
It is this juxtaposition which usually creates the impression and the effect.

[silly extreme example: The Catholic Cardinals of the Vatican are normally dressed all in red....are they about sexiness, or about danger? I don't think so. In that case, it's my impression that the color is about denoting a hierarchy. Priests wear black, Bishiops wear purple, Cardinals wear red, and the Pope wears white. There was certainly some consideration of the implication of color in this hierachical choice which the Catholic Church Organization made.....priests are close to the people and people's souls are stained with sin....the Pope is closer to God and his soul is more pure and without stain....for example ---my own quick take, not factually researched]


So overall it is important to consider the color schemes of the characters in this film.

The overall color schemes of Ennis's life and of Jack's life.

Ennis does wear white/light colors and earth tones.
He also wears patterns, plaid/checks/paisley?

While some interpret this as the color of death and of being drab, from my first viewing, I have always interpreted the colors of Ennis's clothing as indicating a purity and strength of character and of a connectedness to the land and his local roots. And to me the plaid/check, yes even the pattern, indicates that he and his personal character are both intrinsically woven into his local and known life.

Jack from the beginning wears brighter colors and unless I'm overlooking someting, ALWAYS wears solid color.
And he wears black.

In  keeping with my thought process above, this indicates to me that he is changeable and not rooted.
Like a chameleon he changes his colors.
I do NOT mean to imply he is dishonest by this, instead what it means is Jack is ADAPTABLE.
So Jack can move from his roots, Jack can travel, Jack can consider ranching up with Ennis.
Jack is capable of adapting to the environment and to circumstances.
While this does open him up to more possibilities, it also places him in potentially more risky situations.

Ennis can not normally get in trouble because he is restricted, rooted, unchanging.
It's a safe, if limited life, or so he thinks. As he says: If you ain't got nothing, you don't need nothing. 
Except it isn't a safe life. Over time and in the end he learns.....life is never safe and life is about the unexpected barging right in and knocking one off balance, no matter how cautious one is.

Jack rather knows this instinctively, and so for him, taking opportunities (risks) is not risky, it's just trying what life presents. But again, even with this attitude, life is still about the unexpected and it still barges right into a life lived this way too.

So, in the end, I suggest to not look at any individual color, but look at the overall color schemes and look at any  color in juxtaposition to its surroundings.

In the example given at start of this discussion, while I don't feel Jack's dark red shirt or his red and white truck imply much specifically  ABOUT Jack, at that moment, taken out of the context of his total life and color scheme, for Alma, in her life, this red color is attention getting and it stands out as very different from what she knows. One could say this standing out as different is the very defintion of danger, but it could also be the definition of excitement, of fascination, or of the exotic.

However in this scene the look on Alma's face, and the pain of her tears, most likely DO support an interpretation that here in this instance, the red Alma sees implies a threat TO her.

As all have been, this too is an interesting discussion, and the topics for analysis in and on this film are seemingly never ending!
It is a testament to a work of art to be able to peel layer and layer back, to find and read more and more subtlety there, and to always find integrity.

Jack in Maine

 

[aimi15]

Thank you all for your replies. When i posted this topic i wondered after if i was wanting to see things in the film that really were just THERE - no real meaning. It struck a chord though from the first time i watched it, so for me it was important to bring it up. Its interesting to get different perspectives on a theme, maybe eventually it will lead to some sort of resolution, cos at the moment it just feels like sensory overload!

[ethan]

just want to add that colors do not have universal meanings - e.g. in Chinese culture red has a very positive connotation.

You are right - justlikethisalways. The color red is very positive which symbolizes properity, blessing, or love.

When Jack met Lureen for the first time, he picked up a red hat. Same color four year later when Jack reunited with Ennis.

[The Ultimate Otaku]

I do NOT mean to imply he is dishonest by this, instead what it means is Jack is ADAPTABLE.
So Jack can move from his roots, Jack can travel, Jack can consider ranching up with Ennis.
Jack is capable of adapting to the environment and to circumstances.
While this does open him up to more possibilities, it also places him in potentially more risky situations.

Ennis can not normally get in trouble because he is restricted, rooted, unchanging.
It's a safe, if limited life, or so he thinks. As he says: If you ain't got nothing, you don't need nothing. 
Except it isn't a safe life. Over time and in the end he learns.....life is never safe and life is about the unexpected barging right in and knocking one off balance, no matter how cautious one is.

Jack rather knows this instinctively, and so for him, taking opportunities (risks) is not risky, it's just trying what life presents. But again, even with this attitude, life is still about the unexpected and it still barges right into a life lived this way too.

Jack in Maine, I am stunned and excited at the point you make about Jack. I, too, have wondered about the symbolism behind the various colors in BBM. I noticed Ennis' pattern habit and Jack's solid colors, and the way Jack's shirt are more colorful and less bland than Ennis's.

I really like your point about how Jack is ADAPTABLE, whereas Ennis is rooted in place. A 'stick in the mud,' you could say (sorry, I know it's sortof an insulting phrase). Jack is willing to jump into different situations and take risks, whereas Ennis encounters even the idea, even the suggestion, of going to a new place (e.g. Mexico) or doing something new (e.g. Jack's suggestion to get a place of their own) and his reaction is immediately negative. He balks from what is new and anything that could get him in trouble. Whereas Jack gets himself in trouble knowingly, sometimes (e.g knowing Ennis is supposed to watch the sheep but having Ennis spend the night in the tent anyway).

BBM is continuously giving me new things to think over, and everyone on this site keeps giving me new aspects of the movie to mull over and analyse. I love it!        

[Jack_ME]

BBM is continuously giving me new things to think over, and everyone on this site keeps giving me new aspects of the movie to mull over and analyze. I love it!       

It is a testament to this great film, and to all the film-makers, and undoubtedly to some element of pure blessings/grace/karma/fortune/luck whatever you call it that all the elements in the film came together so powerfully that the film and the characters' personalities can stand up to such in-depth analysis. I love it for this reason and I think it resonates with so many viewers for this reason. Somehow, many many people can add their own personal bits to the whole and be moved greatly. It's a wonderful film. A real event.

And the phenomenon that it sparked on this forum and the several others is also wonderful.

Jack in Maine

[edgar]

Regardless of what color Jack is wearing, the very fact that he has changed clothes since the night before is a troubling sight to Alma. If they've just been up all night talking and drinking (where? are there all-night bars in that little town?), then Jack would not have changed clothes.

[TwoSkins]

Regardless of what color Jack is wearing, the very fact that he has changed clothes since the night before is a troubling sight to Alma. If they've just been up all night talking and drinking (where? are there all-night bars in that little town?), then Jack would not have changed clothes.

That is a good observation..!

[aimi15]

Regardless of what color Jack is wearing, the very fact that he has changed clothes since the night before is a troubling sight to Alma. If they've just been up all night talking and drinking (where? are there all-night bars in that little town?), then Jack would not have changed clothes.

That is a good observation..!

Had he changed clothes? I thought he was just minus the windcheater thing when they returned. Same red shirt i thought.

[Patriot1]

Regardless of what color Jack is wearing, the very fact that he has changed clothes since the night before is a troubling sight to Alma. If they've just been up all night talking and drinking (where? are there all-night bars in that little town?), then Jack would not have changed clothes.

That is a good observation..!

Had he changed clothes? I thought he was just minus the windcheater thing when they returned. Same red shirt i thought.

Yes, aimi15, it is the same shirt. He just took off the vest jacket.

[tpe]

To me, he looked so ardent in the red shirt and without the vest jacket.

If there is any symbolism here, it must be in the color red.  Jack looks so different in this scene.

And I believe the hat he wore then was not dark colored.  It was closer to white...

[Patriot1]

To me, he looked so ardent in the red shirt and without the vest jacket.

If there is any symbolism here, it must be in the color red.  Jack looks so different in this scene.

And I believe the hat he wore then was not dark colored.  It was closer to white...

Yes, the hat was dark gray.

[tpe]

To me, he looked so ardent in the red shirt and without the vest jacket.

If there is any symbolism here, it must be in the color red.  Jack looks so different in this scene.

And I believe the hat he wore then was not dark colored.  It was closer to white...

Yes, the hat was dark gray.

Come to think of it Patriot1, it is in this scene and in the scene as a farm equipment salesman where Jack appears most different from his look in the other scenes...

I wonder whether there is something intentional here...  I guess this is the point of this thread...

[Patriot1]

To me, he looked so ardent in the red shirt and without the vest jacket.

If there is any symbolism here, it must be in the color red.  Jack looks so different in this scene.

And I believe the hat he wore then was not dark colored.  It was closer to white...

Yes, the hat was dark gray.

Come to think of it Patriot1, it is in this scene and in the scene as a farm equipment salesman where Jack appears most different from his look in the other scenes...

I wonder whether there is something intentional here...  I guess this is the point of this thread...

Well, he did wear white hats at the office.  Still had solid color shirts.  Not really sure what you mean by looked different.

[tpe]

Well, he did wear white hats at the office.  Still had solid color shirts.  Not really sure what you mean by looked different.

I trhink it's because in the BBM scenes and in the fishing trips, he's a bit more on the blue/violet side of the color spectrum, rather than on the red/yellow side of it.  That's probably what I sense as the 'difference'. 

[Patriot1]

Well, he did wear white hats at the office.  Still had solid color shirts.  Not really sure what you mean by looked different.

I trhink it's because in the BBM scenes and in the fishing trips, he's a bit more on the blue/violet side of the color spectrum, rather than on the red/yellow side of it.  That's probably what I sense as the 'difference'. 

Well, here are all the colors of Jack's shirts:

Wyoming                                   
Brokeback Mountain - Blue                                 
Reunion - Red                                                 
It could be like this camp out - Tan                     
2nd camp out - Purple                                       
Ennis' after divorce - Black                                 
3rd camp out when Ennis is all paranoid - Gray       
Last camp out - Gray                                         

Texas
Meets Laureen - Gray
Baby Born - Blue
Selling machine - Gray
Blue Parka - Purple
Jack & Bobby on tractor - Gray
Thanksgiving - Gray
Dances with LaShawn - Dark Maroon

So, as you can see, except for 3 times, all shirt colors were in the blue family (blue, gray, purple and maroon).  However, the 3 times they were not in the blue family, he wore them in Wyoming.

Interesting side note.  There were 7 times in Texas and 7 times in Wyoming.

[edgar]

Regardless of what color Jack is wearing, the very fact that he has changed clothes since the night before is a troubling sight to Alma. If they've just been up all night talking and drinking (where? are there all-night bars in that little town?), then Jack would not have changed clothes.

That is a good observation..!

Had he changed clothes? I thought he was just minus the windcheater thing when they returned. Same red shirt i thought.

Yes, aimi15, it is the same shirt. He just took off the vest jacket.

Doh. Funny, the shirt looks brighter to me the next morning.

[tpe]

Well, he did wear white hats at the office.  Still had solid color shirts.  Not really sure what you mean by looked different.

I trhink it's because in the BBM scenes and in the fishing trips, he's a bit more on the blue/violet side of the color spectrum, rather than on the red/yellow side of it.  That's probably what I sense as the 'difference'. 

Well, here are all the colors of Jack's shirts:

Wyoming                                   
Brokeback Mountain - Blue                                 
Reunion - Red                                                 
It could be like this camp out - Tan                     
2nd camp out - Purple                                       
Ennis' after divorce - Black                                 
3rd camp out when Ennis is all paranoid - Gray       
Last camp out - Gray                                         

Texas
Meets Laureen - Gray
Baby Born - Blue
Selling machine - Gray
Blue Parka - Purple
Jack & Bobby on tractor - Gray
Thanksgiving - Gray
Dances with LaShawn - Dark Maroon

So, as you can see, except for 3 times, all shirt colors were in the blue family (blue, gray, purple and maroon).  However, the 3 times they were not in the blue family, he wore them in Wyoming.

Interesting side note.  There were 7 times in Texas and 7 times in Wyoming.

Very nice, Patriot1.  Thanks. 

[justlikethisalways]

Well, here are all the colors of Jack's shirts:

Wyoming                                   
Brokeback Mountain - Blue                                 
Reunion - Red                                                 
It could be like this camp out - Tan                     
2nd camp out - Purple                                       
Ennis' after divorce - Black                                 
3rd camp out when Ennis is all paranoid - Gray       
Last camp out - Gray                                         

Here's another Wyoming outfit that I just noticed. It is when he returns to Aguirre's place to ask about a job the summer after BBM (i.e. 1964). The most visible shirt we see is maroon (the same one he wore at their 1967 reunion?), but underneath that Jack wears a plaid shirt. He also wears a solid brown jacket as the outermost layer. So interestingly, except for the maroon shirt, he was dressed just like Ennis on BBM -- plaid shirt with a brown jacket. Perhaps the color scheme is meant to imply that he was really looking for Ennis as much as looking for a job.

[aintfoolin]

Jack does have an interesting assortment of clothes in the film. How bout that shirt in the scene with Lureen as he looking for the blue parka?
It's said that red is a symbol of power. It's interesting that he wore it in the reunion scene. Seems to me it worked , for Ennis was totally claimed under Jack's spell to say the least. He looked so fine! The blue one set off those baby blues and dark hair just perfectly Gawddamn hot all of a sudden.... Please, do NOT get me started.

[aimi15]

Jack does have an interesting assortment of clothes in the film. How bout that shirt in the scene with Lureen as he looking for the blue parka?
It's said that red is a symbol of power. It's interesting that he wore it in the reunion scene. Seems to me it worked , for Ennis was totally claimed under Jack's spell to say the least. He looked so fine! The blue one set off those baby blues and dark hair just perfectly Gawddamn hot all of a sudden.... Please, do NOT get me started.

Yes, he certainly has some sweet outfits. All those bold colours worked a treat - how could Ennis fail to be drawn in?

Amongst others i thought the dark shirt with neckerchief combo was rather hot, but i guess that might be veering towards being OT.

[aintfoolin]

And what does it symbolized that he was wearng all black from head to toe  in the scene with Randall. He looked great as always but not happy.

[aimi15]

And what does it symbolized that he was wearng all black from head to toe  in the scene with Randall. He looked great as always but not happy.

That scene bothers me (aside from the fact Randall makes my skin crawl). They were dark times for Jack. I always equate him there to being a shadow of how he was when we first see him - perhaps my feeling is accentuated by the black clothes. I don't know. All his spirit seems to have been knocked out - the boldness is disappearing - it's very sad.

Wearing black can often be seen as a sign of blending in, people who like wearing brights generally stand out more. Jack is certainly more reserved, the way he reacts to Randall's proposal is anything but bold.

Poor Jack.