One particular scene from the movie that I thought was most sympathetic to Alma was the scene Jack Twist came to visit Ennis del Mar. Like many women would have assumed, Alma thought that Jack was just a good old friend from Ennis' past. In the scene, Jack comes to visit Ennis and greets him with lots of excitement and joy. It was evident that both men still had an emotional attachment towards each other. There was so much passion in their eyes when they hugged and each seemed to have a glow about them after seeing each other after the few years they were apart. For a split second they really wanted to kiss but I noticed the second thought of discretion. Ennis pulled jack to the side and gave him the kiss of all kisses. Unfortunately, Alma had to witness her husband showing this level of affection towards a man.
Alma was deeply moved by what she had just witnessed. No woman wants to see their husband kissing another man; the thought of that causes confusion to the mind. I wondered if the situation would have been more accepting if he would have been a woman instead of a man. In some cases woman can live with the fact that their husband has had an affair, of course it's by all means wrong but it doesn't challenges the masculinity of the man. At that moment there were probably numerous things running through Alma's mind. The fate and future of her marriage and family was most likely the first thought. It was hard for her to accept the fact that her husband who is suppose to be the head of the household and her lifetime companion, was having sexually relations with another man. She now realized that Ennis was living to separate life styles.
Alma was hurt and felt disappointed in her husband. The man she said "I do" to, planned to spend the rest of her life with and fathered her children was in love with another man. If she didn't care about Ennis and not loved him, she wouldn't have been moved that way she was. That scene changed their relationship and Alma no longer scene him as the Ennis del Mar she married.
2 comments:
Very interesting twist, placing a woman in Jack's position and watching to see how Alma's reaction would be different. I think an affair involving a woman instead would have elicited a more instantaneous, emotional response. Above all, Alma seemed as if her world flipped upside down. Like her children, she was drawn into a stigamatic, alternative lifestyle she did not choose. She seemed to be a caring wife and loving mother and did not deserve the blow that the homosexual affair delivered. If Ennis felt so compelled to further explore his relationship with Jack, he should have held off on the marriage and kids before going down that road. It's funny how the film almost demonizes Alma and shows her as a limiting factor to Ennis' happiness when Ennis is the one who couldn't make up his mind before committing to a family lifestyle and therefore contributes to very negative things in the lives of three different people that are supposed to have the primary key to his heart. Alma was an innocent bystander and was cheated by Ennis' indecision.
Josh's point that Alma would have reacted immediately had she seen Ennis kissing another woman is important because we see how Amla would be protected from that kind of infidelity by the society in which she lived. Who can protect her or Ennis from what Alma has witnessed. Both are trapped by the kiss.
A Comment on Evy's blog: Given the kiss, everything else Ennis does is read in the context of that kiss: Ennis wants Alma to be the submissive wife, cook the dinner, take the kids when Ennis goes off to work, have sex when Ennis wants it. The kiss completely changes Alma's attitude towards Ennis.
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