I, for one, certainly don't disagree with you Kumari about Alma being homophobic. I just don't know if it is relevant for us to know as we process the film and/or book. I guess i am not sure if her homophobia has anything to do with the storyline or what the artists are asking us to take from it. Do you think it is important for the viewer and reader to know? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
It spoke to me, but for some people, it may be irrelevant.
At some point in the movie, most people get frustrated with Ennis. His locked-down speech, his rusted-shut jaw.
You want to shake him by the shoulders and scream at him to go and get Jack and run away before it's too late.
I think it is hard for me to put myself in his place because I am of my world, not that world. Even his fear of bashing seems so remote, like a bad dream that he can't (or won't) wake up from.
But when I look at Alma's face when she finally unleashes the anger she has been holding since the reunion scene, it makes Ennis' plight more real to me.
It's not some stranger murdered in a field.
It's your ex-wife and the mother of your little darlins telling you to marry again, because that is what you're supposed to do. Yes, she was worried about him living alone. But somewhere underneath that, her words mean that Jack's love is debauchery, a woman's love is the only love.