Why does the ranch hand never order any food when she is in the diner with Beth?
The only explanation I could come up with is that the rancher is too infatuated with Beth to eat in her presence.
It is a minor detail, but I think there must be some meaning behind it and I'm not sure my interpretation is correct.
I think Jamie doesn't eat because she's only concentrating on Beth, who only goes to the diner to eat. Jamie uses the diner as means of spending time with Jamie. She doesn't really care about eating.
shareYet it clearly shows her going to a petrol station and buying something and subsequently eat it while driving home.
I agree that she's so fixed on absorbing every detail about Beth. Also there's clear references to the social divide between the two and it's almost as if Beth offers her fries off her plate in absent - minded pity, thinking she's too poor to order anything and possibly thinking "why is this woman sitting in a diner if she's not eating or drinking anything? " thus showing how oblivious she is to Jamie 's real purpose of being there.
It's quite possible that all these things are elements of the plot intention.
It wasn't just something she bought at the gas station. It was a microwave hamburger, the same thing Beth offered her fresh from her plate. But eating takes up precious time that could be spent drinking in Beth's brief, transient presence. Beth's in such a hurry to get back on the road that she can't bother to finish her dinner, or even unwrap her eating utensils. BTW, I loved that Reichardt inserted a shot of an elderly woman having a hard time unwrapping hers after being served her plate of food later in the movie. It was such a small and telling detail, showing how fingers don't work on a frigid night and also contrasting with Beth's choice to leave hers wrapped.
And yes, both in the story and in the movie, the two characters share the same space and time, but have two very different experiences.
Thank you, that makes a lot of sense.
I did notice that she bought a hamburger after Beth left and ate it in her car, and that she declined when Beth offered her food, but didn't quite put these things together.
I guess these little scenes emphasize how differently the two of them saw the situation. Beth was preoccupied with her own problems, and all she wanted was to have something to eat and get out of there as soon as possible, while for Jamie these moments were the highlight of the week.
I like the other answers on here. If I were too assume (read: project my issues onto this character i connect with), I'd say she also didn't want to appear like she needed the food. It's a weird mix of pride, not wanting to owe anyone, and not wanting to inconvenience anyone
shareMaybe she was embarrassed to eat in front of a stranger, especially one she found attractive. She led a pretty lonely existence and seemed uncomfortable in social situations.
You keep on reminding me of a darkness only I can see
Well all the above comments are more interesting and compelling than the movie itself! I loved the type of movie this was..I love the actors, and the way it was filmed. It was the non direction of the stories and the non investment I had in their stories. A good film compels a viewer to yearn for more. Here I was just yearning for an answer to my WTF questions, as it so slowly revealing very little.. Now if the film translated into the above comments, the film wouldve been so great. All they had to do was make a better connection between the film and its audience.
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