INT.

GREASY FOOD JOINT THURSDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2005, 10:49 PM

PAT and PETE eat in awkward silence. PAT So hows your beef? Salright. PETE Its a little dry.

More eating in awkward silence. PETE So BRIAN seems to have it in for you. PAT What? PETE Our improv teacher? PAT You think so? PETE You dont see it? PAT I kinda had the feeling but I dont think much of it. PETE So that doesnt bother you? PAT Should it bother me? PETE Itd bother me. It did bother me cuz I was scene partners with you. PAT Whatd you think of the scene? PETE I dont know Wasnt my thing. A little too crass for my taste. I just dont care for that kinda stuff. Same reason why I dont watch Tarantino movies. PAT (disbelief) You dont watch Tarantino movies?

PETE (mockingly) No I dont watch Tarantino movies. PAT (slightly threatened, points) Dont ever talk to me like that again. PETE No, its just I hate it when people say stuff like that to me. Like Im stupid or something cuz I dont wanna watch those kinds of movies. I just wanna make sentimental things. Sweet things. Like Wes Anderson movies. PAT (thinks) Okay Thats good. I like Wes Anderson movies too. But if you think Wes Anderson is hopelessly optimistic and sweet and sunshine and lollipops youre sadly mistaken my friend. (beat) Remember in The Royal Tennenbaums how the Luke Wilson character slits his wrists because hes in love with his adopted sister, and its torturing him? PETE Yeah. PAT And she asks him if she can look at them? And he shows her the scars? And she asks him if hell ever do it again and he says he doesnt know for sure (beat) Its that heartbreak that gives the movie its resonance. If you dont have that heaviness the humor doesnt have as much poignancy. (remembers something) I just read this quote the other day I wanna show you. (pulls out notebook, reads) Do not shun the darker side of nature. Look for it in marshes, in the slime of the sea, amid plagues of insects, and remember that hidden behind these phenomena there is beauty, just as in loveliness there is unloveliness. What is truly beautiful has nothing to fear from disfigurement. Indeed, disfigurement often emphasizes and sets off beauty in higher relief. PAT looks up and notices PETE processing the quote. PAT Its Stanislavski. You know who that is?

PETE Yeah. PAT The point I wanna make is this: art is not bias towards one thing or the other. It doesnt include one thing and exclude another. Its a field of potentiality that produces all things, and even if I dont like certain works thats just my taste, my personal preference. But to assign a value on something is wrong. To say one thing is higher and one thing is lower is wrong because it all comes from the same source. All of it in some way informs you of life. (thinks) BRIAN keeps talkin about playing to your intelligence, and the minute that you do something crass or inane or stupid he thinks youre lowering your intelligence. But I wonder how saying a word like donkey fucker really lowers your intelligence? What if saying donkey fucker got you to Aristophanes or Moliere or whatever? Unless you let me go with the word donkey fucker and take the journey with me you may never get to Aristophanes or Moliere or whoever (extended beat) But donkey fucker could also just get you to donkey fucker. But you should at the very least just give me the right to say donkey fucker. (as an aside) Laughter exists to open ourselves up when were feeling closed off. When things seem like theyre at their worst laughter is often the best medicine. Because it immediately makes you realize that were much smaller than we really think we are in this grand cosmic scheme. And I dont mean smaller in a demeaning way, but more like theres a greater purpose in all of this than what our tiny notions of ourselves has planned for ourselves. The minute you start laughing you open yourself back up from whatever it is thats closing you off. Long weird silence. More food eating. PAT goes off on a tangent.

PAT You ever look at a girl and feel like you're having the shit kicked out of you? And it sucks, but all you ever think about is the next time you (CONTINUED)

PAT (contd) get to see her so you can feel like you're getting the shit kicked out of you all over again? PETE Every time I fall in love. PAT (smiles) That's good. PETE Why'd you ask that just then? PAT No reason. PETE Im not really one to speak. luck with women. I dont have much

PAT Hey dude. Im no better off than you. But if I could give you any advice its this: if you lean into a girl and she leans back then you have less than half a chance. If she doesn't lean back, you got nothing. Walk away. PETE nods while PAT eats. PETE reveals personal information.

PETE I wanna write a screenplay but I just dont have the time or inspiration right now. I feel ya. PAT Its hard to get started sometimes.

PETE Like somewhere deep inside me, I feel like I should write but I just dont have any stories to tell. Its like I havent lived enough to tell any stories. PAT Maybe you dont have any stories to tell, but that doesnt mean youre not a story teller. That all comes in time. (beat) Nietzsche believed that a man comes into this world as a camel, becomes a lion to slay dragons, and then lives and leaves like a newborn child. PETE I heard that before. Whats it mean?

PAT It means that you come into the world as a camel, bearing the load of civilization. The load is called thou shalt, which is supposed to be a civilizing force. Its the sum of past scripting by civilization that is deemed necessary to make you a proper citizen. (beat) But then you realize that civilization is wrong. All these rules are just arbitrary and dogma Theyre a mutual consensus of what works between a group of participants at any given time but that doesnt necessarily mean that they work for you or live in you. So then you have to figure out for yourself some things, and you gotta slay this civilizing force. Its a dragon that holds you from your own personal freedom. You have to slay this dragon to find out who you really are and attain your own personal freedom. But once you slay the dragon youre free, but not wild because you still have the law of the civilizing force in you when you were a camel. Youre not a person with no rules. Youve just learned all the rules, then slayed them to give you the freedom to live according to what makes sense to you not blindly follow whatever your parents, school, government, the church, or whatever is telling you about how to live a proper life. And so now youre a newborn child living out of your own dynamic. Living with wisdom but unhindered by civilization. (beat) Right now you could still be a camel bearing the load of civilization or you could just be getting ready to slay some dragons. It may not be your time to write. (pensive) But there will be a moment, if deep in your heart you feel like you can write where everything will just cosmically click and then youll find something to write about and just write. But that wont happen til youre done being a camel and slaying the dragon. PETE nods and eats some more. PAT ties this all in.

PAT And this is the problem with a lot of people goin to Second City. Too many people hold it in too high regard because John Belushi or Chris (CONTINUED)

PAT (contd) Farley or whoever went there. But thats just another dragon a real artist is gonna have to slay to become a real artist. (as an aside) If you ever wanna do anything significant anything of any importance You gotta be a little disobedient. And I dont mean important like a piece of art or an accomplishment. Thats just tinsel on a tree. What I mean more than anything about doing something important is to do something worthwhile for your soul. If you dont do that you havent really lived my friend. PAT resumes eating. PETE digests PATs words.

PETE So what kinda movie you wanna write? PAT (thinks) You ever seen "Almost Famous"? PETE I love that movie. PAT (smiles) Me too. I want to write a whole movie about being on that bus after the guy was doin LSD all night and "Tiny Dancer" starts playing on the radio and everyone starts singing "Tiny Dancer. PETE That's my favorite part. PAT Mine too. PETE Why do you wanna make a whole movie out of that part? PAT 'Cuz whenever I see it I wanna be on that bus singing with those people and I never wanna get off. PETE (smiles) Me too. More eating but now more comfortable.

PETE So how you gonna write a movie like that? PAT (beat, baffled) Thats one the voids gonna have to answer. PAT eats. PETE is baffled. PETE Ummmm sorry if I sound stupid here, but whats the void? PAT Its OK. The voids a field of pure potentiality. Its the field prior to any opposites: good-evil, right-wrong, yes-no all that stuff. Its a source of energy that exists beyond space and time, where all life emerges and all life returns. What we see all around us (waves arm demonstratively) Is just the void existing in forms of separateness in the field of time. So you journey into the void to be informed by the void and then you return to the field of space and time, back to the world of opposites and you impart your knowledge on others that you gained from the void. And the funny thing is the void is in you since youre something in the field of time. So ultimately the journey into the void is a journey into yourself. PETE That sounds a lot easier said than done. PAT Oh yeah. Its not easy at all, but nobody can really become a self-actualized human being without goin there. (beat) Its dangerous, really dangerous cuz the void can kill you, or crush you, or make you go insane and there's no guarantee you'll come out surviving with the knowledge that you went in there to seek. You could come out with nothing and you can even come out with the thing you were looking for and people can shun you, not ready for what you have to show them But you should put faith in (CONTINUED)

PAT (contd) yourself and God that things'll work out. And you cant bring any personal baggage into the void. You have to check your ego in at the door. Because if you dont the void can really mess you up, which is why so many artists are neurotics. The void contains both horror and beauty and those that arent prepared can be consumed by the dangers of the void. PETE So how do I go into the void without being attached to my ego? PAT Just dont bring any notions of who I am, what Im worth, what I deserve Your ego can either expect too much or demand too little of yourself when youre bound to it. (thinks) And if you do this right youll find the message you receive was intended for you and you alone. Your biology, your life, history, economic status, and upbringing will culminate in that moment, revealing who you really are The void is part of everything, but then it directs itself specifically in you, for you. PETE Do you feel like youve gone into the void? PAT (hesitates) Maybe I do know this For my next screenplay Ill have to go there and find out for sure and remove all doubt from my mind. More silence, profound this time. No one eating. trying to wrap his head around everything. PETE Do you think Im any good at improv? you think I have a chance? PETE is pensive,

Like - do

PAT I think everyone in that class has a chance. PETE What about you?

PAT I think any answer I give you will either be facile or specious. PAT eats some more. answer. He looks up and sees PETE dissatisfied with his

PETE Do you know you have a tendency to use expensive sounding words? PAT That thought has been brought to my attention. PETE Don't take this wrong or anything, cuz Im sure what youve said so far is valid. It sounds like youve probably thought and read about it way more than I have but it sometimes sounds like you're using expensive words to cover something up like you're not completely answering something. Silence becomes awkward again. PAT Let's just put it this way I'm not taking these classes with any specific goal in mind (beat) The best I can say is that I'm taking these classes and writing screenplays to carry them through as far as they need to be carried - no more, no less. Somethin deep inside me tells me to do it, and I do it til it tells me I dont have to do it anymore. PETE That makes even less sense. PAT You ever read the "Bhagavad Gita." PETE No. PAT It's this Hindu scripture about this Indian warrior prince named Arjuna. And Arjunas in the middle of a war where members of his family are on opposing sides killing each other. Both sides have heroes. Both sides have villains. And to Arjuna, this only creates confusion and sorrow. He'd rather not participate in the war because hes conflicted.

BEGIN FLASHBACK EXT. WAR FIELD IN ANCIENT INDIA DAYTIME

Atop a mountain, ARJUNA stares below with charioteer KRISHNA onto a battlefield. PAT narrates off-screen. PAT (v.o.) So one day Arjuna's watching a battle from high on a hill and his charioteer named Krishna says, "What're you doing? Get down there and fight." And Arjuna tells him that he can't kill because of the guilt of killing. And Krishna's really a Hindu God in disguise. So he says to him, "Are you so arrogant? These people are gonna die anyways, so go down there and get into that fight." And then he removes his face, as if it were a mask KRISHNA rips off his face as if it were a mask. Beneath are thousands of black serpents, writhing and hissing. PAT (v.o.) (contd) And underneath it is a thousand black serpents and Krishna saysKRISHNA I am Black Time, here for the annihilation of these hosts. Even without you, those who are about to die will not live. So go, get in there! Appear to be killing those that I have already slain. Do your duty and be not distressed by any touch of fear. END FLASHBACK INT. GREASY FOOD JOINT - PRESENT

PETE looks stunned. PAT And the point is this Arjuna's duty, his role in life is that of a warrior, and for him to act according to his duty, his role in life, he is to go down there and start some killing, but the killing is not for personal gain or rancor. It is to fulfill the intention of his being and the will of the universe. And on the same note this stuff Im doing is just to fulfill the intention of my own being and the will of the universe. PAT tries to eat some more, but now PETE is engaged.

PETE Okay call me ignorant, but I don't care but how're you supposed to live out your intention without being attached to its rewards. You can say I'm whatever, but people need goals. That's how they conduct their lives. PAT I didn't say it was easy but the first thing you gotta do is stop thinking this is in charge(points to brain) Thats when things have a tendency to get messed up. A calmer kind of silence is restored. information. PETE reveals more personal

PETE (self-conscious) My dad doesnt think I can do this. PAT That sucks. Most parents arent supportive even when they say they are. PETE I got a lotta anger issues with my dad. PAT Hey man. Everyones got anger issues with their parents. The people that dont are usually anomalies. And even those people have issues. Theyre just better at hiding them. PETE Yeah but he doesnt support this he doesnt understand why Im doing this doesnt see the benefit cuz all he knows about are how artists struggle to make a living. He says Im wasting my life. PAT That sucks. PETE He said I was gonna fail. That it was in my blood to fail. That Ive always been a failure. PETEs words strike a specific resonance with PAT. PAT No offense but fuck your dad. Fuck anyone wholl tell you whether or not you can or cant do anything. If you feel it deep inside your bones to do something, then just do it. And even (CONTINUED)

PAT (contd) if you fail youll find something fruitful from the effort. But if you never try youll never know. PETE Yeah but its my dad. Hey. PAT Fuck your dad.

PETE You dont know what its likePAT (anger builds) Oh I dont know what its like? Youre right. I dont what its like. I dont have your specific problems, so I dont know what youre specifically going through. What I do know is that my dad was a punch-drunk boxer who ran out of luck and it cost him his left eye. And because he ran out of chances he took it out on me. Fucker bounced between jobs, forced my mom to work two jobs to the point it broke her heart. She was a flower that he charmed and then trampled on But what the fuck do I know? (faster, erratic) Forced me to put on boxing gloves when I was a kid to box him in the living room Hit me so hard once I fell and hit the back of my head on a table and was knocked out for two days. But what the fuck do I know? PETE You seem a little angry. PAT (explodes) Youre goddamn right Im angry! Silence again. Painfully silent. PATs heartbeat races inside his head. He chuckles and tries to change his tone. PAT Its cool. Everythings cool If it wasnt for him I wouldnt be sitting here eating a Philly cheesesteak with you right now. So its cool. (beat, as an aside) Theres this idea in Hindu mythology about a net of gems where each person is a gem reflecting all the other gems everything reflects (CONTINUED)

PAT (contd) everything in a type of harmony everything is in relation to everything else so you cant blame anybody for anything really because everything is part of a larger intention than the individual gems (extended beat) Or think about the Taoist concept of yin and yang the interaction of light and dark matter. Taoists believe that evil arises from the perception of good and evil that we categorize things into good and evil. What you might see as opposite is actually complementary. And that when you let go of seeing things as merely good and evil then you see things as they really are the good shows itself in the evil and the evil shows itself in the good (to self) If I only see what he did as evil then I wouldnt understand PAT tries to eat again. PAT What now? PETE You said you cant be bound by your ego when you go into the void. Yeah. PAT Okay? He notices PETE still thinking.

PETE And you said you have to go into the void for your next screenplay PAT Get to the point PETE. PETE Dont get me wrong cuz I dont know as much about this as you do, but PAT But what? PETE But all this stuff you said about your dad If youre gonna go into the void to write your next screenplay sounds like youre gonna bring him with you. PATs facial expression changes dramatically. PATs heart beats rapidly inside his head. PETE resumes eating.

SCREEN goes black. INT. STAGED SCENERY OF GREASY JOINT MOMENTS LATER

Spotlights shine on principle characters in their last position, frozen before the lights went black. Everyone unfreezes and exits off the stage. Stage hands dressed in all black enter to remove props and furniture to prepare for the next scene. SCREEN goes BLACK. A quote appears on-screen: Narrow is the gate, and narrow is the path which leads to Life, and few will find it. - Matthew 7:14 Quote dissolves.