COSMIC FEAR

or

The Day Brad Pitt Got Paranoia

by
Christian Lollike

Based on research and text-fragments

by Jens Christian Lauenstein Led

Translation Jens Svane Boutrup, 2010

A, B and C could be three people in an apartment. Three people who know that the world is
about to go under, and who in spite of that fact, feel slightly paralyzed. Three people who
decide to examine their paralysis. A, B and C could be three people who have to invent a hero in
order to talk about - or understand their paralysis.
B
The resources are not inexhaustible. The ozone layer is collapsing. The world is
overpopulated. The ice is actually melting. And there is not one person who doesnt know
this. And so, what are we supposed to do? Join an or-ga-ni-sa-ti-on and sit with a group of
handknit sweaters, who think that if we just turn the heat down a little bit, buy organic food,
hand out leaflets and talk nicely to each other, then
C
Or should we join the more radical protesters, and cling to the side of a cargo ship, waving a
banner? Should we kidnap the weather girl, the one that always looks so happy (when shes
telling us what a great day its going to be), should we kidnap her as part of an operation
called GREEN TERROR, aiming to raise peoples consciousness to what they already know?
A
Kiss me.
B
We could also join one of the green parties and fight alongside the comrades for the right
to say things as they are:
A
Kiss me.
B
WERE DYING, and its the rich peoples fault, because were the ones who pollute the most,
because we have the biggest houses, we buy the most airline-tickets and we own the
majority of shares in the wrong companies and they are the same companies, who are
telling us that they want to make things greener, they very much want to do so, as long as
they dont have to pay for it, and everyone understands that, and so does the government.
C
It does when it learns where the jobs are moving to, unless they
A picks up a microphone and addresses the audience.
A
And all I want is to creep deep, deep into his dreams, deep into the soul, he doesnt he think
he has. I just want to be inside and repeat the same words over and over again.
C
And then I can take part in local politics and interpret the world in a tactical and intelligent
way, so that I dont scare the voters away, yes, because I have to control my temper and try
to hide how deeply I hate the person sitting across the table, lying to me, as he statistically
proves that he is right: The buying and selling of CO2 quotas actually works.
A picks up the microphone again and addresses the audience.
A
And when he holds me tight, I almost start to cry, and I know, that hes the one who is sad,
2

but Im the one crying, and I dont know if its because my dad is an alcoholic, or if Im just
suffering from the worlds most self-effacing Florence-Nightingale-complex, but it doesnt
matter, because in those seconds when he holds me so tight, those are the seconds when I
know that I exist.
B
And then she holds me with her organic hands, because she does all her shopping in the
right places, yes, shes very much into that, and not to mention she can afford it, but I dont
think about that or I do, but at the same time Im just standing there, falling apart.
A
I love you. Even when youre self-obsessed, dragging your sarcasm like a cross.
B
I know that youre fucking tired of me, and I understand it; Im fucking tired of myself too,
but Im stuck with my cynicism, my pessimism and my self-contempt, and I cant see how I
can bring myself to safety on the island you call hope. Because its a long way, and Im far out
and have long since forgotten how to swim, and I thank you for the life jacket, and I know
that there are people who are feeling worse than me, and if you want to throw me
overboard, then I understand, because Im weighing you down, am I not?
A
Im turned on by your hopelessness and your presence, so threatening and urgent, that it fills
me with a painful longing after having you inside me.
A and B start kissing.
C
What do we do now?
B
Save PLANET EARTH.
C
What?
B
Yes
A
Oh.
B
Okay, Im Brad Pitt, and Im a man of action. Thats why Im sitting in front of my producer
right now, saying: We have to make something important. Something thats not just
entertaining, but changing, altering something that makes a difference.
A
The producer offers Brad Pitt a drink.
B
But Brad pushes the glass aside, looks at the producer and says: We in Hollywood can get
into peoples hearts in a completely different, and much more sensitive way and we should
use that.
3

A
The producer smiles.
B
An indulgent smile.
A
And hands Brad a stack of papers.
C
Ive just received the script for the most beautiful love story in the world and the male
lead, Brad?
A
Brad gets up.
B
The world is a goddamn hairs breadth away from falling apart. Everyone knows it.
Everyone fucking knows it, but no oneno one is doing anything.
A
The producer shrugs.
C
You should at least take a look at it.
B
Dont you ever look out your window?
A
Brad looks out the window. He looks at the smog, hanging like a dark, heavy blanket over
L.A. He looks at the traffic jams and the pumping exhaust pipes.
C
He looks at Tokyo where people are standing by air stations, inhaling clean air. He looks into
one of Chinas coalmines, where a little Chinese boy named Cheung is hauling coal to a
power plant, burning so intense that Brad can almost see the holes in the ozone layer.
A
Brad also looks at Bangladesh, where a new flood has washed away yet another city. He sees
a mother sitting in a tree, fighting to keep her children out of the water. He sees one of the
children falling into the water and being carried away by the current. He can hear the
mother screaming when the child is smashed against a tree.
B
Were driving off a cliff and youre doing nothing.
A
He says in a low voice and looks the producer in the eye.
C
Just try reading the first scene.
B
4

No.
C
But theres lots of love and climate in it too.
B
Fuck you.
C
Then go to goddamn Bangladesh and build a goddamn dam. Here we make movies.
B
Fuck you.
C
Are you talkin to me?
B
Why do I wake up every morning with a sickening notion of us having already started a
process of destruction that brings the Last Day closer and closer?
C
Why do I wake up every morning with a sickening notion of us having already started a
process of destruction that brings the Last Day closer and closer?
A brings different hats and wigs on stage, handing them to C and B.
A
Please let me invite you all to a garden party. Its hosted by me, Angelina, and Brad, and takes
place, well, roughly 50 miles from the hurly-burly of Hollywood.
C
I dont want to hide the fact that global warming also has a positive influence on the
landscape. Not just because the real estate value is rising I dont care about that but I
cant help enjoying that the rising waters have made the trip to the beach considerably
shorter.
B
Your garden parties, Angelina, have always been the best, and its not just because of the
service, no, its because they decide whats in in all of Hollywood. Whats in those hors
doeuvres?
A
Brad thinks the sky is falling, and so hes working on a new movie about the climate disaster,
but they cant find investors to continue the production.
C
Is that why weve been invited?
A
They wanted growth in South East Asia. I gave them growth in South East Asia. They wanted
growth in the Baltic States. I gave them growth in the Baltic States.
C
5

The paranoia is endless. Thats what I usually say when I start my lectures. Lectures I like to
give wearing shorts. Because I enjoy the sun. I enjoy the new climate. Of course there are
vast areas that have become completely or partially uninhabitable and where you cant grow
anything because of the warmer climate. This is particularly the case in parts of Africa, and
also many places in southern Europe. But there are also areas that were uninhabitable until
a few years ago and uncultivated because of the cold climate. Many of those areas are now
becoming fertile and suitable for people to live in thanks to the global climate
improvement.
B
Im a vegetarian. And I became a vegetarian after learning how much pigs and cows fart and
burp. Its a lot. A lot! Maybe it sounds funny, but as you probably know, cows, for instance,
burp and chew their food at least four times a day. And the gas that they produce is breaking
down the ozone layer.
A
Theres a fly in your drink.
C
The movie lacks an antagonist. An enemy. A villain. The weather is not a good villain, Brad.
B
I watched a documentary about a man from Bangladesh, who worked as Darling, what was
it the man from Bangladesh was working with?
C
Cargo ships. He was taking cargo ships apart.
B
He was carrying the parts from the ship in 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And hes probably still
doing it. And every year it gets hotter and hotter. And he knows why.
A
Global warming.
C
Thats really the big issue these days just ask Brad.
A
Thats what Ive always said: When we produce a movie trying to make profit, the profit is
small, but when we produce a movie trying to be idealistic, then the movie gets the
authenticity it needs.
C
Hold on to idealism. When money takes control of you, the inner void expands and theres
not a lot to put into it. A yacht cant do it, but I still want you to see my ranch.
A
Fruit and vegetables actually make you happier. Its scientifically proven that meat-eaters
are more aggressive and belligerent than vegetarians and isnt it the aggressive part of
human nature we need to suppress, if the great universal love project is to be successful?
B
6

The movie takes place in a not so distant future.

A
Is Angelina in it too?
C
I think we can agree that the global increase in population has exploded. This means that the
number of mouths we have to feed has risen sharply. And so we have a historical growth in
the production of pork and beef. And the animals fart. Meaning that the yearly discharge of
destructive methane gasses is colossal and thats not a lot of fun, is it?
B
No thank you, I dont drink champagne.
A
They wanted growth in South East Asia. I gave them growth in South East Asia. They wanted
growth in the Baltic States. I gave them growth in the Baltic States. And now theyre moping
and blaming me for CO2, global warming, the greenhouse effect, acid rain, smog and I dont
know what.
B
Its not just certain groups of people that are kept in poverty, no, its entire continents that
are so impoverished, exploited, debt-ridden and extorted, that they have no real chances of
getting on the growth-wagon. They are just pushed deeper and deeper into our dumped
industrial waste.
C
Both Brad and Angelina have risked their fortunes on this movie. If it succeeds it can save
Hollywood.
B
If it succeeds it can save the world.
C
You really think so?
B
No.
A
Obviously, I wish that I were a giant woman with an ocean as my bosom. That I could get up,
squeeze my nipples and bring life to the world, but
C
Cheers, Brad.
B stops the game.
B
Why cant we be serious?
C
What?
7

B
Why cant we be serious?
C with irony:
C
Because were victims of the feared irony-disease that is both dangerous and escapist. And
thats the reason why we cant do anything but mess around with realities.
A
Because we can always see ourselves from the outside and we live in a daily sit-com.
C
Because the truth has been replaced with an endless web of stories.
B
Because everything can be looked at from a hundred different angles.
A
Because were caught in the mega-meta-hell of self-reflexivity and there is no escape.
B
And thats why were paralyzed and speechless.
C
You could say that and I know that maybe this might not be true in real life that climate
or, you know, climate and climate, I mean, the way we choose to or very often choose to,
or at least sometimes choose to talk about the climate on PLANET EARTH is
A
And yes, I know that you know and you probably disagree, or at least you dont completely
agree, because I know, that you know that its far from the only truth.
C
I CAN NEVER GET A WORD IN AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. BECAUSE I ACTUALLY HAVE A
LOT TO SAY.
B
What?
C
You could say that and I know that maybe this might not be true in real life that climate
or, you know, climate and climate, I mean, the way we choose to or very often choose to,
or at least sometimes choose to talk about the climate on PLANET EARTH is
B
She lives in one of the new satellite cities outside of Beijing. She works in a company that
produces cell phone chargers. She has worked there for a long time. She said that she used to
be one of those girls, who would work in the factory fourteen to sixteen hours a day seven
days a week, but that she was lucky, very lucky, because they found out that they could use
her in the office. Now her job is to keep track of the girls earnings, efficiency, salaries and so
on.
A and C look at B.
8

C
Yesterday she was on TV, and while she was talking about her life, I was hoping that the
camera would pan down just a little bit, so that I could see her tits.
B
Her parents are farmers. They live in a tiny village more than 500 miles from Beijing. Not
that many years ago they walked behind the plow, they had one cow and three chickens.
Now they are sitting in front of a plasma-TV watching movies from the U.S.
A
Then they get to see you now and again, Brad.
C
Of course Im ashamed of it, but those Asians, they can be so frickin sexy, and this one
looked like she had nice, firm little titties, yeah, she was a hot little thing, but the fact that I
noticed didnt mean that I couldnt understand her dilemma.
B
Sometimes she sits quietly with her hands like this, thinking about her parents failing farm,
the roaring economic development, and the summers getting longer and longer, the many
polluting companies, the constant yak of the politicians and then she becomes worried and
sad.
A
Every day she sees people living in the streets, dying in the streets, getting eaten by dogs.
C
Sometimes she thanks some kind of God for her luck.
B
And still she couldnt help smiling, because shes so happy to have made it this far and proud
of sending money back home and she knows that theyre trying to solve the problem with
pollution at the factory.
C
Cool movie, Brad.
A
If you want to play, we could pretend that we love each other
C interrupts A and B who are falling into each other.
C
Climate is the new word for God. The environmental organizations are the churches of our
day. Here you can receive indulgence and a good conscience. Here you can scrap your super
polluting Land-rover, your old refrigerator, and say yes, thank you, I too believe in solar
energy. Here you can get counsel and advice regarding your everyday ecological behavior.
B
McDonalds has replaced the red plastic with a green tree. And I know why: Its time to sell
religious burgers.
C
The eco-movement is talking about the coming greenhouse-hell, where mankind will
9

receive a scorching punishment for his careless interference with Gods perfect, constant and
stabile work of creation. The signs can be seen everywhere and by everyone: every flower
and plant that is seen to early in the spring, every extra hot summer day, every snow-and
frost free winter day, every flooding is a sign of what is coming: the great punishment
ECOCALYPSE.
A
Punish me for my new plasma TV. Punish me for my flight to Greece, punish me for driving
my car, punish me for wanting a new one. Punish me for becoming fatter and fatter. Punish
me for knowing the problem. Punish me for knowing the solution. Punish for me not taking
action.
B
Brad wants to join that religion. And he wants to join it now! Because Brad needs a mission,
a holy act. Brad cant live with our powerlessness towards natural disasters. Brad cant live
with us not being able to do anything about it. Brad wants to take responsibility. Brad enjoys
the idea of the new global community. Brad has been waiting for this. For the calling, that
can bring all nations together in a joint cause. PLANET EARTH here I come. Brad enjoys the
thought of the catastrophe making us realize how much we need each other.
A
I renounce CO2, sewage discharge, methane, greenhouse effects and all their destructive
works. I believe in Kyoto, Rio and a world full of windmills.
B
Solar panels, electric cars, organic milk and sustainable coffee.
C
And the weather forecast on Sunday December 20th two thousand and x:. There will be a few
or more swarms of locusts coming from the south-east, while it will be cloudy and dark in
the southern parts. Later in the afternoon there will be thunder and hail and frogs coming
from the sky. Temperatures between 115 and 135 Fahrenheit and a light breeze from
north/northwest. This evening and during the night the waters will rise and in some areas
the water in the fountains may turn to blood. Temperatures during the night from 105-125
Fahrenheit and a light, divine breeze from northeast.
Break.
B
Im scared.
A
Im paranoid.
C
Im paranoid too.
Break.
C
Okay, so lets say that youre someone who is very worried and scared because the man you
love, thats him over there, has fallen into a mental pit and has a very hard time getting up.
B
10

I think Brad wants to go for a walk.

A
I think Brad wants more than that.
C
I think Brad wants to get to know Nature a little better.
Break. B points to C.
B
This is Brad.
C turns around, smiles and does his hair as if he was Brad Pitt.
A
Hes on the edge of the forest looking at the tall trees.
C
Hes hoping that a long hike in the woods will take care of his inner demons that tear at his
cynical, mega-self-reflexive soul.
B
Brad has packed a backpack with survival gear and a tent. He straps the backpack on.
A
Brad has brand new black sneakers and with these he takes the first few steps into the
forest.
C
Brad kneels down in front of a large tree.
B
He thinks about the Incas and Indians who could once build a pyramid just by using sound.
They sang, found a pitch that made the stones they carried light. Thats how wonders were
created. Thats how a new world was build.
A
Brad has walked for hours now, and he has finally arrived at a campsite. Brad raises his tent,
collects wood, makes a fire.
C
Brad enjoys the peace.
A
The solitude.
C
And the absence.
A
Of voices.
Break. Sounds from the forest. The forest emerges.
11

A
Brad has been living in the forest for a few days. And if you didnt know better you could
think that he has gotten rid of the ironic voices, the self-contempt and the inner demons.
C
At least they seem to have faded away for the sake of a life in harmony with nature. A life
that Brad as the days go by is taking more and more seriously.
A
Brad has actually started talking to the animals and the trees and the leaves and theres
really nothing strange about it. Any of us who lived alone in the forest for such a long time
would probably do the same, but Brad feels that the animals talk back to him.
C
I really want to engage myself. I really want to suffer the consequences of what I feel. I really
want to take responsibility, to believe and change, but its as if theres something inside me
C is transformed into a rabbit.
B
Can you be more specific?
C
No.
A
Does it feel as if the world doesnt want to have anything to do with you? As if everyone
around you is just talking and talking, but that theres no connection, no genuine
relationship? That youre looking for a narrative, a story, a world, a mother earth, or just a
place you can connect to, because as the world is now you feel utterly alone, abandoned, yes,
as if you didnt belong here, as if you cant recognize other people as being a part of you, as if
theyre leading lives, far, far from your understanding of how the world could be, how we
could live with each other, how we could treat our surroundings. As if theres a knowledge or
wisdom we have separated ourselves from, and now you feel that we should fight our way
back, but the world wants to move forward, and away, and the small oases of a different kind
of understanding that exist are getting smaller and smaller, you feel that theyre drying out
like waterholes in Africa, and the people you used to drink water next to, theyre gone, or
they have changed, have become monsters who claim that they still remember what they
believed in, the world they hoped for, but you can see in their actions, in everything they do,
that they have forgotten, forgotten that, which youre afraid of forgetting every day, is that
how you feel?
C
No.
A
Brad is suffering from cosmic fear.
B
Brad gets anxious meeting the incredibly big and incredibly powerful:
A
The stars, the mighty mountains, the typhoons, the floods, the drought.
12

B
The sun, burning and burning. The sun, thats approximately 109 times bigger than Earth.
The sun, thats 60 million degrees Fahrenheit in the center and at some point it will
C
IT WILL SWELL, BOIL THE SEAS TO STEAM AND FRY THE WHOLE PLANET. I DONT LIKE
TO EXHALE, BECAUSE I MAKE OXYGEN INTO CO2 BY BREATHING.
C tries to hold his breath.
C
I CANT BREATHE. I CANT BREATHE. I CANT BREATHE.
A
Brad cant cope with the intentions of the universe being hidden, that the next move of the
universe is unpredictable.
C
Brad feels very small. He feels vulnerable and uncertain living at the mercy of the
anonymous and silent power called nature.
A
Nature that doesnt speak, doesnt demand anything, doesnt give directions of what to do,
that doesnt care about what the scared and vulnerable people do or dont do.
B
Brad suddenly takes his clothes off.
A
He starts to scream and run about.
B
He screams like an animal. Climbs up a tree and screams like an animal.
A
Then suddenly he falls to the ground.
B
Presses his ear to the ground.
A
He just lies there listening to the earths heartbeat.
C
Im scared. Im so scared. Yesterday I talked to a rabbit and today, it is you you, that Ive
never believed in. Liked. That Ive despised and ridiculed and still ridicule, but theres music
in you.
C suddenly sits down at the front of the stage and addresses the audience.
Theres music in the earth. Someones singing.
C listens again.
They sing, joyfully. They sing in a spirit we cant imagine today. That we cant feel. That we
13

dont know anymore. There is nothing more for them. They have completed their lives. They
have seen the Messiah. The chosen one and want no more from this world.
Is it my dream to become the planets biggest and only superstar and to be the centre of
everybodys admiration? To be everybodys, men and womens, desire? Is that my ultimate
dream? Is that what Im hoping for? Me. Am I just a buffoon seeking fame?
They sing. Im a teeny-weeny human being one of them, the generation who is destroying
everything. Everything thousands of generations before us have built up. They can do what
we can no longer do: sacrifice themselves. Give, without expecting anything in return. They
know what really matters. It doesnt matter if anyone sees the good I do. Or whether I look
good doing it. Or whether the object of the good deed is worthy of it. Or whether the good
deed makes someone desire me. Or whether I do good out of duty, under compulsion or
from inner necessity. Or whether I can make a cool and fun play about it. Or whether I have
the right moral, aesthetic, philosophical insight and background for the good deed. Or
whether it makes sense economically, socially, sexually or humanely. It only matters that I
do it.
A enters dressed as an angel.
A
That you do good. That you do your best to leave the world a better place, a slightly better
place, than you were born into. That you do not hesitate when you have something other
people need, but that you give it away and reach out.
C
As a socialized or natural reflex?
A
It doesnt matter. As long as you do it. As long as you love. As long as you never forget that
your deeds, your thoughts, your art, your dreams, your hopes, your sex, your orgasms, your
ideas, your children, your partner, your feelings arent the greatest things that exist. There is
something infinitely larger, and we normally call it God, but you can call it our history on this
planet.
C
Now I understand. I understood before too, but didnt dare to understand it. I apologize. Now
I will go back. Now I will edify, admonish, comfort. Now I will carry the weapon of light.
Break.
A
Brad doesnt remember how old he is. Brad thinks, he must be around 30, but he doesnt
know. He is slim, his muscles are wiry. His hands are hardened and rough. His body is full of
small and large scars from work. On the left side of his forehead and down his chin is a scar
from when he was grazed by a falling iron plate. He has pains in his back and stomach.
C
Brad looks into the camera and pulls a face.
B
Brad is wrecking out of commission cargo ships and oil-tankers. The work begins at four
oclock in the morning. As long as the tide is low, they walk to the ships and begin their work.
Some cut the iron plates, others carry. Brad carries. When they get to the wrecks the first
14

iron plates and other iron parts have already been cut. The parts should be cut so that it
takes a maximum of twenty men to carry them, but they are often too heavy. Everybody is
paid by the piece and the cutters want to cut as many tons per day as possible. They haul
everything on shore. Iron plates, lamps by the hundreds in huge nets, tables, chairs, beds,
etc. At midday they have dal and rice. The work continues until 7 p.m.
C
Brad has three children. They survive on his wages and the money his wife earns by sorting
the ship parts brought on shore. His oldest son
A
Brad looks into the camera and pats a boy on his head.
C
His oldest son is 13 years old and he works alongside his father. It pains Brad to see his son
walk in his footsteps.
B
Brad used to be a farmer. He and his family grew rice and lived far away from the sea. But
three years ago the monsoon was so heavy that everything was washed away. They lost two
children. For 14 weeks they lived in one of the government shelters. After that they arrived
at one of the ship breaking yards, which is where the ships are dismantled.
C
Brad cant sleep at night. He thinks about his son. If he will ever get a chance to go back to
the countryside and buy a piece of land.
A
On his way to the wrecks Brad always looks to the sky and remembers how hard it rained
back then.
Break. A becomes Brad.
A
The audience and the critics agree. Brads performance is first class. Its as if he can
characterize, yes, even the most wretched peoples destiny and portray them with
authenticity and power. The plastic-coating that used to color his line-delivery is gone, as if
he has opened himself, as if he has received the gift of empathy and now finally hes
capable of, yes, capable of the sublime.
B
Brad moves from role to role.
C
From success to success.
B
Brad tells the truth to the media.
A
What people are missing is a mission, a holy deed. People cant live with powerlessness
towards natural disasters. People cant live with not being able to do anything about it.
People want to take responsibility. People enjoy the idea of the new global community.
People have been waiting for this. For the call that can unite all nations, all people in a joint
15

cause.
C
What do you see when you look in the mirror?
A
I see Brad
C
And you dont feel that youre overdoing it just a little bit?
B
How can we have apocalyptic sex if youre Brad?
A
I enjoy meaning something to the world.
C
You enjoy meaning something to the world?
A
I feel that I have the answer. That we can save PLANET EARTH.
C
You feel that we can?
A
I know that we can.
C
We can?
B
A time will come when we all will be happy. When well be able to cleanse our inner system
and submit ourselves to the common energy But there are still many mountains to climb.
Climate change and the global concern is the outer expression of the inner
transformation that has only just begun.
C
Im scared.
B
Im scared too.
A
Im paranoid.
C
Schizophrenic.
A
Paranoid schizophrenic.
Break.
16

A
Brad plays the part as the paranoid schizophrenic who knows theyre coming.
B
And they are. Youve already seen it in your head. The army of black people who are now
crossing the continent is no surprise to you.
A
They are thousands. Hundreds of thousands. And they walk and walk and in every town
more people join them. And they assault businesses, restaurants and shops, because they are
hungry and scared and wild and you know what they want.
C
To be part of the future.
B
They leave the dead animals behind. The drought. The bottomless debt. The hunger, malaria
and AIDS. They walk and walk, they get closer and closer.
A
And you have wondered why they havent come before. Why they havent left a life in the
desert under the sun, where their crops cant grow, a long time ago. Ever since they got TV
and education and insight they have known.
B
Theyve been cheated.
A
Betrayed by destiny.
C
Betrayed by God.
B
By you and me.
A
And you understand them, because you would never have accepted such a life, such a bleak
future, such a death.
B
And at night youre woken up by their colorless, dry voices whispering:
C
We want to be part of the future.
B
To get into your living room.
A
They whisper and whisper:
B
I left my child in the desert.
17

C
I left a scream in the desert.
A
Their hope is a TV-picture, a close-up of a little dry hand of a child, who touches your arm
tonight.
B
Their hope is your death and the resurrection of your love.
A
And you sit up in bed, startled.
B
You see a small group of black people at the bed.
C
And you lift up one of the starving children.
B
You stroke her curly hair and give her a glass of milk. You look at the whole group while
youre saying
C
Do you still believe that all people on this planet can achieve decent living conditions? Do
you? But cant you see that the hopeless naivet of this dream is gradually being exposed, as
the brutal facts of reality prevail? Theres simply not enough oxygen in our eco-system for all
of us to breathe enough to be able to carry out the dream of a green planet inhabited by 1520 million happy homo sapiens. Therefore its only good for the survival of the species that
many of you will die.
A
The black people begin to move around uneasily and you think one of them looks like
Samuel L. Jackson and you feel like saying: Hey, Sam, remember when we met on
Letterman?, but instead you carry on in a cool voice:
C
There are too many of us and of course we will have to fight for the land, the air, for the
fewer and fewer inhabitable places on the planet. The question is not how can we allow
millions of you to die from hunger and from diseases we easily could have cured?
B
And the guy who looks like, no, maybe is Samuel L. Jackson gets up and pulls out a big knife,
but youre Brad and youre paranoid and you know the realities and you always have your
weapon under your pillow.
C
The question is: which is worse? To let you die, one by one, later on down the road or to help
you grow in numbers, only to be forced to butcher you later on, by nuking your dried-out
continent for example?
A
And the little girl starts to cry and it touches your heart and your helplessness overpowers
18

you and you decide to make an exception.

B
Her, you will save her.
A
And so Brad adopts a cute little piece of smiling bad conscience.
Break.
A
I am Brad.
B
I am myself.
A
Im also paranoid.
C
Im not.
B
Im not Brad.
C
I dont know why I exist.
A
I am myself too.
B
I am Brad
C
So am I.
Break. (Everyone is Brad. No one is Brad. Youre Brad)
A
Brad starts to shake all over.
B
Brad falls to his knees.
A
Brad collapses.
C
Brad sees flies coming out of his mouth.
B
Brad listens to a thousand voices.
A
19

Brad no longer knows which voice is his.

B
The therapist looks worried and says:
C
But if you look inside what do you see?
A
Brad sees himself in the role of the politician, giving a speech to the whole world:
B
A time will come when we will all be happy. When we will be able to cleanse our inner
system and submit ourselves to the common energy But there are still many mountains to
climb. Climate change and the global concern is the outer expression of the inner
transformation that has only just begun. Many, hundreds of thousands will perish, die, it will
take sacrifices, no doubt about that, but at some point we will wake up and see that we are
part of a larger whole. The question is how long will we go on deceiving ourselves and each
other. The question is whether we will wait until it is too late.
C
Brad applauds himself.
B
Brad applauds himself in the mental hospital where he once performed mentally ill to
perfection. Now hes walking about telling the other patients the truth.
A
The truth is that the strength and the destiny of the human race is not in the preservation of
the planets ecosystem, but in its destruction, as we do what we do best, which is to produce
things. Producing super cool things that function and will continue to function long after the
big flood and long after weve all starved to death.
B
The other patients have heard Brad tell the truth so many times before. They turn on the TV.
A
We love to think that we can save the world in the last minute like Superman always does
but of course we cant. None of us can stop eating, wasting, consuming, buying, producing.
Yes, of course were going to save the world, I just need the new version of the mac-sonypanasonic-nokia-ericsson-mp3-mobile-bread-baker-pocket-knife-camera-pc thing. But as
soon as Ive got it and the next version then maybe. Do you understand? Its us. That is
what we do and it is not depressing. It is not a sin. It is moving.
C
Brad starts to cry, but the other patients dont see him.
B
No, because theyre watching TV. Theyre watching a courtroom-drama about a lawyer.
A
Played by Brad.
B
20

He is on the witness stand in the courtroom and while all the patients are watching him, he
says:
C
But thats me, says Brad. Thats me. THATS ME.
A
My job in the company is to take care of legal matters when the company takes over other
companies.
C
My job is to make sure that the company is never legally committed towards its employees.
A
My job is to make sure the company can sell off the polluting and waste-producing parts of
itself to other companies.
C
My job is to buy back the sold parts when the pollution and waste has been dealt with. My
job, in short, is really to save the company from being accused of polluting.
A
My job is to extract oil.
C
Create growth.
A
Create jobs.
C
My job is to do that. Do it because we can. Do it because it is done anyway. Because it is
possible.
A
The question is only if youre one of those who does it, or whether you would rather be on
the outside criticizing us.
B
THATS ME.
C
When I was in Nigeria in the spring I was knocked out by how fast things have moved, of
what our industry had created. In less than ten years whole cities have emerged, the living
standards have risen markedly, there are at least ten times as many cars and people are
happier.
A
Weve created the growth the whole world has been asking for.
B
THAT IS MY PART.
C
21

If I dont do it, if we dont do it then someone else will.

A
And they will do it worse and more unscrupulous.
C
Cheers, Brad. Cheers to a time when we all will be happy.
B
Brad falls over. He sees himself falling out from the screen, yes, falling through himself and
hitting the floor with a bang. Meanwhile he can hear clapping and cheering from the
patients, the jury-members in court, the camera-crew and the other actors.
C
He wants to lift his arms up high but discovers that he is strapped down.
B
Brad is with the therapist again.
A
My brain is full of psycho-climatic waste.
B
Your brain is full of psycho-climatic waste and you dont know where to dump it?
A
Is there a waste management site for psycho-climatic waste?
Break.
C
Its Sunday. The sun is shining. People are out. The playground is full of children. A woman is
selling vegetables from a cart. A man is standing by the cart with three tomatoes in his hand,
outraged by the price of the tomatoes. Suddenly the sky opens and a massive rain begins to
fall. People search for shelter, but not everyone makes it. Not the children, who start to
collapse screaming screaming madly because the raindrops are acid, eating into the skin.
Several of the children cant see. Their eyes are gone. Eaten. And they scream. By God, they
scream, and those who try to run to their rescue, are caught in pain and terror, as the acid
rain hits their heads and more of them start to fall. People push and pull each other to get
shelter. The children on the playground are moving around in the acid mud. A boy is still
standing up. Paralyzed he sees his skin being washed away by the rain. Flesh and bone is laid
open. Then the terror cant hold him anymore. He screams loudly and falls to the ground.
B
Brad doesnt know anymore where he is, who he is and why he is, but he can see that he is
old now and he can see a little black girl on his lap and he can hear her calling herself his
grandchild. She turns down the volume on the TV and asks old Brad a very simple question:
didnt you know what was happening to the earth when you were young?
C
And old grandpa Brad answers:
A
Yes, yes, we all knew more or less that it couldnt go on. There were signs that things were
22

about to go wrong. The summers got warmer and warmer, more and more species died out,
the poor people began to stir, but it was cool too. You should have been there. It was off the
hook, with absolute VIP treatment, with the Gucci glasses in Angelinas hair. Ive always
loved Pam Grier. But you probably dont know her. Guccivarra. Why am I saying this?
B
But didnt you fight against it?
A
Yes, yes, yes, we talked about it a lot. A lot. And the politicians talked about it too, because we
talked about it, and Grandpa was part of art happenings, only Grandpa didnt call it art but
intervention, yes, and Angelina actually did quite a lot of political pop, wearing a Che
Guevara T-shirt and all, and we knew that it was too much, or wrong, but Ive always loved
Pam Grier. Pam Grier and Guccivarra.
B
But grandpa Brad but grandpa Brad but grandpa Brad
C
The rain has stopped. People are slowly daring to come out. Sirens and ambulances. The
hospitals are crowded. The TVs show footage from the disaster. Interviews with government
officials and experts. How could it happen? Why had no one seen it coming? When will it
happen again?
B
But grandpa Brad but grandpa Brad but grandpa Brad
C
But she cant get the words out, cant say her line, that was supposed to be funny and ironic,
because
A
But if you want we could play that you and I love each other
C
She goes to the room next door and sits on the bed. She zaps between the different TV
channels. She keeps going back to a live-report from the DISASTER. The rivers have risen.
She sees the water gushing.
A
I see the water gushing into houses, pulling up trees.
C
He knocks on the door. Asks if he can come in.
A
if he can sit down for a minute. Im only wearing panties at that moment, but I have time to
do like this.
B
Shes sorry for having to be so hard on me. She feels that its necessary. She feels that my
pessimism is suffocating her. She says I have to cleanse my inner system.
A
23

I want to give him a greater sense of love.

B
She takes my hand.
A
I see trees drifting, cars floating in the streets. I see people sitting on rooftops. I see a
helicopter and I see how little room there is.
B
She says that there will be a time when we will all be full of hope, hope and faith.
A
A time when we will be happy.
B
She says that climate change is the outer expression of the inner change that has only just
begun.
A
He says that time has eaten him.
B
Time has eaten me. In big chunks.
A
He tries to laugh, but doesnt succeed.
B
She tells him that many
A
Hundreds of thousands, maybe more.
B
Will perish, die. But she also tells him that a new consciousness will be formed out of a new
sense of love.
A
He says that he has lost his faith.
B
The nave. The hopeful. The vulnerable.
A
He squeezes my hand.
C
She says that there is a small island inside of him.
A
A small island with wild, soft flowers.
C
24

He feels the tears coming.

B
She whispers to me that I am never alone. That we are closely connected.
A
A tear falls from his cheek.
C
And he vanishes into an ocean of feelings. His mother and father are there, and he kisses
them, and they are cold and dead and it doesnt matter, not now with her sitting next to him.
A
I lean in over him, and his back is big and he smells a little bit of sweat, of popcorn and
deodorant.
B
I feel her body embracing mine.
C
He wants to lean back and does so, but touches the remote control. The water is still gushing.
The same people (maybe theyre not the same) are sitting on the rooftops, waving their arms
desperately.
A
She presses her body against mine and I start to kiss her neck.
B
Awkwardly.
A
I stop.
B
I try to apologize.
A
He starts to cry.
C
They were together until the end of time.

THE END

25