Daydream Nation
- The year this story takes place
is the year nearly everything
happened to me.
It was the year I moved from the city
to a backwards hick town
to finish high school.
It was the year an industrial fire
wouldn't stop burning
just outside of town.
In other news,
the industrial fire continues to rage.
- The year my dad
first discovered an itch
and, later still,
took all his hair
and then his life.
It was the year a serial killer
wearing a white suit
roamed the county,
dead in his wake.
But mostly, it was the year
where I tried to become someone else
for a while,
and for the first time,
And it seemed
like the whole world
was about to end.
But in the beginning,
I didn't see any of this in my future.
I just crossed an X on my calendar
and suddenly I was once again
the new girl at a new school
where no one would talk to me.
- Whoa.
- Don't... think so.
- Well, you must.
What's this?
- A bowling ball.
- Mine now.
- Have you ever entered a room
where you just knew everyone hated you?
Now, multiply that by roughly a million
and you'll understand
my high school experience.
When I know people hate me,
instead of trying
I get defensive and weird
they think I am.
But this school
wasn't just mean and gossipy;
it was full-on scary.
To give you an idea,
let me tell you
- Is it negative five?
- Laura Lee was a student at our school
who danced nights at a strip club.
Kool thing sittin' with a kiddie
Now you know you're sure lookin' pretty
would heat up coins
with butane lighters
and flick them at her
as she walked through the hallways.
Burning currency bounced off her
like hail.
I don't think so
I don't wanna
I don't think so
Kool thing let me play
with your radio
Move me turn me on
Baby-o
- But what's amazing,
is that this poor girl's
attendance record was perfect.
I mean, here she is dancing every night
until 2:
00 or later,dodging fiery coins and, still,
she makes it to twice as many classes
as most people.
This is full-on triumph
of the human spirit,
but you never see this sh*t on Oprah.
And then, last March,
some girls were playing
in a field...
... when they found her body.
All over her legs,
splotchy and scorched,
were the burned imprints
of various coins.
Few details are known
about the ongoing investigation,
they are looking for a male suspect
wearing a white suit.
- And that was life at Hargrove High.
- People, get to class! Now!
Thank you.
- Hey. Wanna come smoke weed with us
after class?
- Um... sure, that'd be cool.
- It will be.
- Jesus Christ.
- What's your name again?
- Caroline.
- Well, I'm Paul.
Charles, Craig and Thurston.
- Yeah, we met.
- So why would you ever move
to a place like this?
- Ugh, well, my dad works
for this huge development--
- Dude, you're not even inhaling.
- I'm inhaling.
- You're basically making out with it.
You got your goober all over it.
- Ow.
Don't, I...
- I was now attending
the most drugged-out high school
in the whole country,
honest to God.
These guys smoked pot, sniffed glue,
snorted crystal,
did Ecstasy in toilets,
anything to kill the boredom.
But Thurston...
he had reasons of his own.
The face that you saw in the door
Isn't looking at you anymore
The name
That you call in its place
Isn't waiting for your embrace
The world that you love to behold
Cannot hold you
Anymore
In a matter of time
- Hey, Thurston.
It would slip from my mind
In and out of my life
- Okay, guys...
Guys...
Do you really hate school that much?
Is it me?
Is it because I let you call me Barry?
Look...
you know, I just...
I just moved back to this town
and I gotta tell ya,
this place has become a real sh*t-hole.
But I was you.
And I know you've got
real thoughts going on inside of there.
So for tomorrow, no reading.
I want you to write me
a three-page essay
on the historical or religious figure
who you most admire.
Okay?
Tell me who it is
that you think you are.
- I don't know why the idea
came to me when it did,
but I instantly knew
it would make life more interesting.
Don't we all wanna be
somebody different sometimes?
Someone smarter and sexier
and bolder than we really are?
Or maybe I just looked
and saw someone
that was as lonely as me.
After my mom died
and we started moving all the time,
it was like my dad and I
had all this love to give
but no one to give it to.
Or maybe I just went a little crazy.
- Thomas!
- For a while there,
it seemed like craziness
was in the air.
We were all just...
breathing it in.
- You wanted to see me?
- Yeah, I wanted to talk to you
about something.
- Go ahead.
- Well, I wanted to...
tell you that I am new here,
and so far I hate it.
- Okay, but... if you work hard--
- The guys here are...
so immature. And sexist.
And the girls are worse.
They eat it up. No self-respect.
And it's just all so... different
from where we're supposed to be
at this point in women's history,
you know?
- I wish I could argue.
- I went to this party
where they were passing out Rohypnol.
That's the date rape drug.
- I know what roofies are.
- How, uh.... old are you?
- Thirty... five?
Thirty-four?
- Ballpark, yeah.
- A babe in the woods.
Anyway...
I wanted to let you know
you're not alone.
Here's my paper.
- Just point your foot and kick it.
Just... don't be like a pansy.
Oh!
- Ooh. Sh*t.
- F***!
- You okay?
- Ah...
Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
- Pretty smooth, huh?
- I don't even like skateboarding.
- Yeah, well,
you should go walk it off.
- Oh, uh, are you...?
Can I walk it off with you?
So, um...
... do you even remember meeting me
at that party?
- Of course I do.
- Oh, yeah, no, it's...
it's okay.
So...
... Miss Wexler...
- Mm-hmm.
- What do you think
of our fine town this far?
- Um... Mm.
- Well, we're waiting.
- I think
it's a stupefyingly friendly place
full of wholesome, God-fearing,
gun-bearing... folk.
- It's not all that bad.
Just gotta give people a chance.
- Are you... are you high?
There's more incest in this town
than in an Atom Egoyan film.
- Who?
- I said there's a lot of incest here.
- Ah, yes.
Incest.
A game the whole family can play.
- Uh, I... I should go.
- Yeah. Well...
As always, it was a treat
having you on the program, Miss Wexler.
- Bye.
- Until next time!
- Okay.
The first time I met Thurston,
he approached me at a party,
trying his best to be charming.
And then I guess
things went wrong for him.
He believed
he was the unluckiest person alive.
- How was school today, Lily?
- The kids in my class are stupid.
- How was school today, Lily?
Translation
Translate and read this script in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Daydream Nation" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/daydream_nation_6444>.
Discuss this script with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In