Field of Dreams Page #3

a good day.

Want a fry?

And l say ,

smut and filth like this has

no place in our schools.

Fascist.

l'd like to ease her pain .

Mrs. Kessinik, Mrs. Kessinik.

That book you're waving about

is hardly smut.

lt's considered by many

critics to be the classic

novel about the 1 960s.

lt's pornography!

No , no . The Supreme Court says

it's not.

And it"s author, Mr. Mann . . .

ls sick !

Terence Mann is

a Pulitzer Prize winner.

He's widely regarded

as the finest satirist

of his time .

He's a pervert!

Probably a Communist, too !

What planet are

these people from?

Mr. Harris, the so-called

novels of Terence Mann

endorse promiscuity ,

godlessness,

the mongrelization

of the races,

and disrespect

to high-ranking officers

of the United States Army .

And that's why right-thinking

school boards

all across the country

having been banning

this man's S-H-l- since 1 969 .

Terence Mann?

You know why

he stopped writing books.

Because he masturbates.

Excuse me, madam .

Excuse me.

Terence Mann was a warm ,

gentle voice of reason

during a time

of great madness.

He coined the phrase,

"Make love, not war."

While other people

were chanting ,

"Burn , baby, burn ,"

he was talking about love

and peace and understanding .

l cherished his books,

and l dearly wish

he had written more.

Maybe if you had experienced

even a little bit of the '60s,

you might feel

the same way, too.

l experienced the '60s.

No, you had two '50s

and moved right on

into the '70s.

Annie, look at this.

Your husband plowed

under his corn and built

a baseball field .

Now, there's

an intelligent response.

The weirdo.

Annie. . .

Honey, it's all right.

l'll be cool .

At least he is not

a book burner, you Nazi cow.

At least l'm not married

to the biggest horse's ass

in three counties.

All right, Beulah ,

do you want to step outside?

Fine !

RAY:
Annie.

All right, honey.

l've got a better idea.

Let's take a vote.

Who's for Eva Braun?

Who wants to burn books?

Who wants to spit on

the Constitution of the U nited

States of America? Anybody?

All right. Now,

who's for the Bill of Rights?

Who thinks freedom

is a pretty darn good thing?

Come on ! Come on !

Let's see those hands !

Who thinks

we have to stand up

to the kind of censorship

they had under Stalin?

All right. There you go.

America, l love you .

l'm proud of you .

Let's go.

We got to go.

This is great!

RAY:
l figured it out.

l figured it out.

(WHOOPl NG)

Was that great, or what?

l figured it out.

lt's just like the '60s again !

l just figured it out.

"Step outside , you Nazi cow."

l know whose pain

l'm supposed to ease.

What?

l know whose pain

l'm supposed to ease.

l just halted the spread

of neofascism in America. . .

Terence Mann .

What about him?

That's whose pain .

You sure?

l was right about building

the field , wasn't l?

Well , what's his pain?

l don't know.

How are you supposed

to ease it?

l don't know.

Ray.

Well , Ann . . .

Look, he's my favorite writer,

too ,

but what's Terence Mann

got to do with baseball?

Annie, it's incredible.

By the early '70s,

Mann decides people

have become either

too extremist

or too apathetic to listen .

So he stops writing books ,

he starts writing poetry

about whales,

and then he starts fooling

around with a computer.

Know what he does now?

He writes software

for interactive

children's videos.

They teach kids

how to resolve

their conflicts peacefully.

God , what an amazing guy.

What's that got to do

with baseball?

ln the April 1 962 issue

of Jet Magazine ,

there's a story called

"This ls Not A Kite."

lt's not his best work,

but the story's hero

is named John Kinsella,

my father.

Wow.

What do you mean , "Wow"?

Big wow! What's it got to do

with baseball?

You drive.

Okay, the last interview

he ever gave was in 1 973 .

Guess what it's about.

Some kind of team sport.

Mann was a baseball fanatic.

Listen to this.

"My earliest recurring dream

was to play at Ebbets Field

"with Jackie Robinson

and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

"lt never happened .

The Dodgers left Brooklyn .

"Ebbets Field is gone,

but l still dream that dream ."

That's sad .

RAY:
The man wrote the best

books of his generation .

He was a pioneer

in the civil rights

and the antiwar movement.

l mean , he made

the cover of Newsweek.

He knew everybody.

He did everything .

He helped shape his time.

The guy hung out

with the Beatles.

lt wasn't enough .

What he missed was baseball .

Oh , my God !

What?

"As a small boy,

he had a bat named Rosebud ."

Give me that.

Sorry.

The guy hasn't been

to a baseball game since 1 958 .

So , in order to ease his pain ,

you're supposed to take him

to a ballgame.

Yes.

Ray, this is nuttier

than building

the baseball field .

No. No, it's not.

lt's pretty weird ,

but building the field was

5 , 1 0% weirder.

l'm going to have

to nip this one in the bud .

We're having moderate-to-heavy

financial difficulties here.

And you can't take off

for Boston while we're

going broke in lowa.

This is really

new territory for us,

but we're dealing

with primal forces of nature.

The prudent thing is not

to quibble over details.

Yeah , but why do you

have to go? Why can't

the voice send somebody else?

How about Shirley MacLaine?

ls she too busy?

What does this have

to do with you?

RAY:
That's what l have

to find out.

Ray, we are behind

on the mortgage. That field

ate up all of our savings.

We could lose this farm .

l won't even stay in motels.

l'll sleep in the car.

l'll beg for food .

No. No ! Now, this is too much !

Now, look. l understand

your need to prove to yourself

and to the world

you are not turning

into your father,

but you've done it.

You believed in the magic.

lt happened .

lsn't that enough?

lt's more than that.

l know this is totally nuts,

but there's another reason

l'm supposed to do it.

l feel it as strongly

as l've felt anything .

There's a reason .

What? J ust tell me what it is.

Something's going to happen

at the game.

There's something

at Fenway Park.

l got to be there

with Terence Mann

to find it out.

ls Fenway the one

with the big green wall

in left field?

Yeah .

l dreamt last night

you were at Fenway

with Terence Mann .

Was l sitting

on the first base side?

Yes.

About halfway up on the aisle?

Yeah . Eating a hot dog .

Eating a hot dog .

l had the same dream .

l'll help you pack.

RAY:
H i , l'm . . .

H i , l'm Ray Kinsella.

H i . No.

H i .

H i , l'm Ray Kinsella.

lt's a great pleasure

to finally get to. . .

H i , l'm Ray Kinsella.

l'm a big fan of yours.

H i .

How do you do, Mr. Mann?

l have to take you

to a base. . .

All right, stupid ,

put your hands up

and get in the trunk.

Good . Good .

He lives right around here.

Do you know him?

He's sort of a tall black man .

l'm a friend of his.

lf he was much of a friend ,

he could give you

the directions himself.

That's a good point.

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