Human Nature Page #7

NATHAN:

They don't seem to be especially ego

driven, this is true.

LILA:

You've got to respect that.

NATHAN:

I have to say that I'm not there

yet.

LILA:

Where?

NATHAN:

Slugdom. Sluggishness. Whatever you'd

call it. I'm not there yet. I still

have many human characteristics.

LILA:

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

NATHAN:

Yes. I suppose not. But still. One

would like to move along. To move

beyond.

LILA:

I'm not sure we can escape our

natures. Believe me I've tried. I'm

not even so sure anymore that we

should want to.

NATHAN:

I love that you said that. It makes

me feel a bit lighter. I've been

rather heavy lately. Thinking about

my childhood. Realizing how much a

product I am of my upbringing.

(beat, cautiously)

I've been seeing someone. A therapist.

LILA:

(feigning surprise)

You are a therapist, right?

NATHAN:

No no. I'm a psychologist, but I do

research. I'm a behaviorist. I work

with animals. Mice at the moment.

LILA:

I hope you don't perform any of those

dreadful torture experiments, Nathan.

NATHAN:

Heavens no. My work now is... Right

now I'm teaching mice... well, table

manners, to be candid.

LILA:

(beat. doesn't know

what to say)

How's it going?

NATHAN:

Quite well, really. It's a lot of

work. A lot of reinforcement, mostly

positive. Right now I've gotten two

of my subjects to use napkins. Tiny

napkins of course.

LILA:

Paper or cloth?

NATHAN:

I hope you don't think me daft. It's

important work. It's part of a larger

sociological experiment. I'm federally

funded.

LILA:

What's the larger experiment?

NATHAN:

It's my thesis that if table manners

can be taught to mice, they can be

taught to humans.

LILA:

Going out on a limb, aren't you,

Nathan?

NATHAN:

(speech)

The truth is most people don't have

table manners today. And when the

foundations of civilized society

crumble and disappear, civilized

society in its entirely follows

closely at its heels.

LILA:

I'm not sure.

NATHAN:

(stridently)

Courtesy, decorum, manners, are all

sadly lacking from our daily

intercourse. Rudeness, vulgarity,

meanness are the norm.

LILA:

We are animals after all.

NATHAN:

Ergo if I can teach table manners to

mice, I can teach them to humans. If

I can teach table manners to humans,

I can save the world.

Nathan blushes. Lila stares at him for a long moment. Her

thoughts are unreadable.

CUT TO:

INT. ELECTROLOGIST'S OFFICE - DAY

Lila lies on her back. Rose works on her breasts.

ROSE:

So?

LILA:

I really like him, Rose. He's so...

(searching)

...passionate about his work.

ROSE:

My brother says he likes you, too.

LILA:

(pleased)

Really?

ROSE:

Yeah. Says he likes you even more

than he likes his own mother. And

according to my brother Nathan's

abormally close with his mother.

CUT TO:

INT. WHITE SPACE - DAY

Nathan talks.

NATHAN:

I began going to a therapist when I

was in my thirties, because I felt

that I wasn't enjoying life the way

my friends were.

(beat)

After a time my childhood came up.

DISSOLVE TO:

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