Interstellar Page #6

What about college?

PRINCIPAL:

The University of California only

accepts a few hundred students a

year, Mr. Cooper. You have to be

realistic.

COOPER:

You're ruling out college for him

now? He's only fifteen.

PRINCIPAL:

I'm sorry. I'm afraid Tom's score

simply isn't high enough.

COOPER:

What are you, about a 36-inch waist?

(BEAT)

30-inch inseam?

PRINCIPAL:

I'm not sure I see--

COOPER:

You're telling me you need two numbers

to measure your own ass, but just

one to measure my son's future?

Ms. Kelly stifles a laugh, then, with a look from the

principal, takes on the appropriate look of offense.

PRINCIPAL:

I understand you're a well-educated

man, Mr. Cooper. A scientist?

COOPER:

Engineer.

PRINCIPAL:

Frankly, the world doesn't need any

more engineers. We didn't run out

of trains or television sets or

satellites.

(BEAT)

We ran out of food.

17.

Cooper leans back. He's not going to win this one.

PRINCIPAL (CONT'D)

The world needs farmers, Mr. Cooper.

And I'm sure your son Tom is going

to make a fine one.

(SMILES BENIGNLY)

We're a caretaker generation. But

things are getting better. Maybe

your grandchildren will be able to

attend college.

Cooper looks down, swallowing his anger.

COOPER:

Are we done?

PRINCIPAL:

One more thing. Ms. Kelly here says

that Murph brought a book to school

about the lunar landings.

He slides an old textbook with a picture of a rocket on the

cover across the desk to Cooper.

COOPER:

One of my old textbooks. Murph liked

the pictures.

MS. KELLY

This is one of the old federal

textbooks. We've replaced them with

corrected versions.

COOPER:

Corrected?

MS. KELLY

The new textbooks explain that the

Apollo lunar missions were faked in

order to bankrupt the Soviet Union.

COOPER:

You don't believe we went to the

moon?

MS. KELLY

I believe it was a brilliant piece

of propaganda. The Soviets spent

years trying to build rockets and

other useless machines.

COOPER:

"Useless machines"?

18.

Cooper looks to the Principal for help. None is forthcoming.

MS. KELLY

Yes, Mr. Cooper. The kind of

wastefulness and excess that the

20th century represented. Your

children would be better off learning

about this planet, rather than reading

fantasies about leaving it.

Cooper is silent for a long moment.

COOPER:

One of those useless machines they

used to make was called an MRI. If

we had any of them left the doctors

might have been able to find the

cyst in my wife's brain before she

died, rather than afterwards. And

then my kids could have been raised

by two parents, instead of me and

their pain-in-the-ass grandfather.

Ms. Kelly's face falls, ashen. Cooper swallows his anger.

Most of it, anyway.

COOPER (CONT'D)

You ever consider the best thing for

the world and humanity might have

been for us to part company?

Cooper gets up to leave.

INT. TRUCK, COUNTY SCHOOL PARKING LOT -- DAY

Cooper climbs into the truck, trying to hold it together.

He PUNCHES the wheel.

The radio KEYS to life. He ignores it. Sits for a moment

in misery. Finally he picks up the handset.

CB OPERATOR (O.S.)

Got a call from Riggs, down in

Galveston. Says some of the tractors

you built him went haywire last night.

COOPER:

Just tell him to power down the

controllers for a couple minutes.

CB OPERATOR (O.S.)

I did. He wants you to come down in

person anyway. Says he found

something you should take a look at.

19.

Cooper stares at the wheel. Shakes his head in frustration.

EXT. AIRSTRIP -- DAY

Cooper pulls his truck up to a grimy-looking hangar. Pulls

a tarp off of an ancient Piper Cub. Checks it over.

INT. PIPER CUB -- DAY

Cooper guides the plane along a long sliver of deserted beach.

The radio crackles to life.

COOPER:

Bravo-two-eight, requesting permission

to enter your airspace.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL (O.S.)

Permission granted. Welcome to the

sovereign nation of Texas.

Coop hangs up the radio. Banks the plane inland.

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