Mumford Page #17

MUMFORD:

I can tell you anything else.

SKIP:

What about everything? How did this

happen?

Mumford looks at Skip, considering. He takes a long pull

from his beer, then looks at the frosty bottle.

MUMFORD:

Did you know that every species of

mammal has found some way to drug,

inebriate, or anestnetize itself?

Even if it's just banging its head

against a rock. Seems to be some

natural urge... to get away for a

while.

(one more look at

Skip)

I've had it for as long as I can

remember. The first place I wanted

out of was home...

AS MUMFORD TALKS we SEE IMAGES FROM HIS PAST, all FROM

MUMFORD'S POV. We do not see him in the scenes. Instead,

everyone else in the scene RELATES TO THE CAMERA AS MUMFORD,

even if they're just ignoring him.

EXT. MUMFORD'S CHILDHOOD HOME, BALD KNOB, WEST VIRGINIA -

MAGIC:

MOVING FAST (MUMFORD'S CHILDHOOD POV) toward the back door

of a rundown, little house in a poor mining community. We

reach the back door and bang inside --

INT. MUMFORD'S CHILDHOOD HOME - MAGIC

The cramped interior is grimy and depressing. MUMFORD'S MOTHER

worse for wear, has just put a glass of liquor on the sink

and returned her attention to the smoking stovetop. She

glances briefly at Mumford and greets him pleasantly, clearly

drunk. Suddenly, her attention shifts and we -- PAN TO THE

FRONT DOOR which is opened roughly by MUMFORD'S FATHER, a

coal miner whose face still shows the grime of his work. But

it's his scary scowl that impresses. His eyes take in his

wife (and her drink) but he says nothing. He barely gives

Mumford a glance as he drops his lunch pail on the table and

disappears into another room.

MUMFORD (V.O.)

I thought I had the best parents in

Bald Knob, West Virginia... till I

was seven years old and got a look

at some others. They weren't bad

folks...

AT THE DINNER TABLE. Across the table, MUMFORD'S OLDER SISTER

eats with her head down. On the right, Mumford's Mother is

picking at her food. Mumford's POV shifts to his Father, who

is yelling something at his wife.

MUMFORD (V.O.)

...but they were real unhappy about

being who they were...

Now, his Father looks suddenly at Mumford; his hand shoots

out to slap Mumford's face, and the IMAGE GOES BLACK, then

immediately FADES UP AGAIN on --

INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM, WEST VIRGINIA - DAY

TIGHT ON A TEST PAPER being laid on an old-fashioned student

desk. Scrawled in red pencil at the top: "A -- Outstanding!"

TILT UP to the old classroom, full of kids getting their

tests back. ACROSS THE AISLE, looking at camera with disgust,

is a sixteen year old boy, MUMFORD'S CLASSMATE.

MUMFORD (V.O.)

It made no sense that school came

easy for me... I didn't do much work,

and there was a proud tradition in

my family of being really dumb. My

friends didn't like it much. It made

them distrust me...

EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD - NIGHT

FROM INSIDE A HELMET: the brutal chaos of crashing bodies in

a Friday night high school football game. Mumford is violently

hit. Our view is smashed so deep into the muddy turf that

again the IMAGE GOES BLACK, then quickly FADES UP AGAIN on --

INT./EXT. LOVER'S LANE, WOODS - NIGHT

TIGHT ON A CAN OF "IRON CITY" BEER in MUMFORD'S POV as he

puts it on the roof of a green Nash Rambler and ducks into

the back seat. In the shadows is a teen-age girl, MUMFORD'S

DATE. As Mumford moves toward her, she flames a Bic lighter

and gleefully lights a fat joint; her blouse is unbuttoned

and gaping.

MUMFORD (V.O.)

On the other hand, it made some of

my classmates like me better... I

don't know what it was in me, maybe

some genes from my mom, maybe some

discomfort with myself, but early on

I was drawn to any substance that

made me numb...

EXT. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD - DAY

Graduation Ceremonies. MUMFORD'S POV moving across a platform

toward the diploma being proffered by the PRINCIPAL. PAN TO

Mumford's Parents, dressed up and proud, in the audience.

MUMFORD (V.O.)

When I got a scholarship to go out

of state to college, I was the first

one in my extended family who'd gone

beyond high school. At graduation,

my folks looked like a normal, happy

couple, which I guess they were about

10% of the time... out in public.

INT. UNIVERSITY DORMITORY HALLWAY - DAY

TIGHT ON A DORM ROOM DOOR as it is pushed open. MUMFORD'S

NEW ROOMMATE, a crazed, middle-class doper, has his stuff

spread around and is settled in the midst of the chaos. He

looks up at the arriving Mumford with a maniacal, stoned

smile.

MUMFORD (V.O.)

My roommate was from a planet I had

never heard of called Scarsdale,

where everything was the opposite of

West Virginia...

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes