Nell Page #2

with an ulterior motive

Everybody who cares for

someone has an ulterior motive

Even Mother Teresa

She wants to know that her life

has been of some use to others

And so do I

Excuse me

Oh, sh*t

Yeah, I'm on my way

Well, Lovell, did I wake you up?

Hey, Todd, it's okay.

I overslept. What's up?

I'm looking at a commitment order

that's just been issued for Nell

What does that mean?

Well, it means they're

gonna take her away

It's a court order, Jerry.

I have to enforce it

When, now?

Well, that's what it says

Can you give me some time?

- I guess I could hold off till after lunch

- Try and make it a long lunch, will ya?

Well, what do you say there, Don?

Not fishing today?

Todd

Sorry about this, Jerry?

Hi

Well, we've...

come to pick Nell up

Yeah, I heard

I've got the court order

You do know it's in her

own best interests right?

Did you ask her?

Well, you know that's impossible

Tell 'em, Don

Well, I have a court order

here that says...

if you don't get Nell's informed consent,

you're violatin' her rights

And if you do that, I'm gonna sue

you all the way to the Supreme Court

How can she give

her informed consent?

She doesn't even speak English!

If she doesn't speak English, she has to

give her consent through an interpreter

What interpreter? This is crazy!

There isn't anybody

who speaks her language!

Then I guess somebody's

gonna have to learn

Dr. Lovell's view seems to be that

this woman's natural habitat is...

a primitive cabin in the heart of

the forest. Well, I take a different view

I see... a victim of abuse... and neglect...

I see a mature woman who's

been robbed of half her life

Her mother never gave her a choice.

Isn't Dr. Lovell doing the same thing?

Hiding her away as his own

private pet in the woods?

We all know what happens to

these freak cases, Your Honor

They get a year of celebrity

A starring role in

a few academic papers

Then they get to spend the rest of

their lives in a state institution...

abandoned... by the very doctors and

scientists who claimed to be helping them

Nell has a home. She has a life.

She's not asking for any help

So just be sure she needs care...

before she gets cared to death

If she's ever gonna leave that cabin

she's gonna need skills

she doesn't presently possess

How do you know

she wants to leave the cabin?

You think that's the best

life we can give her?

I don't think her life is ours to give

People can help each other, Dr. Lovell. We

don't have to do everything on our own

Okay, I think I'm getting the picture

Here's what I'm gonna do

I'm gonna defer my decision

for three months

This time to be used for the proposed

of observation and assessment

And I hope that by the end of this period,

this court is better informed

Hey

You sure you can make it,

roughing it like this?

I don't see an air conditioning unit

You okay about breathing raw air?

Wow, who's paying for

this floating palace?

My department.

This project has very high priority

Oh, I bet it does

So how long are you staying?

Three months

Don't you have a life?

It can wait

How long're you staying?

I don't know

Well, won't your, uh, patient miss you?

I've got someone to cover for me.

Everybody's replaceable

so I guess you'll make full professor

on the back of this case, huh?

Sure, why not?

Look, I'm here to do ajob. Anything

that helps me do thatjob is fine by me

If you want to be a Boy Scout, go ahead...

but I'd appreciate it if you could

do your best not to screw it up

What's all this?

What's it look like?

You never said anything

about video cameras to me

Well, it's the least

intrusive method of observation

Well, how'd you rig this up?

Well, she was asleep.

She sleeps most of the day

Mind if I dress?

Hi

I'm Jerry

You're Nell. I'm Jerry

Me

Me. That's right. Jerry

You're Nell

That's right. That's right

That's right

She has an objective self

and a subjective self that I

I've never seen such a

perfect projection before

That's, that's "me"...

me... in the mirror

You'd think it would be

the other way around

But that's "me" out there.

almost like she's displacing herself

Have you run any tests?

Only blood works,

and no abnormalities there

We'll have to run competency

tests before the court hearing, but...

I'd say it's still too soon

I want you to hear

this language she speaks

What is this gesture about?

I don't know.

It's some kind of self comforting

She did it when

she was saying "me"

You should explain the speech

degradation is misleading

That's right.

the mother was aphasic

but the idiosyncratic word

forms...you tell me

Incredible

You mind if I talk?

I like it here

It's a quiet place

You've got the right idea, Nell

You live with people,

you get problems

First they screw you up...

then they leave you, right?

You ever get lonely, Nell?

I never had any brothers

and sisters either

"Very unusual for

an Irish family, Dr. Lovell"

Oh, sure, you better believe it.

God, there was a family

lived next door.

The Connors. The Connors...

They had seven kids. Seven

Always yelling and screaming,

having a good time

Me watching...

over a fence, through a window

I heard music. A band

This parade was

coming down the street

I'm on our front steps

Jamie Connor grabs me

pulling me into the street

"No, no, no, no, no" My heart's

going ba-boom, ba- boom, ba-boom

The band's going bum-bum-bum,

bam, bam-bam-bam, bam.

Oh, but I was so excited.

Jamie's got me by my hand

We're doing this. Some kid's got my

other hand, the band right behind us

You get close to a band.

you know about it

I'm marching, I'm with the other kids.

I wasn't alone

You know what I'm saying?

We weren't talking

Just... just...enjoying

this wonderful spirit

Did you see that?

- Yeah, I saw it

- Did you see it?

- Yeah, I saw it

- She talked! To me!

- I know

- Hold out your hand

- I didn't ask for that. She did

- I know

- You know what it means?

- No!

Okay, so here's what I've been thinking.

Nell speaks English

English? Oh, come on

Yeah, most of the time anyway. Look

Come here. Take a look at this.

"Af'ah I done go, ga'inja come" There's

only one word of pure Nellish there

Sounds like language

analysis to me

- Dr. Olsen

- All right, o- okay

"Spee"...speak. "Af'ah"... after.

She's droppin' consonants

Yeah, but...what does "chickabee" mean?

She says, "Missa chickabee."

What's "missa"?

I don't know

When she's scared she says. "Tata, tata"

Wh-what's that?

I don't know yet

Where is she?

Look at that

- We shouldn't be watching this

- Why not?

She's naked

So?

I think she's beautiful

You think I'm planning to abuse

the doctor patient relationship?

- Are you?

- No

Just because I think she's beautiful

doesn't mean I want to have sex with her

I mean, I think you're beautiful, but...

Oh, thanks

You know what I mean

That's okay

- No, look, I didn't mean it that...

- It's okay. I'm a big girl

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