Submission Page #7

---

- So...

- Hey, Meg.

The guy in your story... What

does he do for a living?

I don't know. I mean, wait.

He's a contractor.

Is that in the story?

It was,

and then I took it out.

It's not in the story because

the guy's not in the story.

We don't believe it

for a f***ing second.

We don't believe one thing he

says or anything that he does,

certainly not that he takes a

cat up to the roof to kill it.

A guy like that is more likely to be nicer

to the cat than he is to the woman.

It's like you didn't

even investigate it.

You were too busy thinking up some

vicious thing for this a**hole to do

than actually

write a story.

Well,

it appears that Angela did not

care for Meg's writing this week.

I'm sorry. It's unfair Angela gets to shoot

her mouth off about everybody else's stuff,

and we never talk

about her work.

She should have to play

by the same rules we do.

However, I did make it clear at the beginning

of the course that no one is obligated...

Fine. Whatever.

I'll bring my stuff into class.

I'm not scared.

I just don't see

the point.

But if it'll make you happy,

I'll do it next week.

Okay. Great. Thank you,

Angela, for volunteering

and for, um, extricating us

from this little snafu.

Uh-huh.

Snafu.

- Beautiful.

- Mmm. It's one of my favorites.

- [bell tolling]

- All right, there we are. So we'll see you next week.

Angela, would you stay

so that we could talk about

what you would indeed

like to read next week?

I'm sorry for going off

like that.

You know, one minute

I'm minding my business,

and the next

I'm ripping Meg's heart out.

Yeah, no, it's okay. I mean,

you were right. [chuckling]

[chuckles] It's just

the mood I'm in.

I was pissed

before I came in here.

Why is that?

Because

you didn't call.

About the pages.

Oh, yeah. No. I know. I'm sorry.

I didn't get the chance...

It's just those were really

extreme scenes, you know.

And I needed to know what you thought.

It was driving me crazy.

And here I am defending male

behavior against Meg's bullshit,

but here you are exhibiting the

worst type of male behavior.

And honestly I'd rather you throw

my cat off the roof and kill it

than have you read these really tough and

hard-to-write pages and not even call.

I'm sorry.

It was thoughtless.

Apology accepted.

Good.

So then next week,

I think you should just...

Let's just start

with the first chapter.

All right?

Um, yeah. Sure.

You know, I don't know

if I'll get much out of it.

- No offense, but...

- [chuckles]

You know, I just really need to get my

stuff out in the world to someone that...

someone that

doesn't know me,

and they can tell me if I suck

or if I should keep going

or if I should just burn it all and

rip it up and never write again.

[laughing] I don't think

that you have to do that.

Was that Blue Angel?

Did you watch Blue Angel?

- Yeah.

- I don't think I've ever seen it.

Marlene Dietrich's great

though, right?

Pretty boring actually.

It was hard to get through.

But I've gotta return it

or else I might as well buy it.

- Okay.

- Hey, uh...

What if the next time you talk

to your editor in New York,

you sort of mention

my novel to him?

You know?

Have him just read a chapter,

a couple of pages even,

and then he'll tell you

and you can tell me.

Um...

let me think about it.

- Thanks. I really appreciate it.

- No problem.

- See you.

- Okay. See you later.

Bye.

[engine idling]

[engine off]

[chattering]

[laughing]

So, let's talk

about what we liked

before we tear it down,

as usual.

[laughing]

I thought some

of the egg stuff was okay.

Oh, come on, Carlos. It was

all so obvious and symbolic.

Thank you. I mean, this egg sh*t.

Really? It's clich.

I didn't believe

the voice.

I mean, teenage girls

don't think like that.

There were no teenage

expressions in it.

It was like...

It was totally unrealistic.

[Danny] And the narrator's so...

I don't know.

I just kept waiting to learn

something about her as a character.

[Claris] I feel you.

Okay, but it is the first part

of the first chapter of a novel.

A novel's got to have something

to keep you reading.

We're not staying with this story

about some chick hatching eggs

and having fantasies

about her teacher.

Yeah. This is, like, the worst thing

we've read in class all year.

You know,

sometimes... sometimes,

there comes along something

that is new

and fresh and original.

It's unlike anything

that's ever been written before.

I'm not saying what Angela

has written is Ulysses,

but what I am saying is what she

has written is very original.

And the rest of you

need to see that.

Because if there's one thing that I

want you to take away from this class,

it's the ability...

it's the generosity

to see the real deal.

And that's the real deal.

It should be painfully obvious

to all of you

that what Angela has written

is more sophisticated,

more profound,

more nuanced,

and more compelling

than anything

any one of you has written

for this entire semester.

And I'm shocked

that you don't see it.

[chuckles]

Hello. Hi. It's Ted Swenson

calling for Len Currie.

- [woman] One minute, Mr. Swenson.

- Mm-hmm.

Ted. Finally.

- How are you, man?

- Hey, how are you?

Jesus, you're hard

to get ahold of.

- You coming to New York?

- Yes.

In fact,

that's why I'm calling.

I want to talk to you about a couple

of things. Maybe the week after next?

The week

of Thanksgiving?

Uh... No.

Actually, I meant...

That Friday is perfect.

It's actually the only slot I've got

free on my schedule for the next year.

Not really, but just about.

And by lunchtime I'll be climbing the

walls to get away from the wife and kids.

- Don't tell anyone I said that.

- [chuckles]

Norma's. Twenty-second and Park

Avenue South. See you at 1:00.

Can't wait to finally

read what you've got.

[line clicks]

[bells ringing]

Hello?

Oh, my God. Ted.

She's here!

- Hello?

- Oh!

I did not expect you

so early.

Oh, I thought you'd hit

all that traffic.

- It wasn't too bad actually.

- Oh. Good.

- Smells good, Mom.

- Hey!

- Hey. How are you?

- Hi.

She's back

and better than ever.

You look great.

- You look great.

- Thanks, Dad.

- You don't need to say it a third time.

- Okay. All right.

I'm taking this course

on the abnormal personality.

- It's for my psych major.

- Mmm. That sounds interesting.

Yeah, a lot of these studies say that

first-degree relatives of affected individuals

have a higher risk of

developing symptoms themselves.

- Makes you think about Grandpa.

- It makes perfect sense.

This is absolutely

delicious, honey.

Although a child of a bipolar has

less than a 15-percent chance

of developing it himself.

Well, there you go.

Fifteen percent. Spared.

Unless there are other

members of the family

who suffer from some kind

of mood disorder too.

I remember your mother

was depressed a lot as well.

Honey, would it be all right if we didn't

Rate this script:2.0 / 1 vote