The Butler Page #12

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Sometimes I feel like we’re living

in two different worlds. I just

want to keep them safe.

Cecil seems defeated. LBJ looks at him with understanding.

INT. SENATE FLOOR - NIGHT - 1965

LBJ is making an impassioned speech on the Senate floor.

LBJ:

Every American citizen must have an

equal right to vote. Yet the harsh

fact is that in many places in this

country men and women are kept from

voting because they are Negroes.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT - 1965

Holloway, Carter and Lorraine watch the speech in the

kitchen, stunned.

LBJ (FROM THE TV)

The Negro is given a test. He may

be asked to recite the entire

Constitution, or explain the most

complex provisions of State law.

CARTER:

Negroes? Since when did he start

calling us negroes? That n*gger

uses the word n*gger more than I

use it.

INT. SELMA HOUSE - NIGHT - 1965

Louis and Carol are crammed in a room full of beaten up Selma

protestors. Everyone is bandaged and bruised as they watch

the speech.

LBJ (FROM THE TV)

But really it’s all of us that must

overcome the crippling legacy of

bigotry and injustice.

Everyone in the room is beaming.

70.

CECIL (CONT'D)

INT. GAINES’ HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT - 1965

Gloria and Cecil cuddle up next to each other on the couch as

LBJ wraps up his speech.

LBJ (FROM THE TV)

And we shall overcome.

Cecil and Gloria both smile, they know Louis helped make this

happen.

EXT. WHITE HOUSE - GATE - DAY - 1968

HIPPIE PROTESTERS are outside the White House protesting the

Vietnam War. We hear their enraged chants:

HIPPPIE PROTESTORS

HEY HEY LBJ, HOW MANY KIDS DID YOU

KILL TODAY?! HEY HEY LBJ, HOW MANY

KIDS DID YOU KILL TODAY?!

INT. WHITE HOUSE - RED ROOM - DAY - 1968

A maid cleans a mirror as she hears the chanting:

HIPPPIE PROTESTORS V.O.

HEY HEY LBJ, HOW MANY KIDS DID YOU

KILL TODAY?!

MAID:

I wish they’d shut up.

CUT TO - FULL SCREEN ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE - VIETNAM

American bombs drop on the JUNGLES of Vietnam.

INT. LORRAINE MOTEL - MEMPHIS - DAY - 1968

MARTIN LUTHER KING, 38, wise, but weary, stands in the

doorway, various AIDES and STUDENTS fill the hotel room.

Louis sits across from him. They are watching footage of the

Vietnam War on television.

NEWSCAST:

“US Casualties are on the rise in

Vietnam, giving fuel to critics who

say there is no end in sight for

what has become a bloody war.”

Martin Luther King shakes his head, frustrated.

71.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

President Johnson is making a

tragic error in Vietnam.

LOUIS:

Why shouldn’t we fight in Vietnam?

MARTIN LUTHER KING

The Vietcong don’t call us n*ggers,

for one.

Louis and a few of his aides laugh.

MARTIN LUTHER KING (CONT’D)

Seriously, how many of your parents

support this war?

Almost all of them raise their hands.

MARTIN LUTHER KING (CONT’D)

Well my Lord...

(to Louis)

Why do your parents support it?

LOUIS:

We haven’t spoken about it

specifically, I just know they do.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

What do your daddy do?

Louis looks at him embarrassed.

LOUIS:

He’s a butler.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

The black domestic plays an

important role in our history.

LOUIS:

I didn’t tell you that to make fun

of me.

MARTIN LUTHER KING

Young brother, the black domestic

defies racial stereotypes by being

hardworking and trustworthy. He

slowly breaks down racial hatred

with the example of his strong work

ethic and dignified character.

(Then)

72.

(MORE)

Now while we perceive the butler or

the maid as being subservient, in

many ways they are subversive

without even knowing it.

Louis stares at him, never thought about his dad in this way.

INT. BLAIR HOUSE - RD WARNER’S OFFICE - DAY - 1966

Cecil sits across from the Chief Usher, RD Warner. Cecil is

nervous, gripping his sweaty palms.

RD WARNER:

Come in, Cecil.

CECIL:

Good afternoon, Mr. Warner. Thank

you for seeing me.

RD WARNER:

What do you want?

CECIL:

Since the colored...the black

staff...does just as much work as

the white staff, I believe that our

salaries should reflect our

service, sir.

RD WARNER:

‘Black’ staff?

CECIL:

I also feel that we should have

opportunities of advancement. No

black houseman have ever been

promoted to the engineer’s office.

RD Warner stares at Cecil for a long beat. Then -

RD WARNER:

You’re very well liked here, Cecil,

but if you’re unhappy with your

salary or position, than I suggest

you seek employment elsewhere.

CECIL:

With all due respect sir...

RD WARNER:

Don’t let that Martin Luther King

sh*t fill your britches out. Just

remember where I found you.

73.

MARTIN LUTHER KING (CONT'D)

CECIL:

Yes sir.

Long beat.

CECIL (CONT’D)

Excuse me.

He walks out of the room, humiliated.

EXT. LORRAINE MOTEL - MEMPHIS

Martin Luther King stands on the balcony of the Lorraine

Motel smoking a cigarette. We hear a newscast in VO:

TV NEWSCAST V.O.

Martin Luther King was shot and

killed in Memphis today...

EXT. WASHINGTON DC - NIGHT - 1968

Cecil drives his car down a dark street, it’s quiet, almost

eerie. On the radio -

RADIO NEWSCAST V.O.

...riots have broken out across the

nation in response to the

assassination of the famed civil

rights leader.

Cecil sees THREE BLACK MEN dart out in the street in front of

him, running to a liquor store and throw Molotov cocktails at

it. Cecil continues to drive. Then -

BOOM!!! The store EXPLODES! Cecil is stunned, he’s never seen

anything like this.

EXT. WASHINGTON DC - BLACK SUBURB - NIGHT - 1968

Cecil can no longer drive as too many people block the

streets. He gets out and starts walking up the block, dabbing

a handkerchief on his forehead. People stare at the fires

that consume the city. Cecil looks around, almost confused.

CECIL V.O.

I didn’t know if I was gonna get

home alive. It was the first time

that I felt like I didn’t belong in

my own neighborhood. The whole

world was changing and I didn’t

know where I fit in.

74.

INT. ND HOTEL - MEMPHIS - NIGHT

Louis and Carol sit alone in the room, as they watch news

footage of the riots and chaos.

TV ANCHOR:

‘The announcement of King’s death

has sparked riots in cities all

across the country.’

EXT. GAINES HOUSE - PORCH - NIGHT - 1968

Cecil walks up to his porch. Gloria comes out to greet him

and they both stare at the fires that engulf Washington DC.

There is a deep sadness in their eyes as they watch their

city burn.

INT. GAINES HOUSE - LOUIS’ BEDROOM - LATE AFTERNOON - 1970

The room has been painted pink. Mannequin busts and fabrics

everywhere. Gloria sits at her new sewing machine. She

works diligently on a shirt for Cecil.

We hear a voice from the other side of the room.

VOICE O.S.

Ma? My room’s pink.

Gloria looks up to see Louis. He sports an Afro and a thick

moustache. Wearing black pants, a black leather jacket and a

beret. He’s hardened.

Gloria stares at him, filled with emotions words cannot

describe.

INT. GAINES HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT - 1970

The entire family is having dinner. Carol sits looking like a

female version of Louis clad in a black turtle neck and

ANGELA DAVIS AFRO.

Cecil is subdued. He clearly does not like his son’s new

look. Louis has a different energy, he’s edgier. Both he and

Carol exude an angry, aggressive quality.

GLORIA:

Make sure you get some of my sweet

potatoes, Carol. I use orange juice

when I make ‘em. That what make ‘em

so tart.

75.

(MORE)

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