The Diary of a Teenage Girl

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1 INT. MINNIE’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY 1

Close up on a cat’s face - not pleased.

Hand-written title card: DOMINO VS. THE CITY - a film by

Minnie Goetze

A cardboard San Francisco: skyscrapers and the Golden Gate

Bridge. Domino, the cat, peeks out above the buildings.

Title card:
It’s a CAT-ASTROPHE! Everybody run!

Domino stomps, destroying the little cars and buildings in

his wake. He claws at one of the tallest buildings, lies down

right in the middle of the set, licks his butt, and looks at

the camera like “Yeah? What?”.

END SUPER 8:

(TITLE CARD:
The Diary of

a Teenage Girl)

2 EXT. SAN FRANCISCO - YERBA BUENA PARK - AFTERNOON 2

MINNIE GOETZE, an intensely smart fifteen-year-old, curious

and strong but not jaded, walks through the seedy sprawling

park.

Minnie’s voice-over, recorded onto a cassette tape:

MINNIE (V.O.)

I had sex today. HOLY SHIIIITTTTT!

Music kicks in - something with a beat. Minnie walks

seriously down the path, until the chorus chimes in, then she

shimmies, or swishes her hips, in time to the music.

Minnie’s POV:
A boy with blond feathered hair takes a long

slow puff off of a joint. Smoke wafts up around his face,

dancing with his curls almost magically.

Minnie bounds through the park, past old strung-out hippies

lounging in the grass. One of the women doesn’t have a shirt

on. This is the 70s in San Francisco - it’s just how it is.

A young woman jogs by in a skimpy seventies jogging outfit.

Her unharnessed breasts bounce happily along. Comic stars

appear on her nipples and bounce away. Minnie looks down and

takes a quick peek at her own less ample breasts.

Pink (01/08/2014) 22.

She struts to the music. She leaves animated footsteps in her

path.

Minnie does a little skip, and the music swells and cuts out.

3 EXT. MINNIE’S HOUSE - STREET 3

Minnie runs up and into a Victorian style apartment building.

5 INT. MINNIE’S HOUSE - THE LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 5

Minnie enters, startled to find her mom, CHARLOTTE, a hip

woman of 34 who wishes she were 25, and GRETEL, 13 and a mini-

Charlotte, pretty and girly, glued to the TV. Charlotte is

still beautiful, though she wears her mistakes on her body.

She sips a gin and tonic. On the TV, news coverage of the

trial of Patty Hearst.

TV ANCHOR:

Patty Hearst, the kidnapped heiress

whose story has riveted the world,

appeared in court again today. She

was described as pallid, dull in

complexion and lacking in energy.

One court reporter described her

demeanor as “zombie-like”.

Minnie tries to sneak past unnoticed. The room is complete

with shag carpeting wall-to-wall, hanging ferns, and colorful

afghans. The picture of Patty Hearst with a gun is on the TV.

TV ANCHOR(CONT’D)

When Ms. Hearst was asked to

describe the closet that her

captors held her in...

CHARLOTTE:

Oh Minnie. Come watch with us.

GRETEL:

(trying to sound grown-up)

Yeah. It’s history in the making.

Charlotte doesn’t take her eyes off the TV.

3.

TV ANCHOR:

Prosecutors brought in Dr. Harry L.

Kozol, an expert on sex-offenders

and mentally ill criminals...

MINNIE:

No thanks.

CHARLOTTE:

(re:
TV)

She’s not mentally ill! F*** this

guy. Just because she ran away from

her bourgeoisie family and started

over. I know how you feel, Patty!

Charlotte sips her drink, Minnie leans in.

GRETEL:

My teacher said she was

brainwashed. I mean, didn’t they,

like, keep her in a closet?

CHARLOTTE:

No, come on. She’s brave. She

reminds me of my friend Andrea-

she’s searching for something more

real than her privileged bullshit

childhood.

GRETEL:

Oh.

MINNIE:

I think she’s a phony. What kind of

person falls in love with the

people who kidnap and torture them?

Charlotte and Gretel turn toward Minnie, surprised. Charlotte

finally takes in Minnie:

CHARLOTTE:

Is that what you wore today?

MINNIE:

Mom?!

CHARLOTTE:

I’m just saying. It wouldn’t kill

you to wear something with a waist.

Jeez.

Gretel laughs.

4.

MINNIE:

(to Gretel)

Shut the f*** up.

Charlotte goes back to watching the coverage.

MINNIE (CONT’D)

I’m gonna go do homework.

Minnie exits. Charlotte calls after her.

CHARLOTTE:

Kimmie called.

Charlotte and Gretel go back to the TV.

6 INT. MINNIE’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 6

Minnie pulls the rotary phone into her messy room and dials

frantically. The bed is unmade, a record player sits on the

floor in the corner, and the dresser’s drawers hang open

loosely exposing their contents. There are half finished

projects everywhere: dioramas, a photography corner, etc.

MINNIE:

(into phone)

Hi, may I speak to Kimmie please?

Oh, okay. Yeah could you just ask

her to call Minnie the moment she

get in? Thanks.

Minnie hangs up, frustrated.

7 INT. MINNIE’S HOUSE - HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER 7

Minnie digs frantically through the closet, searching. She

flings articles of clothes, and tennis rackets out of the

way, boxes fall on her, until she finds what she’s looking

for:
a seventies cassette recorder complete with a

microphone. She wipes dust off of it.

8 INT. MINNIE’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER 8

Minnie presses record on the tape recorder, noticing some

dark dried blood on her index finger. She picks at it for a

moment, smells it. She thinks about where to begin. Then, she

jumps up, locks her door. She sits back down.

MINNIE:

(into mic)

Um. Testing? No - F*** -

(MORE)

5.

MINNIE (CONT'D)

(rewinds, starts again)

My name is Minnie Goetze. I am a

fifteen-year-old girl living in San

Francisco California, recording

this onto a cassette tape because

my life has gotten really crazy of

late, and I need to tell someone

about it. If you’re listening to

this without my permission, please

stop right now. Just, really. Stop.

Okay.

(clearing her throat)

So, I don’t remember being born.

9 BEGIN IMAGINING SEQUENCE: 9

A comic-book style animation: a woman’s naked body lying on

her side breaths and move in sketchy pencil lines. She moves

in ecstacy.

MINNIE (V.O.)

I was a very ugly child.

Her knees part slowly, opening seductively, exposing a hairy

crotch, the pencil lines of the pubic hair going in every

direction. Her toes curl, and suddenly through the center of

her legs pops out the head of a baby, who looks just like

Minnie- bright-eyed and smiling. The animation freezes:

END IMAGINING:

10 INT. MINNIE’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 10

Minnie stands with her tape recorder and microphone. The

“birth drawing” is tacked to the wall in front of her.

MINNIE:

My appearance has not improved so I

suppose it was a lucky break when

he was attracted by my

youthfulness.

A cat starts purring around Minnie’s ankle, she picks him up

roughly, kissing him.

MINNIE (CONT’D)

Domino, you stupid cat, I love you.

(then, whispering)

Hey, Domino. Do I look different

than I did yesterday?

6.

Domino squirms and jumps out of her arms. Minnie flops on the

bed, a huge grin coming over her face.

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