The Trouble with the Truth Page #5

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to live the life of a starving artist

the way her parents did. Well, I don't think

there's any danger of that. Do you have to be

so contemptuous? Of what? Living a normal life. They're just both too young

to give up so easily. Not everyone sees marriage as

a tragic surrender to conformity the way that you do. Well, you know

what I'm talking about. And I'm not just talking

about Jenny. When they dated in college,

Jason published those poems. You remember?

And they were pretty good. Yes, I do remember. Right.

And what's he doing now? He's an accountant

for the government? Okay, maybe he'll write

on the side. It's a little easier to create without creditors

constantly banging at your door. I just don't want them to make

the same mistake that we did. Okay, what mistake is that? Getting married too young. You were in your 30s. Like I said -- too young. I don't think youth

was our problem. And, anyway, you don't seem

so irreparably harmed by the catastrophic mistake, which, by the way,

gave you the daughter that you seem

so concerned about. But you know

that I don't mean it like that. I'm talking about Jenny.

Come on, Jenny -- When she was a girl,

when she was a kid, she had dreams. Do you remember all the things

that she wanted to do? And now she does what? Can you tell me?

Because I don't know. No, because every time

she tries to explain to me what she does for a living, I --

it's so stupid, it's so boring, I forget like an hour later. [ Sighs ] Look, I should be the last one to discourage anyone

from their bliss, but, you know, with me,

it's just a dumb mistake that my first novel

ever got published. No, it was

only because I met that agent at Amy's party, remember? A party that

I wasn't even gonna go to. Yeah, but that book was good. So that book would've been

published eventually. I don't know, Robert.

[ Chuckles ] I think

the dirty little secret of life is that luck has a lot

more to do with our destiny than talent and hard work

combined. -Combined?

-Yes. If I hadn't gone to that party,

if I had been 20 minutes late, my whole life

would've been different. Okay, so, what's your point? My point is, is that... maybe what Jenny is doing will make her more happy,

not less... that...that chasing your dreams and having them not happen

is worse than... I don't know, not trying. [ Scoffs ] Okay. So, if you really believe that,

then you have changed, and you have changed a lot more

than I thought possible. Okay, Jenny is... -How old is she?

24! Okay, that is too young

to not even try. What's the cutoff point? What's the point of no return, where, if your dreams

don't come true, you've left yourself

without any other options? Any particular dreamer

you have in mind? No. It's a rhetorical question,

Robert. ROBERT:
Yeah, okay, sure.

Yeah, all right. Look, sorry I ever

brought it up. Let's just not go down that path

anymore, okay? Fine. She can marry the pencil

sharpener. I don't care. -You're being too sensitive.

-Well, why not? I mean, you're basically

calling me a failure. I would never call you that. Okay, fine. -I'm gonna go to the men's room.

-Robert -- And when I come back,

could we please... change the subject? Robert... ROBERT: Men's room? Thank you. [ Cell phone vibrating ] [ Sighs ] [ Sniffles ] Thank you. WAITRESS:

Your entres will be right out. -Thank you.

-Hi. -Hi.

-Hi. Wow. I'm sorry that I was

so...testy before. No, I just think we're

just overprotective of Jenny. Yeah. -All right, your filet mignon.

-Thank you. You're welcome.

Your plate's extremely hot. [ Chuckles softly ] And your salmon, sir. And my salmon, ma'am.

Thank you very much. Can I offer you more to drink? Oh, I'd love another.

Thank you. -And I'll have the same, please.

-WAITRESS:
Got it. -EMILY: Mmm.

-Yum. That looks good.

It smells good. Mmm, mmm, mmm! Yes, mm, oh, stop it.

Come on. -Mmm.

-Stop now. -You want a bite?

-No, no. It's a slippery slope. Mm-hmm.

Oh, you know... -Oh, come on.

-...you know you want it. -You know you want it.

-No, no, no. -You know you want it bad.

-That's what Eve said to Adam. Oh, my God. Oh, it's been a long time. -Mmm.

-Too long. Oh. All right, no, but I'm --

I'm gonna stick with the salmon, which looks excellent,

by the way. You know, I was just thinking,

you always used to say that people get dumber

as they get older, not wiser. -Yeah?

-Mm-hmm. And what does that have to do

with the price of tea in China? Well, just maybe that

Jenny knows what she's doing and maybe you're wrong. Ah. EMILY: Well, it's possible. She's gonna be fine. I think. You know, sometimes I think

you are an incurable optimist. What's so bad about optimism? ROBERT: What's so good about it? Well... It gives people hope,

for one thing. ROBERT: Yeah. You know, all these systems that deliver,

um, what you call hope -- you know, religion, politics,

whatever -- you know, they're just

delivery systems for denial. They're -- No, they exist

to allow people to feel good about sticking their head in

the sand and keeping it there. Okay, well, what about music

and all kinds of art? I mean, it's the same thing. Yes, people have politics,

they have religion, they have sports and drugs, and they, you know, collect

miniature statues of horses. I don't know. I have my writing.

You have your music. It's all the same thing. It's just a way for us

to deny the fact that we're gonna suffer pain

and die. You can't make sense out

of any of it, right? Whoa. Wow. And you accuse me

of having a dark world view. EMILY:

No, I just think sometimes that you think

you're above it all. Well, if you think

that I'm above the, you know, dopes out there

watching reality television and lining up to watch movies

about robots and talking Chihuahuas,

you're right. No, but I-I don't think

that that, you know, gives me any sort of higher intelligence,

no. No, on the contrary,

like you said, by virtue of my age alone, I'm probably dumber now

than I have been at any point in my life. You have

the weirdest combination of narcissism and self-loathing. ROBERT: No, no, no.

You've got it wrong. Thank you. No, it's other people

that I loathe. -Oh, really?

-Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm? -How is everything?

-Delicious. -Excellent.

-[ Chuckles ] Great. Let me know

if you need anything else. But, look, I am sorry --

before, you know, about... No, I'm the one

that should apologize, honestly. No, no,

I'm just too...touchy. No, it had to do with all

your talk about luck and dreams. -You know, whatever.

-What? ROBERT:

No, it's just, you know... No, it's a topic that I've

been ruminating about a lot -- uh, my luck. My luck, my --

or my lack thereof -- and my corresponding

lack of success. You know, it -- I, um... I spend an inordinate amount

of time looking back these days, and I'm not very happy about it. What's wrong with looking back, especially when you've done

as much as you have? Yeah. Oh, yes, I am a man

of so many accomplishments. -I can't even remember them all.

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