Videodrome Page #2

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Can you get it any clearer?

It's a pirate tape.

They scramble it.

I like it.

- Yeah?

- Yeah, it turns me on.

Take out your Swiss Army knife

and cut me here...

just -just a little.

Looks like somebody's

beat me to it.

I wonder how you get

to be a contestant on this show.

I don't know. Nobody ever

seems to come back next week.

What did you say happened

to your shoulder?

A friend.

I think he'd like Videodrome.

- You let somebody cut you?

- Uh-huh.

What do you think?

Well, l-I don't know.

You wanna try a few things?

Oh.

Oh.

Max, thank God. Masha Borowczyk

has been in your office for an hour.

- Masha.

- What were you doing last night?

- Didn't you get my message?

- I don't think I'm ready for this.

- Coffee. Cigarette. Office. Masha. Go.

- All right. Masha.

She's hot to trot.

I call it...

Apollo and Dionysus.

Masha, does it ever get good?

It's all good.

Darling...

I am looking

for something a lot more...

contemporary.

I want something that's gonna show people

what's really goin' on under the sheets.

This stuff is too - It's too naive.

It's too sweet, like you, darling.

Well, it's your market.

Do you know a show

called Videodrome?

- Video-what?

- D-R-O-M-E.

Videodrome,

like video circus, video arena.

- You know it?

- No.

It's just torture and murder.

No plot, no characters.

Very, very realistic.

I think it's what's next.

Then God help us.

Better on TV than on the street.

Arnold on line three.

You interested in, uh,

tracking it down for me?

I'll see that you get

the agent's commission.

I'm interested.

Let me try.

Max...

did you ever think...

of producing your own show?

Right here?

I could be your agent...

worldwide.

I could sell subterranean

for you everywhere.

- No, I don't have the temperament.

- But if you did...

what kind of show would you do?

I mean,

for the subterranean market.

Would you do... Videodrome?

Max.

- Mm-hmm.

- I'm goin'away tomorrow for two weeks...

on assignment.

Guess where?

L.A.

- Pittsburgh.

- Fabulous.

Don't stay in the sun too long.

I hear it's bad for the skin.

Oh, come on.

Isn't that where they make Videodrome?

Yeah. Why?

I'm gonna audition.

I was made for that show.

Nobody on earth

was made for that show.

Hey. Listen to me.

- Listen to me.

- What?

I want you to stay away from it.

Those mondo weirdo video guys,

they've got unsavory connections.

They play rough, rougher than

even Nicki Brand wants to play.

Do you understand me?

Sounds like a challenge.

Got a cigarette?

It's not a challenge.

I swear. You know, in Brazil,

Central America, those kinds of places...

making underground video

is considered a subversive act.

They execute people for it.

In Pittsburgh, who knows?

Max.

Nicki, don't!

Nicki, don't.

Don't.

- Do you have a hangover?

- No. Stayed up late watching TV.

Did you get in touch

with our friends in Pittsburgh?

In a way.

At a distance.

- Subterranean grapevine.

- And?

Max...

Videodrome is something

for you to leave alone.

It is definitely not

for public consumption.

Channel 83 is

a little small to be considered public.

It is still too public.

- Do you understand me?

- No. What's the punch line?

I think it's dangerous, Max,

Videodrome.

- Why? It's Mafia? They do business.

- No, no.

It's more, um -

How can I say?

More political than that.

- Come on, Masha. What are we talkin' about?

- Videodrome.

What you see on that show...

it's for real.

It's not acting.

It's snuffTV.

I don't believe it.

So don't believe.

Why do it for real?

It's easier and safer to fake it.

Because it has something...

that you don't have, Max.

It has a philosophy...

- and that is what makes it dangerous.

- Whose philosophy?

There must be a name.

Give me a name I can talk to.

Masha, Masha, you know me.

I stay away from the scary stuff.

Max...

you are going to have to

be nice to me for this.

We can take a shower together,

anytime you say.

I'm sure you would be

very beautiful...

but, uh, you're a little older

than I prefer.

Thank you...

so much.

Sell me a name...

and I'll make Apollo and Dionysus

part of the package.

That hurts me, Max.

Hey, the world's

a shithole, ain't it?

Yes, Max.

It is.

Brian O'Blivion.

That is the only name

I have to give.

Professor Brian O'Blivion.

Wait, where you goin'? Come back here.

Hey. Hey, buddy. Got a fag?

- Are they goin'in now?

- Got a cigarette?

- Gotta have a smoke and a cup of coffee.

- Wait a minute.

They don't serve coffee there.

They just serve piss water.

I don't need to put up

with this sh*t. I'm a young woman.

Take a good look at me.

I'm a good-lookin'woman. I got nice tits.

Let's go.

Hello. Move along.

Move out of my way!

Hello.

Straight down the hallway.

Keep on.

Straight down the hallway.

Keep going, keep going.

Come on. Step along.

- Bianca O'Blivion?

- Yes.

I'm Max Renn. I, uh -

I run Civic TV.

I did a panel show with Prof. O'Blivion.

The Rena King Show.

Oh, yes. You said some

very superficial things.

Violence, sex, imagination, catharsis.

- My exact words.

- What do you want?

I wanna talk with your father...

about a new twist in video

that he may not be aware of.

I love the view.

You look like them,

like one of Father's derelicts.

Think it's a style that's coming back.

In their case, Mr. Renn,

it's not a style.

It's a disease forced on them by their

lack of access to the cathode ray tube.

You think a few doses ofTV

are gonna help them?

Watching TVwill help patch them

back into the world's mixing board.

Absolutely.

And I guess you encourage Father's derelicts

to make home movies?

The world's mixing board?

Professor O'Blivion sends video letters

all over the world.

- Is the Professor here?

- I am my father's screen.

Once you've told me what this visit is all

about, he may choose to send you a cassette.

If he does, which format

would you like?

If he does, it's gonna

make conversation a little difficult.

My father has not engaged in conversation

for at least 20 years.

The monologue

is his preferred mode of discourse.

Format.

Videodrome.

Is that a Japanese configuration?

- You've never heard of it?

- No.

Then there have been serious gaps

in your education.

Videodrome.

Mention it to your father.

He may want to have a conversation.

I love the view.

Torture, murder, mutilation.

Videodrome.

What you see on that show...

it's for real.

I'm gonna audition.

I was made for that show.

It has something

that you don't have, Max.

It has a philosophy,

and that is what makes it dangerous.

Hi. This is

your wake-up cassette...

and this came to the office

for you by courier.

- What did they say at CRAM?

- They said that Nicki Brand...

is definitely not

on assignment for them.

She had a month off coming.

She decided to take it now...

Don't touch that!

Jesus, Max, you scared me.

What the hell's wrong with you?

I don't know, man. I think I'm gettin',

like, a rash or somethin'.

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