Here’s another chapter in my saga of the Superman legend if a Jewish couple had found him in the cornfield. The first part is here. A breakdown of how I wrote it is here. Now we jump forward to when the young lad is a teenager. I won’t be breaking down this scene, but based on the other, hopefully you can glean a little of the thinking that went into constructing this scene.
INT. SUGARMAN KITCHEN – NIGHT (2005)
15-year old, Zvee Sugarman enters with something on his mind. His parents are there – Morris and Yetta.
ZVEE: Mom? Dad? Can we talk?
YETTA: Of course, son.
MORRIS: Did you get that Lane girl in trouble?
ZVEE: What? No! We’re just friends.
MORRIS: I don’t like her. Who names their kid Lois? So you were saying, Zvee?
Zvee joins them at the table.
ZVEE: I don’t know how to say this, but… I think I’m different from the other kids.
Morris and Yetta share a knowing look, then:
YETTA: (gently) You are, son. We didn’t want to say anything, but you are.
MORRIS: You’re Jewish.
ZVEE: Huh? No. It’s not that.
MORRIS: Of course it’s that. We’re Jews in Kansas. Come Christmas time we’re the only family in the whole goddamn state that doesn’t get a tree.
ZVEE: But it’s more than that. I seem to have this unbelievable strength. The other day Lois was spying on some teachers for a story she’s writing for the school paper and she got trapped under a car. I was able to lift an entire SUV with one hand so she could get out.
YETTA: Oh dear!
MORRIS: Jesus!
ZVEE: I know!
MORRIS: Where were you when we needed to move the piano? I had to call those two yokels. Must’ve cost me two-fifty.
YETTA: (to Zvee) It could have just been adrenaline, sweetheart.
ZVEE: No. There’s more. Lois climbed a big tree so she could train a telescope on a local judge she was spying on for a story and she slipped and fell. I was at the other end of the park but I heard her and in one leap I was there to catch her.
YETTA: Really? You leaped like one mile in a single bound?
MORRIS: I’m telling you, stay away from that girl. She’s poison!
ZVEE: It’s bizarre. Once everyone left I tried to leap again – just to see how far I could go. And you’re not going to believe this but… I can fly. I can actually fly.
YETTA: Oh my God!
MORRIS: You can fly?
ZVEE: What does this mean?
MORRIS: Well, for us – we don’t have to buy you a car.
At the time of the crash they never entertained this option but now…
YETTA: Morris, I’m starting to think –
MORRIS: What? That that rocket actually came from outer space? That’s cuckoo talk!
ZVEE: Huh? What?
It’s truth time. Yetta takes a deep breath, then:
YETTA: Zvee, son. You know of course that you were adopted.
ZVEE: Yeah. From a couple in Israel that gave me up because they were both Nobel Prize winning scientists who needed to continue their vital research in helping Jerry’s kids.
YETTA: Yes, well… we might’ve embellished the story just a wee bit.
ZVEE: So what’s the real story?
YETTA: You were born on another planet and sent to earth in a spaceship.
ZVEE: Oh, come on!
YETTA: No. It’s true. I myself didn’t realize it until now, but these powers you have – you’re obviously special. I know every Jewish mother says that but none of their children can fly.
ZVEE: Wow. This is a lot to process.
YETTA: Puberty is a confusing time.
MORRIS: But still, the thing that really separates you is that you’re Jewish.
YETTA: Oh Morris!
MORRIS: Hey, for all we know half the country are aliens.
YETTA: That’s ridiculous!
MORRIS: Oh really? Explain Bush getting re-elected!
She waves him off then turns to Zvee.
YETTA: What other powers do you have, son?
ZVEE: Well, bullets bounce off of me.
MORRIS: Someone shot at you?
YETTA: Oh Lord!
ZVEE: Lois wass doing this article on gang violence at the Dairy Queen and said the wrong thing. Fortunately, I was only ten miles away and heard her so I was able to fly over there and get in front before the bullets drilled her.
YETTA: So you can also hear things from long distances?
ZVEE: And see things. The next day when the gang kidnapped her I was able to see through walls and find her location. Oh, and I can blow out fire. Lois fell asleep last week with a cigarette.
MORRIS: Sounds like you and that Lane gal are getting pretty intimate.
ZVEE: Well, I want to be. But she says I still have to earn it.
MORRIS: What? Son, a heads-up. Tomorrow night when she yells “help” ignore it because I will be the one shooting her.
YETTA: The only explanation is that you come from another planet where they have these extraordinary powers. Why they sent you away I do not know. Maybe to protect you.
MORRIS: Maybe Bush attacked them too.
ZVEE: So you’re saying I’m really from another planet?
MORRIS: Everyone has baggage, boy.
YETTA: Zvee, it just occurred to me. You can use these powers for good. To help others, to save lives, stop wars.
ZVEE: I don’t know if I’ll have time. Lois gets into a lot of jams.
MORRIS: Y’know what? The aliens can have you back because you’re an idiot!
YETTA: Morris!
MORRIS: After all he’s done? You’ll pardon my French but she should be going down on him six times a day until the 2012 Olympics!
YETTA: That’s terrible!
MORRIS: What does it say about this world when a Gentile who plays high school football gets laid but the Jew who can fly and juggle Buicks gets a hardy handshake?
YETTA: Zvee, don’t listen to your father. You go off. You save the world. You become the greatest most respected man on this Earth.
ZVEE: Okay, Mom.
YETTA: But first, get your degree. Always have something to fall back on.
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