dissonance
Setting: present day, a fast food/ convenience store in a large mid-western capital city, late afternoon, early summer. the store is nearly empty, save for the female CLERK, & RON, a mid 30's, surly looking construction worker type, leaning at the end of the checkout counter after a hot day's work, seemingly waiting for something.
Enter: JöE, a late 20's male dressed casually, yet professionally in dark jeans & a collared dress shirt with the sleeves at 3/4 mast. he is fully bearded, wearing mirrored, medium size aviator sunglasses, and longish rock-staresque shaggy hair. as he enters the dimly lit establishment, in midstride he is observed to pull his sunglasses off and whip his hair back out of his face in a fluid motion. as he does this, he scans the room, noticing RON, who at that moment seems to be sizing JöE up for an ass-kicking after watching his entrance. JöE, aware of RON's gaze, makes brief eye contact, nods slightly and continues to the cooler for a drink. JöE passes RON again & gets in the short line that has now formed for check-out. RON makes his move, walking over and stopping adjacent to JöE angled slightly inward. so begins their time together...
RON: "hey man [smiling], you should be on f*ckin tv, man."
JöE: [briefly hesitating, struck by the compliment as if he was expecting a physical assault rather than such friendliness, not sure if the words are sincere or a sarcastic prelude to a beating] "...pardon?"
RON: [still smiling] "you should be on f*ckin tv, man. with the long hair and your beard and the sunglasses, you look like you could be on f*ckin tv, man..."
JöE: [flattered, slowly returning RON's smile] "well, thanks..."
RON: [still smiling, but now more insistent] "yeah, man... should go out to f*ckin california and be an actor..."
JöE: [at somewhat of a loss as to how to continue to graciously respond] "i don't know, that's a pretty big risk, ha ha [laughs awkwardly]..."
RON: [clearly displaying his expectation that JöE should walk out of the store and drive directly to hollywood and the certain fame that awaits] "it's all about the looks anyway, man, those f*ckin guys you see on tv, you look like you could be on tv..."
JöE: "well, i sure appreciate it..."
they have reached the counter, JöE completes his transaction as RON is joined by TIM, early 40's, also a surly looking construction worker type. TIM, looking grimy and tired from working, seems to have been lurking just out of sight and apparently has heard RON's last line, looking at him as if wondering what the hell has gotten into him.
RON: [noticing a ring that JöE is wearing] "hey man, is that a skull?... [without waiting for a reply] ...badass!"
TIM still appears confused, slightly irritated. JöE's face betrays renewed wonder as to the likelihood of his ass becoming grass.
TIM: [joining in, to both] "been on a steel roof all day..."
RON: "f*ckin hot out there, man."
JöE: [sympathetically] "aw man that sucks!" [beginning to hastily back out toward door, hoping to avoid conversational attention turning toward his own occupation (sitting in an air-conditioned office listening to people), a topic that would almost certainly activate RON and TIM's resentment and heretofore inexplicably repressed predatory instinct to 'smear the queer', etc.] "you guys try to stay cool out there!" [exits, relieved, but planning to get a haircut as soon as reasonably possible]
as scene closes RON is observed to turn toward the -still surly- TIM and say something not quite audible, but presumably along the lines of "hey man, doesn't that guy look like he could be on a f*ckin tv show, man?!"
Enter: JöE, a late 20's male dressed casually, yet professionally in dark jeans & a collared dress shirt with the sleeves at 3/4 mast. he is fully bearded, wearing mirrored, medium size aviator sunglasses, and longish rock-staresque shaggy hair. as he enters the dimly lit establishment, in midstride he is observed to pull his sunglasses off and whip his hair back out of his face in a fluid motion. as he does this, he scans the room, noticing RON, who at that moment seems to be sizing JöE up for an ass-kicking after watching his entrance. JöE, aware of RON's gaze, makes brief eye contact, nods slightly and continues to the cooler for a drink. JöE passes RON again & gets in the short line that has now formed for check-out. RON makes his move, walking over and stopping adjacent to JöE angled slightly inward. so begins their time together...
RON: "hey man [smiling], you should be on f*ckin tv, man."
JöE: [briefly hesitating, struck by the compliment as if he was expecting a physical assault rather than such friendliness, not sure if the words are sincere or a sarcastic prelude to a beating] "...pardon?"
RON: [still smiling] "you should be on f*ckin tv, man. with the long hair and your beard and the sunglasses, you look like you could be on f*ckin tv, man..."
JöE: [flattered, slowly returning RON's smile] "well, thanks..."
RON: [still smiling, but now more insistent] "yeah, man... should go out to f*ckin california and be an actor..."
JöE: [at somewhat of a loss as to how to continue to graciously respond] "i don't know, that's a pretty big risk, ha ha [laughs awkwardly]..."
RON: [clearly displaying his expectation that JöE should walk out of the store and drive directly to hollywood and the certain fame that awaits] "it's all about the looks anyway, man, those f*ckin guys you see on tv, you look like you could be on tv..."
JöE: "well, i sure appreciate it..."
they have reached the counter, JöE completes his transaction as RON is joined by TIM, early 40's, also a surly looking construction worker type. TIM, looking grimy and tired from working, seems to have been lurking just out of sight and apparently has heard RON's last line, looking at him as if wondering what the hell has gotten into him.
RON: [noticing a ring that JöE is wearing] "hey man, is that a skull?... [without waiting for a reply] ...badass!"
TIM still appears confused, slightly irritated. JöE's face betrays renewed wonder as to the likelihood of his ass becoming grass.
TIM: [joining in, to both] "been on a steel roof all day..."
RON: "f*ckin hot out there, man."
JöE: [sympathetically] "aw man that sucks!" [beginning to hastily back out toward door, hoping to avoid conversational attention turning toward his own occupation (sitting in an air-conditioned office listening to people), a topic that would almost certainly activate RON and TIM's resentment and heretofore inexplicably repressed predatory instinct to 'smear the queer', etc.] "you guys try to stay cool out there!" [exits, relieved, but planning to get a haircut as soon as reasonably possible]
as scene closes RON is observed to turn toward the -still surly- TIM and say something not quite audible, but presumably along the lines of "hey man, doesn't that guy look like he could be on a f*ckin tv show, man?!"
[fade to black.]
posted by jöe at 10:53 PM
6 Comments:
I think he's right. You should be on TV.
Or in a rock band.
I say...go to california!! :)
I got escorted out of the mall once. Chicks were throwing underwear at me and everything. I was dressed as a mobster for halloween, and Christian Slater was in town promoting a movie. You do the math. I think you like Jim M. when he had a beard.
by the way. i thought this was extremely clever.
i remember a time when you did have some movie star aspirations, but why move to "f*ckin california" when you're seemingly already starring in a role made for you with a far more interesting storyline?? :)
thanks, and tru dat (whatever the hell that means) about former hollywood nights, er dreams. i did, once upon a time, think i had the right stuff for the big screen. but then, i looked around, and realized that the reason i kept getting leads is that most everyone who was serious about performing arts went somewhere that actually had such programs built into the institution(instead of having to be student lead)or really took the big risk of moving west(or east). i realized then that its ok to enjoy being a big fish, but one must also be aware of the size of various ponds he might place/ find himself in. i also had a budding marriage-to-be to attend to, and the beginnings of direction toward what i do now. ah, memories. but i hope to do community theater or something again once i get my career wrangled...
thanks also to mike, jenn, and jeff for puffing me up.
forget hollywood, you should go to bookpress.com and publish.
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