The Genius 2000 Video First Edition Transcript: Hybris
Scene 1: Hybris
Narrator: An act of violence.
Scene 2: Max eating in his car, NPR on the radio.
NPR: --Then, years ago, tourists in the city, you wanted to go see the Bowery. The Bowery today is the same as every other street in the city. There are no more people sleeping on sidewalks, no more, no more of the romantic kind of Bowery man that you remember from Steinbeck, you know, jumping on freights and going across the country....
NPR 2: Test one two three, testing testing. This is Charles Jeter, sitting here on my bed, December the 22nd, 1998. And I'm doing my final diary, and these words I will give you will be my final words. I'm fifty-one years old, and up until now I have never completed anything that I started. See, I never completed my schooling; I never stuck with a job very long; everything I did was a failure as far as I'm concerned. I think by doing this ah, tape, and completing something, that I could once say that ah, I finally finished something that I started. Something that I can look back on and say, "that's my story. That's my story." And ah, I always said to myself, "I wonder what my purpose on this earth was, why did God put me on this earth?" But now I know that he put me on this earth for a reason. And I, Charles Jeter, sitting here in my room, looking at a lightbulb in the ceiling, I say "Thank you." This is Charles; goodbye.
NPR 3: Charles Jeter's story was produced by David Isay and Stacy Abramson.
Scene 3: Ted Sawyer reading on camera.
Ted: "Dear recipients of this Genius 2000 Media Action Update."
Max: Allright hold on a minute.
Ted: Okay. "Here at the Project we are planning to try to increase public, non-profit discussion of the year 2000 by demanding official acknowledgment of the Genius 2000 Project by Governor-Elect Jesse Ventura" Governor-Elect of the state of Minnesota. "Our request is that the Governor-Elect sign a letter in which he states or reacts to the following text: 'Whereas the upcoming year 2000 is of vast importance to the people of Minnesota on many levels; whereas I will be Governor of the State at that time; and acknowledging the need for sustained public discussion of this event in venues and forums offering the widest possible access to the people of this state; I support the following resolution presented to me by the Genius 2000 Project, a non-profit association of concerned Minnesotans. This group is not connected to any religious denomination, political party, or corporation. "Be it resolved: discussion and open debate, conducted with civility and mutual respect, must be the norm as we begin to contemplate the major historical, technological, and cultural milestone we are approaching in the year 2000. I pledge to support a public sphere of communication, via the internet and other media, which is as inclusive and open as possible. I support this both in my own actions and by advocating media access for all concerned members of our community."' This media action will involve a significant demonstration at the State Capitol, the Governor's Mansion, or other highly visible location. We will simultaneously e-mail or regular mail the above remarks in an open letter to Governor-Elect Ventura and ask that he offer a public response via some widely accessible news media." Do you want me to continue?
Scene 4: Max reading Walter Benjamin.
Max: History is the subject of a structure whose site is not homogeneous, empty time, but time filled by the presence of the now. Thus, for Robespierre, ancient Rome was a past charged by the time of the now which he blasted out of the continuum of history.
Scene 5: Ezekiel Bakal, Max, and others in coffee shop.
Max: So ah, Zeke--
Zeke: Yeah.
Max: Is your full name Ezekiel?
Zeke: Right, from the Bible.
Max: It is? Here Pat, have a look there, ah, leaf through that, there's a quotation from Ezekiel.
Pat: Where?
Max: In the book there.
Pat: In this book?
Max: Yeah, it's ah, William Blake. (Cut ahead)
Zeke: --Yes, I tried to explain the origin, of like, people would say genius, you find out it's not, it's the hard work of generations, you know, just come, I think, just come from rational methods, practiced rational methods for all the time, which is come to, which is come to term in certain time--
Max: Uh huh. Yeah.
Zeke: That's where the certain time, the achievement, people call it genius but it's not genius--
Max: Yeah.
Zeke: It's going back to what I told you, it's ninety-nine percent hard work, just the timing--
Max: Yeah, it's like the kind of choices you make, stuff like that, you know. Like, I mean--I don't know, I agree. Thanks alot, I think that was real cool. So, did you find the part there Pat?
Pat: Yeah.
Max: Okay, now don't get this wrong. Do you know the poet William Blake?
Zeke: William Blake, he was English, or what?
Max: Yeah.
Zeke: Yeah.
Max: I got a piece from one of his poems here where he kinda makes up a conversation between him and the, ah, the prophet Ezekiel--
Zeke: Okay--
Max: So, would you think it's too crazy just to read that?
Zeke: That's in Hebrew, or in English?
Max: English.
Zeke: English? (Cut ahead.) In English?
Max: Yeah.
Zeke: (Reading) "Then Ezekiel said, 'The philosophy of the East taught the first principles of human perception. Some nations held one principle for the origin and some another. We of Israel felt that the Poetic Genius, as you now call it, was the first principle and all the others merely directive—derivative?"
Max: Yeah.
Zeke: "--Which was the cause of our despising the priests and philosophers of other countries, and of professing, how do you say that, professing that all gods would at last be proved to originate in ours, and to be tributaries, tributaries of the Poetic Genius—"
Scene 6: Man outside a 7-11, early morning.
Max: All right go ahead.
Man: Well, what do you want me to say? What do I think, what do I think about the year 2000?
Max: Well, I think the year 2000--you wanna know what I think about it?
Man: What you think about it or what I think about it?
Max: Well, say what you think about it.
Man: What I think about the year 2000, actually not much. Um, it's no big deal, it's just another year to me. I think it's gonna create a lot of mass hysteria though, in the public, ah, and we might as well bring about the next armageddon because of it. That's what I think is gonna happen. Just like in the movies.
Max: All right man.
Man: Just, I would not doubt it will be the end of the world.
Max: What if it's the start of the world? Beginning of the world?
Man: I don't think, I don't think man has that much foresight. Just, can't stop. You know, it's like that little snowball rolling down the hill, now it's an avalanche.
Scene 7: Pat taping John skating.
John: Shoot a little of me.
Pat: Allright. (John picks up orange pylon and balances it on his head while skating a big circle. Pat laughing.)
Scene 8: Young woman at a club, New Year's Day 1999.
Max: --I'm makin' a movie, you wanna be in it?
Woman: Yeah.
Max: It's on.
Woman: What do I say?
Max: It's about the year 2000. Say whatever you think about the year 2000.
Woman: Omigod, that's something, oh no, no no no, I can't think of anything witty right now.
Max: You don't have to. Just speak from the gut, use your force, your energy of a, of a fighter, a person--
Woman: Well exactly one year from now is gonna be the new millennium, and that's gonna be dope.
Max: And who owns it? Do I own, do I own that year?
Woman: We all own it.
Max: No, do I own it?
Woman: Kay, you own it but I want--
Max: I own it?
Woman: Can I have a little part of it too?
Max: You know, when I own it, you know what I'm gonna say?
Woman: What?
Max: I'm gonna say, you own it.
Woman: Okay.
Max: Now repeat that.
Woman: (Laughs) You own it.
Max: You own it.
Woman: You own it.
Max: I own it.
Woman: You own it.
Max: You own it.
Woman: You own it.
Max: Say, say I own it.
Woman: I own it?
Max: Yeah, say that.
Woman: I own it?
Max: Yeah.
Woman: You own it.
Max: Say it like you own it.
Woman: No…
Max: Say it like you own it.
Woman: But I don't own it, we all own it.
Max: But just say--
Scene 9: Max driving up Twin Peaks, with Sex Pistols' "New York" on the stereo. Still shot of Suharto Tower disappearing in the fog.
Scene 10: Charlotte Herman eating breakfast in a diner.
Charlotte: --At the age of five, or, um--
Max: Uh huh?
Charlotte: --Oh, they interviewed this ah, this young man who, I guess he finished high school by the age of five, but his dad wouldn't let him go to college until he was nine (laughs), 'cause he thought he was too little. And now he's ah, I think he's doing a Ph.D. program, um, in research on Parkinson's disease because he read about it when he was nine and he thought it was such a sad and horrible disease he really wanted to work on it. And ah, they interviewed his major professor, who, who said, you know, obviously if this nine-year-old was gonna work with me I wanted to see what was up. So he showed him this ah, diagram of how neurons interact in the brain, and all the rest of the body, and um, all their different functions for input and output and communication in the neurons, and he said basically it took most advanced medical students two weeks to kind of master this diagram--
Max: Uh huh--
Charlotte: This kid looked at it and he said there's something missing, and the professor looked at it and the kid said, there's something missing right here. And the professor said, he was absolutely right, and that's when he knew he really was a genius.
Carah: Mmm hmm.
Scene 11: Max and Rick, driving across the Bay Bridge at night, eating.
Rick: Everybody has a vice. What would you think your vice is?
Max: I'm extremely guilty of the sin of pride.
Rick: You have a lot of pride?
Max: Vanity.
Rick: Really?
Max: Uh huh.
Rick: Is that one of the ten deadly sins, seven deadly sins?
Max: It's the deadliest sin of all.
Rick: No way. Pride?
Max: Yes it is. Yes it is. That's the sin that made Satan go to hell.
Rick: Oh, he thought he was too good.
Max: He had pride.
Rick: You don't strike me as a very prideful person, too prideful.
Max: Very prideful.
Rick: Really?
Max: I think I'm the next Jesus Christ. I think I deserve all the best.
Rick: On what merit? Just because?
Max: No, I think I'm, I think I have the answer for humanity.
Rick: Love.
Max: Yeah. I mean you could say that I think that I understand love better than everybody else. (Max sings along with Maggie May on the stereo.) See I think that if people would just listen to me and learn my wisdom, the world would be so good.
Rick: Hmm.
Max: And that's very vain.
Rick: Vainglorious.
Max: Huh?
Rick: Vainglorious?
Max: Yeah, you could say that.
Scene 12: Alan Hooper in his office.
Hooper: So when I, so what the downside, earlier on I was saying that I thought there was a downside to the second coming mythology, and that is that, that what they are looking for is one of these individual geniuses to tell them what to do. Therefore, it tends to, ah, inhibit what we really need which is more people realizing their own genius and thinking independently and critically and able to see where we are and ah, decide what we ought to do about it as a collective group. Not that there aren't going to be some people with more energy, who like to talk more; who really want to be at the forefront; that's fine.
Scene 13: Max reading.
Max: "Whosoever drinks from my mouth will become as I am, and I will become that person, and the mysteries will be revealed to him." From the Gospel of Thomas, quoted in "Living Buddha, Living Christ," introduction, page nine.
Scene 14: Max, his parents, and Pat; driving, Christmas Eve, 1998.
Max: Um, do you think I'm a genius? (Laughs.)
Charlotte: You're wasting your film.
Max: What?
Charlotte: You're wasting your film.
Max: I'm wasting my film?
Charlotte: Yeah.
Pat: I think that's a no.
Max: That's not--so wait, so you literally think I am not a genius?
Pat: That's a resounding no.
Max: No mom, come on, please--
Charlotte: I'm too busy filtering out smoke to--
Max: When I was young you always encouraged me to think I was a genius. Or you, no no, I'm sorry, you encouraged me to strive to one day become a genius.
Pat: Has that day arrived?
Max: And here I am, and I cannot do any better.
Charlotte: I encouraged you to think straight.
Max: Mom, I can't do any better than I have right now and I want you to just give me the seal of approval, I am now a genius, and I can rest my weary bones.
Bill Herman: Okay.
Max: So you guys are saying I'm the best genius ever?
Bill: Okay.
Max: Hey ah, hey dad, remember when ah, I, you said I was gonna make the new literary theory of relativity? We were talkin' about that at Mike's one time?
Bill: No I don't remember.
Max: Well I've invented it, and ah--
Bill: Okay.
Max: And ah, instead of E=mc squared--
Bill: Yeah?
Max: It's called G=mt squared.
Bill: Okay.
Max: Ah, I'm sorry, G=mt to the two thousandth power.
Bill: Okay.
Max: And ah, G stands for genius--
Bill: Okay.
Max: Me stands for tal--I'm sorry, me stands for media, and t stands for talent. So genius is media times talent to the two thousandth power. Now--
Bill: Okay.
Max: Now for me to be a genius, I need to have, ah, genius times t to be greater than one. Or I'm sorry, media times talent to be greater than one. Now I think right now my media is only one, because I'm the only one who gives a flying, ah, sausage about my project. So the media aspect is definitely one. Now what about the talent aspect? Do I have more than one? (Laughter.) I think I only have one--
Pat: All you need is one, plus a videocamera--
Max: No, I have to have more than one--
Pat: --then you're a genius.
Max: See--
Pat: You add one times one to the two thousandth power is one.
Max: --Is one, right, but then my genius would be one and then that's pretty damn meager, that's the lowest you can have.
Pat: Oh, but it's still genius.
Max: My genius quotient would be one, and that's completely--but see, if either my media or my talent were greater than one, even by the slightest amount, fraction--
Pat: Well if the talent was even by the slightest fraction--
Max: Allright, okay, so let me ask you this. I've given you the theory of relativity, right? So are there any geniuses mom?
Charlotte: You were talking to Bill.
Max: So what about Grandma Margaret, is she a genius?
Charlotte: No.
Max: You're saying there is no such thing as a genius?
Charlotte: No, I'm saying, I think this is a self-serving operation.
Max: Wait a second--you raised me up my whole life telling me to work and strive one day to be a genius, and now you're telling me nobody on the face of the earth in all history--
Bill: It's okay Max, I'll beat her tonight.
Max: Well I'm just curious, you know, why'd you tell me that if you didn't want me to become a genius--
Charlotte: What kind of a comment was that?
Max: You just trying to keep me out of trouble? He's a genius of wife-beating.
Pat: Oh man. Plato Boulevard.
Max: Uh, allright, now I'm going to put the camera on myself. So, I think it's pretty clear, in order to be a genius, you have to have media times talent greater than one. Now the talent, I think is highly debatable at this point, in fact, I'd say it's definitely not greater than one. Um--
Pat: Is it less than one?
Max: I don't know. Well if it's less than one then my genius quotient would be what, like zero?
Pat: What if the talent is zero?
Max: Well what is a number less than one to the two thousandth power? It's like ah, very close to zero, right?
Pat: It's still positive.
Max: Yeah, but it's asymptotically approaching zero. You raise anything to the two-thousandth power you're talking about zero. So if my talent is less than one, my genius quotient is virtually zero. And ah, my media--
Pat: It's approaching zero--
Max: --My media access we've agreed, my media access right now is currently one, so if my talent quotient is less than one, my genius quotient is ah--
Pat: Rapidly approaching zero.
Max: Yes, it's asymptotically zero.
Scene 15: Ted Sawyer at Christmas party.
Max: --And we like truly understand that, so, so that, in the sense of like a message from beyond ourselves, there will be a final message, and this thing that we think is beyond ourselves is really just a belief that we've made up. It's sort of like we're getting a final message from our own ignorance, saying your ignorance is over, and you no longer have to be bound to it. And then you can go on and move on from there.
Ted: So we're gonna realize that we've created our own sickness, and that we can dispel it just as quickly.
Max: Well, ah, I think maybe--
Ted: It sounds like society or humanity is gonna come out of depression.
Max: Dude, I totally believe in depression as like a, like a psychic phenomenon, and like a cultural phenomenon, economic, everything.
Ted: Mmm hmm. Yeah.
Max: I mean it's like, there comes a point where you lose your perspective. You know, it's like you start--
Ted: Then all you have is your mess. That's the only thing you can find solace in, because it's all you can know.
Max: Right.
Scene 16: Hooper in his office.
Hooper: The greatest tragedy of the social transformations of the past hundred or so years, has come out of, and a lot of it is, you know, starts out with science, economic, the ah, industrial development, is that not ah, not only have political systems and village systems been destroyed, but the social traditions that enable people to be happy, truly happy, with their families, with their memories, they're being thrown away too. And the media has a big role in this. It says, "all that, all that stuff, that fabric, aesthetic, traditional fabric that's been holding your community together, is stupid. Buy Coke, and you will be happy." And people fall for it. I mean they, you know, people are vulnerable. They love to see those smiling, they know those, that's America. So, that's the real tragedy, 'cause that's an unnecessary loss. For people, for these certain people that I'm talking about at the top, who are driven by wealth, in many cases, in addition to sometimes truly believing that they are, they are making, or have the potential to make things better for the world, they throw out, or they cause to be thrown out, or they make sure that these other communities throw out some of the things that can sustain them. But they don't put anything in their place. I mean, apparently state ah, state communism made that mistake and I think capitalism seems to be making the same mistake.
Scene 17: Max, Pat, and Zeke in coffee shop.
Max: --And that kind of connects with the whole thing of genius. You know, like, why should we think we're such geniuses over here just because we're the strongest and have the most weapons or whatever or we're the richest. I mean, maybe if you gave like Bosnia, you know, those people over there, if you gave them a chance maybe after a while they'd be real good at stuff too.
Zeke: I agree with you. Genius, I mean, the genius concept is a very dangerous concept--
Max: Yeah.
Zeke: --Which contributes to (inaudible), it contributes to fascism, Nazism, you know, it's a very very--if you're going to apply it on a social factors--
Max: I mean, ah, Hitler's--
Zeke: If you're gonna apply it on arts factors, you know, then you know, it's just like talk, it don't have no really meaning, of these; you can call Van Gogh a genius, but, you know, you can agree with it or cannot agree with it, it still doesn't have no harm to society. I mean, when you're gonna try to deliver genius to society factors, and try to govern, (points to Blake on table) that's exactly what he's saying, you try to give it a social value to that, and impose your principle of God because you are genius, you go and create monster, which is mostly what they do. So I think--
Scene 18: Max in his car.
Max: So I don't know if I'm Genius 2000 or not man, we'll see.
Scene 19: Max reading.
Max: "We are all Christ, and we are all crucified every day." Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio.
Scene 20: Shot of Contribution One in coffee shop.
Max: --Like, like, exactly. And I wouldn't dispute that either.
Pat: Uh huh.
Max: I'm just saying, like, you gotta admit, that to the extent that you do think about the year 2000, you should think about it for yourself--
Pat: (Simultaneously) You should think about it for yourself.
Max: Right. You shouldn't let someone tell you what it means, right?
Pat: That's what we're talkin' about with everything: Chess, art, fascism--
Max: Right. Yeah. And I'm just tryin' to say, it's kind of like, I mean, it's only important because it is the year 2000 you know, but it's important at the year 2000 you should think about it for yourself. Don't let someone tell you what it's about. You know, you might miss out. You know, you might get something put over on you.
Zeke: Miss what?
Pat: Exactly.
Max: The year, the year ah--Well, I don't, you might not miss nothin', but--
Pat: Yeah, poor sport.
Max: But ah, anyway, but ah, what do you think, who's a genius about the year 2000? Anybody?
Zeke: I don't know, I can't talk, I can't answer this question, it doesn't make sense to me. But I mean, a genius in what form, why 2000? I mean genius, usually appreciate that, or maybe you should ask me on 2100 who was a genius in 2000. You need the time to, you need the perspective of time--
Max: But what if someone said you've gotta decide right now? Like someone said ah, that the University of Minnesota is gonna start a year 2000 department, and they, and they want one guy to run it, and ah, you had to choose the guy--
Zeke: I have, Jesse Ventura.
Max: You would choose Jesse Ventura?
Zeke: Yeah, if he becomes governor, he can lead us to the 2000 year, to the year 2000.
Pat: He can lead us to glory.
Max: But you know what, ah, I think--
Zeke: Yeah, with one punch.
Max: But what if, what if he ah--
Zeke: You can see glory, you see stars.
Pat: That's right man.
Max: But what if, what if he, what if he doesn't ah, what if he wimps out though?
Zeke: Say it again?
Max: What if he loses his nerve and he doesn't lead us to that year 2000?
Pat: Then we drag him through the streets of Minneapolis.
Zeke: We just throw him out of the ring.
Max: Right. But we gotta tell him, you know, we put you in the ring--
Zeke: Right.
Max: --And here's what you gotta do.
Zeke: Right.
Max: You gotta be, you gotta be the genius of 2000.
Pat: But we gotta be in his corner though.
Max: We're backin' him all the way bro, he's our homey.
Zeke: He always can be the referee, I mean--
End of Hybris Section
Copyright 1999 the Genius 2000 Project
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