Fateless by Matt Johnson Page One 1. Splash page of the Earth. Caption: IMAGINE WITH ME FOR A SECOND. Page Two 1. Clouds. Caption: IMAGINE THAT FATE IS REAL. 2. The HOLLYWOOD sign. Caption: IMAGINE THAT THE WORLD IS A MOVIE. 3. A Street, Rodeo Dr. People are walking and taking pictures. Caption: IMAGINE THAT EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER SAID AND DONE AND EVER WILL SAY AND DO HAS BEEN WRITTEN ALREADY, AND YOU'RE JUST READING FROM A SCRIPT. Page Three 1. A window of some fancy Hollywood store. Caption: IMAGINE THAT THERE IS A SCRIPT OF THE WORLD. 2. A woman in a store buying a copy of the script from Chasing Amy. The script is a thick white stack of papers. On the top sheet it says "Chasing Amy" and a little below that it says "Directed by Kevin Smith" Caption: IMAGINE THAT THE END OF THE WORLD HAS BEEN WRITTEN ALREADY, AND THERE IS SOMEBODY DIRECTING THE WOLRD, MAKING SURE WE FOLLOW THE SCRIPT. 3. Wide panel. On the far left of the panel is a side-head-shot of a middle-aged man with a thin graying beard. He's smiling. (Even though we don't see it in this panel, the man wears a brown trench coat with matching hat. He's wearing a suit underneath without the suit jacket. He looks like a reporter from the 40's. He is bald on the top, but has brown hair that is going gray on the sides. And he always carries his script with him.) Caption: BUT, THAT WOULD JUST BE SILLY, WOULDN'T IT? Page Four 1. Splash Page of our hero, The Director, Geneas, on Rodeo Dr. He's on the far left of the page. On the right, across the street is a boy (about 8) and his father. The father is leaning down and has his finger in the boys face. This is the page where we'll put the title of the story and the "written by:" and "drawn by:" and all that nonsense. Page Five 1. The father is lecturing his son in a polite way. The Father: SON, I KNOW YOU'RE UPSET WITH ME. I'M SORRY. 2. Close-up of the father. The Father: BUT, STEALING IS WRONG. I KNOW YOU WANTED THAT CANDY BAR, BUT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE DINNER IN AN HOUR. 3. The father standing up. He towers over his son. The Father: NOW, COME ON. WE'RE GOING BACK INTO THAT STORE TO GIVE IT BACK AND APOLOGIZE. Page Six 1. The man and boy inside the store. The storeowner is on the other side of the counter. The Father: SIR, I'M SORRY ABOUT THIS, BUT MY SON HAS SOMETHING HE NEEDS TO TELL YOU. 2. The boy with his head down. He looks scared and sad. 3. Close-up of the storeowner looking curiously. 4. The boy looking up, with tears in his eyes. Boy: ME AND DADDY WERE IN HERE AND I WANTED A CANDY BAR AND DADDY SAID NO BECAUSE WE WERE GOING TO EAT SOON AND I REALLY WANTED THE CANDY SO WHEN DADDY SAID IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE I PUT THE CANDY IN MY POCKET AND I'M SORRY. 5. The boy holding the candy out to the storeowner. Storeowner: HONESTY! THAT'S FANTASTIC. SON, I KNOW THIS MUST HAVE BEEN HARD FOR YOU, BUT YOU DID IT AND YOU WERE HONOST, AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I DON'T SEE EVERYDAY. I WANT YOU TO KEEP THAT CANDY BAR. 6. The boy and his father smiling. Page Seven 1. The Director reading his script, outside the door of the shop as the man and boy leave. Caption: THAT WON'T DO. THAT WON'T DO AT ALL. 2. (Big Panel) The director standing with his free hand in the air, straight up. The Director: CUT! 3. The man and the boy not moving. (Everything and everyone is in a gray silhouette except The Director) 4. Three little girls playing jump rope on the sidewalk. The girl jumping is suspended in the air. 5. A basketball player drinking a sports drink. He's got the bottle about a foot above his mouth and is pouring the drink into his mouth. The liquid has stopped halfway to his mouth. Page Eight 1. The man and the boy, still not moving. 2. The Director walking around them.' 3. The Director leaning into the man's ear from over his shoulder to whisper to him. We see this from the front, with the boy in the corner of the panel. The Director: NO NO NO. YOU'RE PLAYING THIS ALL WRONG. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MEAN TO YOUR SON. BE AN ABUSIVE FATHER. 4. The same picture as 3 only from the back. The Director: REMEMBER, YOUR SON IS GOING TO GROW UP AND BECOME SOMEBODY IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF YOU. 5. The Director standing in front of the father. The Director: HE'LL FEEL IT'S HIS PURPOSE BECAUSE HE WANT'S TO SAVE KIDS FROM WHAT YOU DID TO HIM. The Director: YELL AT YOUR SON FOR STEALING THE CANDY. The Director: HIT HIM. The Director: PUNISH HIM. Page Nine 1. The Director standing a few feet behind the boy and father. His hand is in the air again, like when he yelled 'cut.' (This is the last panel with the gray silhouette) The Director: OK PEOPLE! LET'S DO IT AGAIN. WE'LL TAKE IT FROM "SON, I KNOW YOU'RE UPSET WITH ME." 2. The three girls playing jump rope and standing together. One of the girls is handing the other end of the rope to another girl. 3. The girls a jumping rope, all normal. 4. The basketball player picks his sports drink up off the ground. 5. He drinks the sports drink. 6. The father is leaning over, and has his finger in the boy's face. Page Ten 1. The Father looking down on his son. The Father: SON, I KNOW YOU'RE UPSET WITH ME. 2. The Father standing over his son. The Father: WELL, I'M UPSET WITH YOU TOO, YOU LITTLE BASTARD. 3. The Father pulling the kid into the store by his shirt. 4. The storeowner looking over the counter at them. The Father: SIR, MY SON STOLE A CANDY BAR FROM YOU. 5. The boy looking up at the storeowner, tears in his eyes. Caption: I DID MISTER AND I'M REALLY SORRY. I WISH I DIDN'T TAKE THE CANDY. 6. The storeowner smiling at the boy. Storeowner: SON, YOU CAME IN HERE AND AS HARD AS IT MAY HAVE BEEN, YOU APOLOGIZED. FOR YOUR COURAGE, WHY DON'T YOU KEEP THAT CANDY BAR. IT'S OK. Page Eleven 1. The Father slapping the candy bar out of the boy's hand. The Father: NO! IT'S NOT OK! NO SON OF MINE IS GOING TO RECEIVE CHARITY. ESPECIALLY NOT A LITTLE THEIF LIKE HIM! 2. The father and son leaving the store. 3. The boy is crying. The father is kneeling in front of him. The Father: STOP CRYING BOY! I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT IF YOU DON'T! 4. The boy crying harder. Boy: YOU… DIDN'T… HAVE TO… YELL AT… ME. 5. The father slapping the boy in the face. It knocks the kid to the ground. 6. The father standing over his son, lighting a cigarette. The Father: GET UP. NOW! WE'RE GOING HOME. Page Twelve 1. A nice suburban house at night. Lights are on all over the house. Caption: SIX YEARS LATER. Text from the house: COME HERE! 2. The boy is 14 now. He's a skinny kid. About 5' 7" and only 130 lbs. He's still much smaller then his dad. The Father hasn't changed at all and is holding his son's report card in his hand. The Father: A C-? A C-! YOU STUPID SONOFABITCH! 3. The father punching his son in the face. It drops the son to a knee. The Father: THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MY SON DISGRACES ME BY BEING RETARDED. ARE YOU RETARDED?! 4. The father kicking his son in the face. 5. The father crumpling the report card up and dropping it on his son. Page Thirteen 1. Same house as before, only during the day. The Director is on the sidewalk outside of the house. Caption: Four years later. 2. The Father now has a beard. The son has grown a little, not much. The Father: YOU WANT TO HAVE SEX IN MY HOUSE! 3. The father picks up a broom. The Father: DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BECAUSE OF SEX? 4. The father hitting his son with the broom. The Father: MISTAKES HAPPEN! The Father: YOU HAPPENED! 5. The father hitting the son again with the broom handle. The Father: YOU GET OUT! NOW! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE. 6. The son walking out the front door, the father behind him, looking pissed. The Father: I HAVE NO SON. Page Fourteen 1. The boy, now in his early twenties, working at some greasy fast-food joint. He's handing a bag of food across the counter to a customer. 2. The boy reading a book. There is another book next to the one he is reading. The closed book is "The People's History of the United States" "by Howard Zinn." 3. The boy with his head out of the window of the drive-thru at the restaurant. He's taking money. 4. The boy in a college lecture, taking notes. 5. The boy flipping burgers. 6. The boy receiving his college diploma. Page Fifteen 1. A building, a courthouse or something like that. On the outside of the building is a pinned up sign that says "County Elections Today." 2. Inside the building, we see a big line of people waiting to vote. One of the people is The Director. 3. A TV set. On the set, the news anchor is talking. Anchor: AND OUR NEW DISTRICT ATTORNEY IS… 4. Same TV. Only on it now is a picture of the boy, now about thirty. He's getting older, but we can still tell it's him. Page Sixteen 1. The Father, now looking older. He's about sixty, graying, and getting a little chubby. He's getting his mail. 2. Inside his mail is a supine. It says "You are required to appear in court on…" and that's all we see. 3. The Father now has the supine pulled all the way out. At the bottom of the first page it says, "You are being sued for child abuse and neglect by…" 4. Wide shot of a courtroom. Behind one table is The Father; behind the other is the boy. The Director is in the courtroom in the audience. He's behind the boys table a couple rows. Page Seventeen 1. The judge, a 60-something black gentleman, slamming his hammer down. Judge: THE COURT HEREBY SENTENCES THE DEFENDANT TO THIRTY YEARS IN STATE PRISON, WITH A BAIL OF TEN MILLION DOLLARS. 2. The Father standing in front of the boy. Father: I MADE YOU A MAN, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME? YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE BECAUSE OF ME! I'M THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO YOU! 3. The son watching his father being put into handcuffs and dragged away. Son: THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME WAS WHEN YOU KICKED ME OUT, AND I NEVER SAW YOU AGAIN. Page Eighteen 1. A TV set showing a commercial. It has a picture of our boy (now about 40 or 45), and the text on the screen says, "Vote for a stronger county judge. You deserve one." 2. Another building with the "County Elections Today" sign. 3. The boy with his hand on a Bible and other hand in the air, taking an oath. 4. The boy is now a judge. We see him presiding over a case. The Director is in the audience. Page Nineteen 1. The Director standing up. 2. The Director walking down the isle. 3. The Director leaving through the big doors. 4. The Director, just outside of the courthouse reading the script. 5. We see the script. We see only one line: "District Attorney: …AND I NEVER SAW YOU AGAIN. END OF ACT 8,977" Page Twenty 1. The Earth from space. Caption: IMAGINE, IF YOU WILL, THAT THERE IS NOTHING ORIGINAL EVER. 2. Mountains. Caption: IMAGINE THAT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING RIGHT NOW IS ALREADY WRITTEN DOWN ON PAPER. 3. Overlay of a city. Caption: IMAGINE THAT YOUR ENTIRE LIFE HAS BEEN SCRIPTED OUT, AND THERE IS SOMEONE WHO CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE SO YOU FIT THE SCRIPT. Page Twenty-one 1. Splash page of The Director standing on the steps outside of the courthouse. He's got his hat on, and the script in his left hand. The Director: BUT, THAT WOULD JUST BE SILLY, WOULDN'T IT?