{"product_id":"four-screenplays-isbn-9780440504900","title":"Four Screenplays","description":"\u003cb\u003eYes, you \u003ci\u003ecan\u003c\/i\u003e write a great screenplay. Let Syd Field show you how.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I based \u003ci\u003eLike Water for Chocolate\u003c\/i\u003e on what I learned in Syd's books. Before, I always felt structure imprisoned me, but what I learned was structure really freed me to focus on the story.”—Laura Esquivel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTechnology is transforming the art and craft of screenwriting. How does the writer find new ways to tell a story with pictures, to create a truly outstanding film? Syd Field shows \u003ci\u003ewhat works, why, and how\u003c\/i\u003e in four extraordinary films: \u003ci\u003eThelma \u0026amp; Louise, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Silence of the Lambs, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDances with Wolves.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLearn how:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCallie Khouri,\u003c\/b\u003e in her first movie script, \u003ci\u003eThelma \u0026amp; Louise,\u003c\/i\u003e rewrote the rules for good road movies and played against type to create a new American classic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames Cameron,\u003c\/b\u003e writer\/director of \u003ci\u003eTerminator 2: Judgement Day, \u003c\/i\u003ecreated a sequel integrating spectacular special effects and a story line that transformed the Terminator, the quintessential killing machine, into a sympathetic character. \u003ci\u003eThis\u003c\/i\u003e is how an action film is written.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTed Tally\u003c\/b\u003e adapted Thomas Harris's chilling 350-page novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Silence of the Lambs, \u003c\/i\u003einto a riveting 120-page script—a lesson in the art and craft of adapting novels into film.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Blake\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003eauthor of \u003ci\u003eDances with Wolves, \u003c\/i\u003eachieved every writer's dream as he translated his novel into an uncompromising film. Learn how he used transformation as a spiritual dynamic in this work of mythic sweep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eInformative and utterly engrossing, \u003ci\u003eFour Screenplays\u003c\/i\u003e belongs in every writer's library, next to Syn Field's highly acclaimed companion volumes, \u003ci\u003eScreenplay, The Screenwriter's Workbook, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eSelling a Screenplay.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“If I were writing screenplays . . . I would carry Syd Field around in my back pocket wherever I went.”—Steven Bochco, writer\/producer\/director, \u003ci\u003eL.A. Law, Hill Street Blues\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“I based \u003ci\u003eLike Water for Chocolate\u003c\/i\u003e on what I learned in Syd's books. Before, I always felt structure imprisoned me, but what I learned was structrure really freed me to focus on the story.”\u003cb\u003e—Laura Esquivel\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If I were writing screenplays . . . I would carry Syd Field around in my back pocket wherever I went.”\u003cb\u003e—Steven Bochco, writer\/producer\/director, \u003ci\u003eL.A. Law, Hill Street Blues\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eSyd Field\u003c\/b\u003e (1935–2013), the internationally renowned “guru of screenwriting,” was the author of eight bestselling books on the subject, including \u003ci\u003eScreenplay,\u003c\/i\u003e published in twenty-three languages and used in hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide and around the world. He was inducted into the Final Draft Hall of Fame in 2006 and was the first inductee into the Screenwriting Hall of Fame of the American Screenwriting Association. He was also a special consultant to the Film Preservation Project for the Getty Center.\u003ci\u003eChapter One\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Phenomenon of \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCallie Khouri\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e was first released in the spring of 1991, I \u003cbr\u003ewas conducting a screenwriting workshop for Austrian filmmakers in \u003cbr\u003eVienna, a city of great beauty and culture, the home of Mozart, \u003cbr\u003eBeethoven, Goethe, Schiller, Strauss, Mahler, and Freud, to name just \u003cbr\u003ea few, and more recently, the homeland of Billy Wilder and Arnold \u003cbr\u003eSchwarzenegger.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat spring MGM was in financial turmoil and executive chaos, and it \u003cbr\u003ewas possible that many films that were on the verge of release might \u003cbr\u003ebe locked up in legal limbo until the traumatic events could play \u003cbr\u003ethemselves out.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of the films that was affected was a moderately budgeted film \u003cbr\u003ecalled \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e, starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, \u003cbr\u003ewritten by Callie Khouri, and directed by Ridley Scott, director of \u003cbr\u003esuch highly stylized films as \u003ci\u003eBlade Runner\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBlack Rain\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAliens\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut after the legal hassles had been somewhat resolved and the film \u003cbr\u003efinally opened, everybody in the Austrian film industry was talking \u003cbr\u003eabout \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e. Word of mouth spread very quickly, and I was \u003cbr\u003easked a million questions about it. I simply attributed the hype to \u003cbr\u003eHollywood and promptly forgot about it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I returned home several weeks later, people were still talking \u003cbr\u003eabout \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e, and it continued to be the subject of \u003cbr\u003ediscussion and debate. It even made the cover of \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e. I didn't know \u003cbr\u003ewhat the film was about, but it seemed everybody had an opinion about \u003cbr\u003eit, and nobody agreed about anything. I liked that.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo I finally went to see \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e. I had no idea what to \u003cbr\u003eexpect, so I put all my expectations on the seat beside me and spent \u003cbr\u003ethe first ten minutes thoroughly enjoying myself. I thought it was a \u003cbr\u003ecomedy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen came the scene with Harlan in the parking lot. He has Thelma \u003cbr\u003espread out against a car, and he's going to rape her. It's starting \u003cbr\u003eto turn ugly. He shoves her face down on the hood of a car, spreads \u003cbr\u003eher legs open, shoves her dress roughly above her hips, and starts \u003cbr\u003eripping her panties. Wait a minute, I thought, this is getting \u003cbr\u003eserious. I thought it was a comedy, and now this is happening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Louise comes out, gun in hand, and forces Harlan to stop, I was \u003cbr\u003eon the edge of my seat. And when she actually blows him away, shoots \u003cbr\u003ehim in the chest, I was shocked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs that green '66 T–Bird barrels out of the parking lot, I didn't \u003cbr\u003eknow what to expect. I was set up to watch a comedy, and now this \u003cbr\u003ehappens. But the great thing was that it worked! This film literally \u003cbr\u003egrabbed me by the scruff of the neck and forced my attention to be \u003cbr\u003efocused on the screen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly I understood what everybody had been talking about. This \u003cbr\u003efilm was fresh and funny, the relationships insightful, the humor \u003cbr\u003elaced believably through the dramatic situation. Every moment took me \u003cbr\u003edeeper and deeper into the characters and story. I experienced the \u003cbr\u003efilm scene by scene by scene, and I trusted the screenwriter and \u003cbr\u003edirector to take me where they wanted me to go—the ending.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI don't see too many films like that.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the film progressed, I still thought it was a comedy, and it took \u003cbr\u003eme a while to realize that these two women had committed a murder, \u003cbr\u003eand somehow they were going to have to deal with the consequences of \u003cbr\u003etheir actions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHow is this movie going to end? I asked myself. I can usually spot \u003cbr\u003ethe ending within the first few minutes, but in \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e I \u003cbr\u003edidn't have a clue. It was only when Hal climbed into the police \u003cbr\u003ehelicopter to join the chase that I knew how it was going to end. I \u003cbr\u003eknew they were going to die; I didn't know how it would happen, but I \u003cbr\u003eknew I didn't want it to happen. I wanted them to live. Somehow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut I had to let go of my last shreds of hope as the two women said \u003cbr\u003etheir good–byes on the lip of the Grand Canyon with a wall of police \u003cbr\u003ecars behind them. Only when Louise floored it and they sailed out \u003cbr\u003eover the eternity that is the Grand Canyon did I breathe easily. It \u003cbr\u003eworked. The whole film worked.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOver the next few days I kept thinking about the film. Moments of \u003cbr\u003etheir relationship, the rape sequence, the truck driver sequence, \u003cbr\u003elittle bits and pieces of visual memories flooded through me and kept \u003cbr\u003ereplaying themselves in my head.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe more I thought about the film, the more I liked it. It was a \u003cbr\u003escript worth reading and studying, so when I decided to write this \u003cbr\u003ebook, one of the first films I chose was \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the Time I was working with Roland Joffe (director of The \u003ci\u003eKilling \u003cbr\u003eFields\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Mission\u003c\/i\u003e) on \u003ci\u003eCity of Joy\u003c\/i\u003e (Mark Medoff), and one day \u003cbr\u003ewhen I was in the office, I saw a copy of the script of \u003ci\u003eThelma and \u003cbr\u003eLouise\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI found that it was a great read. From the very first page it had a \u003cbr\u003estrong visual style; it was truly a story told with pictures. It \u003cbr\u003edidn't matter to me whether there were unrealistic moments in the \u003cbr\u003escreenplay. You always have to suspend your disbelief when you read a \u003cbr\u003escript or see a movie. You must try to accept any story for what it \u003cbr\u003eis, regardless of whether it coincides with reality as you perceive \u003cbr\u003eit. When the unbelievability of the story punctures the willingness \u003cbr\u003eof your belief, the film doesn't work for you.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWho was this Callie Khouri person who had written this screenplay? I \u003cbr\u003ehad never heard of her before, but I did manage to get hold of a \u003cbr\u003evideotape from a Writers Guild question–and–answer session with \u003cbr\u003eCallie Khouri, and the producer, Mimi Polk, and some of the \u003cbr\u003eproduction team. Callie Khouri was bright and articulate, and when \u003cbr\u003eshe started talking about the film I was impressed by the way she \u003cbr\u003espoke about her characters.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was hard for me to believe that this was her first screenplay; to \u003cbr\u003ebe this good she must have had some writing experience. You just \u003cbr\u003edon't sit down and write this kind of screenplay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I started telling people that I was writing about Thelma and \u003cbr\u003eLouise, some of my writer friends went nuts. \"The characters are \u003cbr\u003estereotypes,\" said one. \"It's antimen,\" said another. \"I can't \u003cbr\u003ebelieve the relationship between the two women,\" said another. \"She \u003cbr\u003edidn't have to kill him,\" the wife of a writer friend told me. \"There \u003cbr\u003ewere other ways she could have gotten out of that situation,\" she \u003cbr\u003esaid. Everyone had an opinion. Even my aunt, an elderly woman who \u003cbr\u003enever goes to movies, went to see it. Somehow \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e hit a \u003cbr\u003ecommon chord and jangled people's emotions. What was it that sparked \u003cbr\u003eso much emotion?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI did a little research. I went to the Academy of Motion Pictures \u003cbr\u003eArts and Sciences Library and pulled out the review files of \u003ci\u003eThelma \u003cbr\u003eand Louise\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was astonished.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was classified \"a crime movie of a different stripe,\" with headlines like \"Desperadas,\" or \"Girls just wanna have guns,\" and there were statements and judgments about two \"strong women who have struck out on their own in a world of men who are either pigs or hapless creatures who try to help and can't.\" It was labeled an \"unabashedly feminist script\" with \"an explicit fascist theme,\" and it seemed to represent some kind of focal point in the \"battle between the sexes.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was branded a \"pathetic stereotype of testosterone–crazed \u003cbr\u003ebehavior,\" yet the movie launched a fashion spin–off on blouses and \u003cbr\u003ejeans that seemed to become a comment on the '90s. The distributors \u003cbr\u003ewere amazed and said \"it was defying gravity,\" and started selling \u003cbr\u003ethe film as \"an existential buddy movie.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e said the film was \"exuberant, spontaneous, and brimful of \u003cbr\u003esocial comment,\" and ranked it right up there with \u003ci\u003eBonnie and Clyde\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e(Robert Benton and David Newman) and \u003ci\u003eButch Cassidy\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eand the Sundance Kid\u003c\/i\u003e (William Goldman).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003esaid that men \"do not effect what Thelma and \u003cbr\u003eLouise do. The women become thoroughly independent in a way that is \u003cbr\u003ecommonplace for male heroes. The freedom they embrace is remarkably \u003cbr\u003ecomplete and not even sexual.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe screenwriter was hardly mentioned. \"It is a buddy movie, with a \u003cbr\u003escript, someTimes funny, someTimes awkwardly polemical–that serves \u003cbr\u003emostly as an armature for two dazzling actresses, a dazzling director, \u003cbr\u003eand a dazzling cinematographer.\" Everyone seemed to forget that \u003ci\u003eThelma \u003cbr\u003eand Louise\u003c\/i\u003e was a dazzling script by a dazzling new writer whose approach to screenwriting was not limited by the old concepts of other road movies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn other words, \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e was fresh and original, with a twist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWho is this Callie Khouri? And where did she come from? I tracked her \u003cbr\u003edown through one of my students who was working for Geena Davis, \u003cbr\u003ecalled, and we set up an appointment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a warm spring day when we met for lunch in Santa Monica. She \u003cbr\u003eapologized for being late and said she was working on a new script \u003cbr\u003edealing with three generations of women; she was very concerned \u003cbr\u003ebecause it was the exact opposite of \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e. Her biggest \u003cbr\u003efear was that it was going to be all talking heads and about four \u003cbr\u003ehours long. I thought she seemed nervous, and then I realized the \u003cbr\u003eAcademy Award nominations were going to be announced the next day. \u003cbr\u003eShe had every right to be nervous. Being nominated for Best Original \u003cbr\u003eScreenplay on our first try does not happen too often.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe chatted briefly, and I asked her about her background. She was \u003cbr\u003eborn in San Antonio, Texas, and since her father was in the Army, she \u003cbr\u003emoved around a lot: first to El Paso, then to Paducah, Kentucky. \"The \u003cbr\u003efirst eight years of school,\" she remembers, \"were basically a game \u003cbr\u003eof them trying to beat me into shape, and all I wanted was to \u003cbr\u003eescape.\" Her father died when she was sixteen, and his death affected \u003cbr\u003eher deeply. The next year found her leaving home to attend Purdue \u003cbr\u003eUniversity, majoring in drama.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I always felt like a fish out of water,\" she says, \"and it took me a \u003cbr\u003elong time to find myself. The drama department seemed like a game for \u003cbr\u003epeople's egos, and that really bothered me. It seemed like acting was \u003cbr\u003esuch a powerful thing it didn't really have anything to do with you. \u003cbr\u003eIt seems so many people were pursuing acting careers trying to get \u003cbr\u003esome kind of validation for their experience. And that's backward, \u003cbr\u003eyou know; it doesn't validate you, you validate it!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDisenchanted with Purdue after three years, she moved to Nashville to \u003cbr\u003ebe closer to her family. She worked at several odd jobs, and pursued \u003cbr\u003eher acting career as an apprentice at a community theater. \"It was a \u003cbr\u003egreat learning experience but basically unfulfilling,\" she says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter the theater folded, she moved to Los Angeles. She studied \u003cbr\u003eacting at the Lee Strasberg Institute, then later with the noted \u003cbr\u003eacting coach Peggy Feury, who died tragically a few years ago. \u003cbr\u003e\"People liked my work,\" Callie says, \"but I couldn't get an agent to \u003cbr\u003etalk to me. I would meet them and they would look at me and say, \u003cbr\u003e'Well, you're not beautiful enough,' or 'You need to wear more \u003cbr\u003emakeup.' I finally got a part at this little theater off Hollywood \u003cbr\u003eBoulevard. It was a horrible experience and it just rang the death \u003cbr\u003eknell for my acting desires, so I quit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I got a job working as a receptionist at a commercial production \u003cbr\u003ecompany, and they told me they wanted somebody for the job who \u003cbr\u003edoesn't want to be in production, who just wants to answer phones, \u003cbr\u003esomebody who has no desire. That was fine with me.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJust about that time they opened up a music video division, so \"three \u003cbr\u003eor four months later I find myself working in production, and I \u003cbr\u003eworked my way up from being a runner to production assistant to \u003cbr\u003eproduction coordinator to production manager to producer.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was very interested in how she made the switch from producing music \u003cbr\u003evideos to writing screenplays, so I asked if there were any movies \u003cbr\u003ethat inspired her to write.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eTerms of Endearment\u003c\/i\u003e\" (James Brooks), she answered without \u003cbr\u003ehesitation. \"The first time I saw it I went with a few friends and \u003cbr\u003ethey thought it was the greatest thing they'd ever seen. And I walked \u003cbr\u003eout of it going, 'I don't know, I guess I missed it; I just didn't \u003cbr\u003eget it.' But I went back to see it again, I just fell to my knees. I \u003cbr\u003ecouldn't believe it; it was like I didn't know where I was during \u003cbr\u003ethat first screening. But when I went back and listened to that \u003cbr\u003edialogue, I started to go nuts, it was so great.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"At first I had no desire to write screenplays,\" she continued. \"I \u003cbr\u003ekind of wished I had because I was reaching the end of my time \u003cbr\u003eproducing music videos. I was struggling so hard to figure out what \u003cbr\u003eit was that I was supposed to be doing. I kept thinking I'm supposed \u003cbr\u003eto be doing something creative. I can't believe I have such a knack \u003cbr\u003efor the vernacular and I don't have anywhere to apply it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I felt I had not found my true path. And then a series of events \u003cbr\u003eoccurred that led me to the point where I didn't have anything to \u003cbr\u003elose if I wrote a screenplay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"So I started to write a sitcom with a friend of mine, somebody who \u003cbr\u003eended up writing for \u003ci\u003eThe Golden Girls\u003c\/i\u003e. He was a stand–up comedian, \u003cbr\u003eand we decided to write a spec script for some friends who had a \u003cbr\u003eshow. We started writing together and he kept telling me how great it \u003cbr\u003ewas, but I just kept thinking he's trying to be nice, to be \u003cbr\u003eencouraging.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It felt so easy and so comfortable that I felt like I wasn't doing \u003cbr\u003eanything. So it was suspect to me. I'd always read so much when I was \u003cbr\u003egrowing up and I have such a deep respect for the craft of writing, \u003cbr\u003ethat I felt it was something that was going to be out of my reach. I \u003cbr\u003eknow what an incredible art it is. So I completely underestimated \u003cbr\u003emyself in thinking it was out of the realm of possibility.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I kept praying for an answer, contemplating and meditating, asking \u003cbr\u003efor help so I could be put on my proper path.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"And that's when I got this idea: 'Two women go on a crime spree.' As \u003cbr\u003esoon as I had the idea I felt this strange sense of euphoria.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The more I thought about it, the more excited I became. I mean, what \u003cbr\u003ewould make two seemingly normal women go on a crime spree? Why would they do that? Why would I go on a crime spree? I didn't want to do anything sexist, because I was producing music videos and my livelihood was dependent on exploiting women to sell records.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I didn't want to write about two stupid women, or two evil women who \u003cbr\u003ego on a crime spree. I wanted to write about two normal women. The \u003cbr\u003edefinition of women as presented in films and plays is so narrow, so \u003cbr\u003elimiting. I noticed that when I was acting: How many times did I play \u003cbr\u003ea prostitute? Dramatically, it seems one out of every four women is a \u003cbr\u003eprostitute.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Where are the real people? Where are people that aren't prostitutes, \u003cbr\u003ethat aren't selling themselves for sex? I wanted to write something \u003cbr\u003ewith strong women in it. I wanted to write something that had I been \u003cbr\u003ean actress and read the script, I would have thought: I've gotta do \u003cbr\u003ethis role or I'm gonna kill myself.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe paused for a moment, looking off into the distance. \"I originally \u003cbr\u003econceived of Louise as being this woman in Texas who works at a big \u003cbr\u003eoil company in one of those giant buildings,\" she continued, \"and \u003cbr\u003ewhen you walk in somebody's sitting behind one of those big desks \u003cbr\u003ewith a headset on directing people and taking calls and all that \u003cbr\u003estuff. I pictured her as one of those people who never realized women \u003cbr\u003ecould be executives until she saw one come in the front door. And \u003cbr\u003ethen she started wondering how it was that this whole thing had gone \u003cbr\u003eon and she didn't know anything about it; she wasn't one of them, and \u003cbr\u003eshe had an urge for power that's never going to be available to her. \u003cbr\u003eThe way it had been explained to her when she was growing up was that \u003cbr\u003ebecause she was a woman her role was so narrow she couldn't even \u003cbr\u003econceive of herself as being something like an executive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"She was the kind of woman who wears makeup the way Dolly Parton \u003cbr\u003ewears makeup, or Naomi Judd; they have these beautiful features, but \u003cbr\u003eif you take all that stuff off, what do they really look like? I mean, could you recognize Dolly Parton without makeup? Would you even know who she is?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That's how I thought of Louise. Now, I love to laugh and I love \u003cbr\u003epeople who are funny. So I wanted it to be a movie that you were \u003cbr\u003eenjoying and having a good Time with because in some ways you were \u003cbr\u003ewatching these women get their lives back. Even though they lose \u003cbr\u003etheir lives at the end, you watch them as society's convention is \u003cbr\u003epulled further and pulled out of their grasp, so they become more and \u003cbr\u003emore themselves. These were great people to be with, and anybody \u003cbr\u003ewould have  loved to get to know them if they had a chance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But when I started writing I suddenly saw her clearing coffee cups \u003cbr\u003einto a bus tray and knew she was a waitress, working the night shift. \u003cbr\u003eIt was like she said, 'I work in a coffee shop,' and she works the \u003cbr\u003enight shift because she's in a well–lit place all night, and not at \u003cbr\u003ehome afraid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Then I asked myself what crime they had committed. I knew they were \u003cbr\u003egoing to have to kill somebody because I needed it to be a crime from \u003cbr\u003ewhich there was no escape and for which there was no real justification. \u003cbr\u003eThough you couldn't justify it, you could understand it. You understand \u003cbr\u003ecompletely why this woman did what she did. That's another one of the things I've never seen dealt with in a film, the anger women feel about the way they're talked to. In that particular situation, it's almost a natural response.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The idea that people can speak to you in such a way that if you had \u003cbr\u003ea gun you would kill them is something I think women experience every \u003cbr\u003eday. It's not that there's something wrong with the world in which we \u003cbr\u003elive, it's just that we haven't assimilated properly to understand \u003cbr\u003ethat. Women don't know their place, because if we have to put up with \u003cbr\u003ethis, then there really is no place, is there? So I knew the crime \u003cbr\u003ewas going to have to be something like murder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Several years ago I was working as a waitress, and one day I was \u003cbr\u003ewalking down the street, minding my business, when this old guy in a \u003cbr\u003ecar starts talking to me. He's old enough to be my grandfather. I'm \u003cbr\u003eignoring him, which is what you're supposed to do in that situation; \u003cbr\u003eyou know, I can't hear you, I can't see you, you can say whatever you \u003cbr\u003ewant, I'm not a human being. Then he said, 'I'd like to see you suck \u003cbr\u003emy dick,' and I just lost it for a second. I pulled my sunglasses off \u003cbr\u003eand I walked over to the car and said, 'And I'd like to shoot you in \u003cbr\u003ethe fucking face.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That scared him. This guy doesn't know me from Adam, and this is the \u003cbr\u003ekind of thing he says to a total stranger on the street? I was so \u003cbr\u003eangry, yet I was glad I had ruined his day. That I scared him, maybe \u003cbr\u003edissuaded him from ever speaking to another woman like that. There \u003cbr\u003ewas a risk in what I did but I felt elated because I'd responded like \u003cbr\u003ea normal human being who \u003ci\u003erespected\u003c\/i\u003e myself. Because I not only allowed \u003cbr\u003emyself to feel anger, but expressed it. I put \u003ci\u003ehim\u003c\/i\u003e at risk, making him \u003cbr\u003edeal with the consequences of his own words. I giggled to myself for \u003cbr\u003ethe next block or so until I got back to my apartment. I'm so glad I \u003cbr\u003edid that. Most of the time people do those things to you, and if \u003cbr\u003eyou're a woman, you're supposed to simply ignore it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe looked off into the distance and asked the waitress for a \u003cbr\u003ecigarette, explaining that she doesn't smoke but she was nervous \u003cbr\u003eabout the Academy nominations the next day. She took a drag and \u003cbr\u003econtinued after a moment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What also appealed to me,\" she began, \"was the idea that there is a \u003cbr\u003eside of you that you really don't know exists. And you don't know \u003cbr\u003ewhat the trigger for it is. You think you're a normal person and you \u003cbr\u003ehave a normal life, but things can happen and you don't really know \u003cbr\u003ewhat's inside of you. That kind of tenuous relationship we have with \u003cbr\u003eour normal life was really intriguing to me. How one little thing can \u003cbr\u003ehappen and your whole world can fall completely apart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I wanted to set up the screenplay where it was like dominoes falling. \u003cbr\u003eIt had to be grounded in reality, so \u003ci\u003eThelma and Louise\u003c\/i\u003e would never be in a situation that could never occur. Everything had to be real and believable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I liked the idea of this woman who's just trying to be normal, \u003cbr\u003ebecause that's all she wanted to be, but it was completely impossible.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe paused, gazing at a bird flying by, then shook her head slightly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I also wanted to deal with the idea of Louise feeling responsible \u003cbr\u003efor what happened,\" she continued. \"She started out playing a game \u003cbr\u003ewith Jimmy, that she wasn't going to be in town when he got back and \u003cbr\u003ethis is what she gets for not being honest. So she feels like she \u003cbr\u003eprecipitated the whole thing. If you find yourself holding back your \u003cbr\u003efeelings, or having to play games, nothing good ever really comes of \u003cbr\u003eit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Plus,\" she adds, \"I knew something had happened to Louise, something \u003cbr\u003eshe wasn't going to expose, and I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what had happened to her until about halfway through the screenplay. And she was never going to expose it, never going to open herself up like that again. Which is why she's sometimes hostile with Thelma, because she felt that if she had really tried, the whole thing could have been avoided,which is really how society feels.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis \"something\" that happened to Louise was that she was raped in Texas \u003cbr\u003eseveral years earlier. \"I wouldn't let myself say she had been raped. I never said it in the screenplay. We added a reference to it toward the end because Ridley felt that people would come out of the movie going, 'Well, what did happen?'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It doesn't really matter what happened to Louise,\" she continued. \"What happened to her happened to her. There are thousands and thousands of women walking around that have something in their past we don't know about, and they deserve to be treated with respect, whether we had anything to do with it or not.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat happened to Louise in Texas is the structural backbone of the entire story line. It's because of this incident that she runs away from the murder. By the time she realizes what she's done, it's too late.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause the \"incident in Texas\" is mentioned throughout the screenplay in \u003cbr\u003ea subtle and indirect way, we are forced to make our own discovery about \u003cbr\u003ethese two women.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd good screenwriting is the art of discovery.","brand":"Delta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304497795301,"sku":"NP9780440504900","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780440504900.jpg?v=1767727609","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/four-screenplays-isbn-9780440504900","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}