| Tuesday, April 18, 2000 |
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TOM AND JANE |
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We see a woman, mid thirties, washing dishes. This is JANE. As she works, a man walks in with his suit coat slung over one shoulder. On his entrance the woman turns and glowers at him. JANE: Tom, Where have you been? You’re an hour late. I needed
you to drive Alice to her soccer practice and you know you promised Billy
that you’d take him to the movies tonight. Now you’ve already missed the
early shows, and he has school
TOM: Jane, honey, I was at the hospital. I have terrible news. I...have...AIDS. JANE: AIDS? But how is that even possible? TOM: Don’t get mad, but it turns out that I got it from that prostitute I’ve been having sex with. JANE: But I thought she was clean. TOM: [laughing] No, no it’s not from the sex. She and I shared a needle when we were shooting up the other night. JANE: But...I just bought you plenty of new needles last week. TOM: I know, honey, but this one was special. She had just gotten it on e-bay. They said that it used to belong to Hitler. JANE: Let me get this straight: you got AIDS from Adolph Hitler’s needle? Well, I guess it’s true what the Jews say – you can’t trust Hitler.
AARON: I liked the way he played with his reader’s expectations- setting them up for one thing, and then totally flipping it on its head by giving them something other than the one thing that they had been expecting. Here you are thinking he got AIDS from having sex with a prostitute, and then…BAM! Hitler needles. Great stuff. LUKE: What really impressed me was how, in such a short time,
he was able to create a believable world for his characters. I mean, I
know people like Jane and Tom. He really tapped into something very honest.
I wonder if the piece isn’t slightly autobiographical.
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