Dialogic Gem

Lots of travel and excitement as of late, and I'm exhausted. So here's some dialogue.

Things you need to know, Aaron is freaking out because he's onto the fact that Jaye talks to inanimate objects. Jaye just won employee of the month at her crappy retail job. Sharon is a lesbian and she is totally not out to, well, pretty much anybody.


INT. THE BARREL

TIGHT ON two bubbling fondue pots shaped like barrels. One
is filled with chocolate, one with melted cheese. Jaye, Mom,
Dad, and Sharon sit around the fondue pot. Everyone has a
fondue fork except for Mom, who eats a salad. Jaye’s balloon
bouquet is tied to the back of her chair.

DAD
Where is Aaron? We celebrate all
Tyler victories as a family.

JAYE
I wouldn’t call this a victory.

Sharon scrutinizes Jaye’s Employee Of The Month certificate.

SHARON
This certificate’s invalid.
There’s no signature. Oh, wait.
There’s a stamp.

DAD
A stamp is good enough for me.

MOM
I guarantee you this’ll make the
Christmas letter.

JAYE
Oh, I wish it wouldn’t.

SHARON
There’s Aaron.

They all look to see a very gloomy Aaron approaching.

MOM
Hi, sweetheart!

DAD
Nice you could make it. Did you
see your sister’s certificate?

Aaron takes the certificate, but doesn’t look at it.

AARON
(low, to Jaye, as he sits)
What are you?

JAYE
Huh?

AARON
Are you like Dr. Dolittle?

MOM
Your blood sugar’s low. Here, dip
something.

AARON
It’s not my blood sugar. There’s
something out there and it’s
laughing at us.

SHARON
(re: Jaye)
Did she do this to you?

DAD
You really think your sister’s
special lunch is the appropriate
place for an existential crisis?

AARON

It’s not an existential crisis.

MOM
It’s nothing to be ashamed of,
sweetheart. You’re studying
religion, for godsake. You’re
bound to have one sooner or later.

AARON
Not an existential crisis. Just
the opposite. I was fine when
existence had no meaning.
Meaninglessness in a universe that
has no meaning -- that I get. But
meaninglessness in a universe with
meaning? What does that mean?

JAYE
It doesn’t mean anything.

AARON
Did the cow creamer tell you that?

DAD
What has gotten into you?

MOM
I am throwing that creamer away the
second we get home.

SHARON
The meaninglessness of meaning?
Are you people high?

MOM
Really, though.

JAYE
You want meaningless? This fondue
is meaningless. It mocks everyone
at this table.

DAD
That’s your celebratory fondue.

JAYE
I didn’t earn celebratory fondue.
I don’t deserve to be called
Employee of the Month. I don’t
deserve this certificate. I don’t
deserve a parking space on P-1.

(reconsidering)

But I am taking the afternoon off.

Jaye starts to head off, stops, goes back, grabs her balloons
and leaves. Aaron broods as he dips fondue. Mom and Dad are
flabbergasted. Dad turns to Sharon:

DAD
Anything you’d like to share?

She looks up, a piece of gooey cheese fondue half in her
mouth. She shakes her head --

SHARON
Uh-uh. No.

For the curious, that is from the Wonderfalls episode entitled "Muffin Buffalo." You should see it, the ensemble rapport is freakin fantastic.

Wonderfalls

As a sucker for novelty, I'm gonna have to start with the series I'm currently in the middle of. Wonderfalls was co-created by Brian Fuller (and some other peeps, but his is the name that seems to stick to all of these shows), the guy who continued on to bring us Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies. Interestingly enough, executively produced by Tim Minear, who I buh-leeve is one of the Heroes guys (shudder). In total they produced 14 episodes, but only aired 4 before getting the axe which, dammit, is a shame. I guess understandable. This show doesn't have quite the perfectly buffed veneer that characterizes the studio display room. You know--at times it trots instead of gallops, risks inconsistency by stylizing episodes along different genre lines, and frequently relies on humor of the absurd. All quirks I adore, and which represent a huge potential in the medium, but the science of network television says delivering the same, not-too-challenging fare week in and week out is the money shot. Thank god for HBO, amiright or amiright?

Jaye is a wicked cool and disaffected 20-something living in a trailer and working retail at a tourist spot in Niagara Falls when inanimate critters start to speak to her, giving her instructions which inevitably lead to the warming of hearts and further knowledge of the self. And wait a second, what is with the unisex names for female protagonists in all these Fuller shows? Jaye, George (with sister Reggie), and Chuck. End aside.

Me, I got hooked when a chicken on the back of a hairpiece spoke to Jaye and said "Destroy Gretchen Hall" (or whatever her name was, sorry I'm not much of a detail guy). I'm by myself in my basement laughing tears into my eyes and smacking my thighs. I really slapped my thighs, I'm not kidding. Yeah the line loses its potency out of context (up until this point, the stuffed animals and whatnot have been giving kind, gentle, and somewhat obtuse advice) but this shit just tickles me. And the show is full of scenes that just pop with humor of the absurd. Lines like "I had some time to organize my thoughts while you were in a coma, and I have a business proposition for you" take these busted situations in stride and just roll with 'em. Or a kind nun in a crisis of faith wielding a knife over poor Jaye to cut the demons from her... it can get as weird as you want, but in the end is calmly incorporated into familiar character dramas. And it's all cool, because the unexplained talking objects have accounted for all twists of fate and freak occurrences.

Maybe my spot is soft because I, similarly to Jaye, am a happy-go-lucky need nothin' but a roof and three meals although at times societal pressures make me insecure about my position in life kind of person. But this show is totally strange and worthwhile, and I love that I can get my goopy shmaltz without having to feel bad about it because it's relentlessly peppered with shocks of absurdity.