Detachment (2011) Movie Script
Let's, uhm... Let's not have
people come in.
I'd like to do this without
anybody in here.
Could everybody split, that
doesn't have to be here. Thanks.
- Maybe we can keep...
- And close the door.
- Keep people away from the door.
- Is that good?
Yep. Thank you
"And never have I felt so
deeply at one and the same time
so detached from myself
and so present in the world"
(Albert Camus)
French philosopher and writer
"For Henry"
I wasn't good in school.
I didn't care for school.
Uhm ... It was nice socially,
my own experience, but
I kinda just went along...
I started off as a music major.
I was gonna be
a Rock 'n' Roll star.
But that didn't quite
work out.
In 1985,
during a hurricane,
hurricane Gloria,
I was walk... I was taking
a train into the city to work.
I'd gotten to work and I was on
the phone with my brother-in-law,
who had just
started teaching,
and he said that he was
off from school.
Now, now,
wait a second,
You're off from school
for hurricane
and I'm goin' into the city
to work in an Office building?
I said: "Woa, that's a
pretty good kick, right."
My mom was a teacher and I knew
without a shadow of a doubt
from early childhood that
the one job I would never do
was become a teacher.
Never ever I would take
toll cards on a turnpike.
I'd be a shepard, anything,
rather than become a teacher.
I decided to become a teacher
because I wanted to do
something with my life besides
what I was doing
which was driving a truck,
for a company and,
I decided I wanted to do
a little bit better for myself
so I got into teaching
a little bit.
I went back to school
at the age of 37.
A friend of mine from college...
His aunt was the...
Principle of an all-girls
inner city school
in Newark, New Jersey, and
they were desperate for teachers
So, I thought "Great,
I can do this for a year,
it'll keep my father from making
me get a job at Prudential,
and then I'll figure out
what I wanna do."
Well, they called me up
asking me to go to an interview,
and I happened to get an job
in a Junior High school,
in Queens,
and I ended up...
starting it at my...
What's now?... my 30th year.
Most of the teachers here,
at one point...
...they believed...,
that they could
make a difference
You know, I know
how important it is to
have guidance and to have
someone help understand
the complexities
of the world
that we live in.
I didn't really have that
growing up.
Producers:
Written by:
Directed by:
I am money.
I change hands
like a dollar bill
that's been robbed
by a lamp
when a genie appeared
and cried loudly, with volume.
But the tears were
all for myself.
And that's where it
all went wrong.
Hi, Lupe, Dean Vargas here.
I'm sick and I won't be
coming in today, allright?
Get to the point, Dr. Heart.
I've got a school to run.
The State's score have gone
down in the last three years.
- You're not delivering... - Don't pretend
like you don't know the game.
You earmarked my school
as the transfer dome
for the worst kids in
the district.
Well, kids deserve an education,
don't you agree?
I agree you're jerking of
and wasting my time.
- Get to the point, Dr. Heart...
- We need consensus builders.
- New methodology.
- You're corportizing the system.
No, we're cleaning house.
Our superintendent feels that
it's time your stepped down.
Babe, you got some fuckin'
nerve coming into my yard
with the heart fuckin' self.
Carol, there was a time
when you were an educator.
You were very well respected.
Why don't you go
out on top?
Oi!
Everybody sit down
and shut up,
or I'll start pulling out
the referrals.
Sit!
Sit down!
I am starting the DVD.
I am starting the DVD.
- Barth or Barthes
- Barth. Mr. Barth.
Mr. Barth Henry
So you've taken long term
assignments at the
"Lock and McArthur"?
The Fringe.
Well, that's... That's...
This a month-long assignment,
until I can fill it permanently.
I asked to meet with you
because you come
highly recommended as the
best sub on the call sheet.
That's a somewhat
dubious endorsement.
I agree, Mr. Barth.
You'll find many of your
students functioning
well below grade level.
That's your task to try
and get them caught up.
Teach the Curriculum,
most importantly.
Understood?
- Good morning
- Good morning
I'm Mr. Barth
Those of you who haven't
heard, this is English 11 A.
- Yes
- Yeah
Listen up, I have one rule.
Just one.
If you don't wish to be here
don't come.
Dude, what does that mean?
It's not dude, it's Mr. Barth.
The S is silent.
- You're fuckin' gay.
- Marcus, shut up!
No, you shut up!
You diet Bitch!
Hey, Marcus.
Guess what.
What?
You're free to leave.
- Like right now?
- Like right now.
- Hiya...
- See you later, man.
- What's the fuck? You want me
to go to the Dean's Office?
- I don't care where you go.
Everyone pull out
a sheet of paper.
I'd like to assess what your
individual writing skills are.
What if we got no paper?
Okay here is the situation.
You're dead.
- Alright, write an brief
but detailed essay about...
- Hey jackass! I asked you
a fucking question!
...about what a friend
or a parent
might say about you
during your funeral. OK?
- You have 30 minutes.
- Oh, shit...
I asked you a motherfuckin'
question, didn't I?
Anything else?
You'd better back the fuck up
before I fuckin' wreck your shit.
That bag,
It doesn't have any feelings.
It's empty.
I don't have any feelings
you can hurt either. OK?
I understand you're angry.
I used to be very
angry too, OK. I get it.
You have no reason to be
angry with me, because
I am one of the few people that's
here trying to give you an opportunity.
Now I am going to ask you,
you just sit down,
and do your best,
and I'll give you a piece
of paper. How's that?
Can I get a fuckin' pen too?
Kids don't have any
attention span. They're bored.
So how are you supposed to
reel them in with classic literature
if they don't believe
that you
have something meaningful
to share.
Thank you.
Why did you throw Marcus
out of class but not Jerry?
Well I had to make an
example out of somebody.
You know, Marcus verbally
assaulted you,
and that's not allowed
in my classroom.
And, what they say to me
isn't material.
What's your name?
Meredith.
Nice to meet you, Meredith.
So you really don't care
what the kids say to you?
Perhaps I've gotten
used to it.
I wish I could be
that strong.
It doesn't take strength,
Meredith. You gotta...
understand that unfortunately
most people lack self-awareness.
You should really keep that
in mind as you had
another transient of
second period.
You'll meet them again
at every age.
- I want to see the Principle!
- That's her, mom.
You're the bitch that expelled
my baby? And for what?
- Excuse me, maybe you'd like...
- Because you can't handle it?
Bitch why are you here?
You wanna be at home everyday.
I don't have time for this bullshit!
- Keep your voice down!
- Why are you here?
Hey mam, clam down.
We'll go talk about this
in the Dean's Office.
- I ain't goin' nowhere with you.
Look, miss, I know
you're angry
but they won't listen to you,
you need to talk to me.
- Racist bitch, I'ma sue
your ass. - Come on, ladies.
This way
- Ladies
- What happened?
Bitch, if you gimme
any mo' shit in the class
and I'ma getta my niggas
fuckin' gang rape your ass!
- Excuse me. Are you
new here? - It's, first day.
Welcome. That was quite
a scene back there.
I was a little stunned.
But it's actually safe here.
- Sorry, I'm Miss Madison.
- I am Henry, Henry Barth.
Whatever is on my mind,
I say there's a feeling.
I'm truthful to myself.
I am young,
and I'm old.
I've been bought
and I've been sold,
so many times.
I am hard to face.
I am gone.
I am just like you.
Patricia!
Patricia!
- Hello? - Henry, it's Rita,
from the hospital.
He's done it again, you
need to get down here.
Bastards, leave me alone!
Why aren't you
handling this?
I can't get him out!
- You come and get him.
- Patricia.
Thanks.
Grandpa, come on.
It's Henry, open the door.
Patricia!
No, it's Henry. It's Henry.
- Who?
- It's Henry.
Grandpa, please, open...
Open the door.
Hi, sweetheart.
I thought you were
your mom.
You're dressed okay, there...
Were you going somewhere?
Now I'm goin' to work.
You are tired, OK?
It's very, very late so I need
you to go to sleep, OK?
Lets come to bed.
How're you doin', huh?
Some old people sleep
a lot before they die.
Isn't that silly?
Fuck.
- Everything okay?
- You shut up!
You listen
I know you're just some
under-educated drone
passing the time with
these old dying people
But I'm paying for his assisted
living, and you're not assisting him.
I told you, take the lock
off of his bathroom door!
You know how he gets
at night and forgets?
So you need to be there for
him, to make him feel safe.
Let me be very clear here!
You stop neglecting his needs
or I'll start fucking with yours!
I will have you fired!
Then it's gonna
be your family!
Your children,
are gonna be at risk!
You got it?!
I got it.
Don't you ever make me come
down here again at this hour, OK?
Gimme the fuckin' money!
You heard me!
Gimmme the fuckin' money!
Give me the fucking
money now!
You think I like you?
Give me the fucking money!
- You want money?
- Now!
Why are you following me?
I am not. It's late, you should
be home, not to screw men.
What? Are you crazy now?
- What the fuck is your deal, huh?
- Get away from me.
Why did you let that guy
beat the shit out of me?
- Huh? You just sat there, like you
were a fuckin lemon or something.
Excuse me, I don't wanna
talk to you.
You think there's something
wrong with that?
Listen, little kid.
I don't know how old you
were when it all went wrong,
but this isn't
the fucking answer, OK?
You'll figure it out,
'cause you're gonne get
really old really quick.
Know that! - Why are you
so mean to me, huh?
You don't think I have feelings?
Do you?
Do you have feelings?
Listen, pal!
I mean, between you and me
you look like you've got
more problems than me.
- Oh really?
- Yeah, really!
- So come on, I'll make you better.
- What are you doing? Get off, please.
- Are you flerting with me?
- Nothing,
I'm just offering to hang out,
if you know what I mean.
- I don't wanna hang out with you.
- I don't know. You seem kinda lonely.
Maybe we go back
to your place just relax.
Afraid you'll like it?
I'm afraid you've been
fucked and thrown away
so many times
you've gotten used to it.
Fuck you, man!
Fuck off, queer.
Have a good night, yeah.
Yeah, yeah!
Just walk away? Hey?
Where are you going?
"He just fucks
their shit up, and..."
"The ladies cry for me ..."
"At the funeral"
"'cause I aint around no more,"
"to dicks that split up ..."
"Raw and shit ..."
"And ma boys all gets faded ..."
"pleasin' that skunk shit and fuck."
Toni V.
You know it's funny
I spend a lot of time
trying to not have to deal,
to not really commit.
I am a substitute teacher.
There's no real
responsibility to teach.
The responsibility is
to maintain order,
make sure nobody kills
anybody in your classroom,
and then they get
to the next period.
"She used to be a sweet girl"
"She never seemed
disatisfied with her life."
"And why should she have been?"
"Her mother and I gave her
everything she needed ... "
"So why did she
become so angry?"
"So miserable and mean
all of a sudden"
"We don't know."
"Frankly, it doesn't reflect on us."
"We were good parents"
"But still, she repaid us
for all we've done"
"by killing herself"
"Stupid selfish Child"
"Now she'll never
get into Princeton"
No name.
"Hi Lupe, Dean Vargas again"
"I can't do it anymore"
" I ...um I quit! "
Oh, if it isn't
the lovely Dr. Parker.
Would you like a happy
help you through the day?
They're yummy.
I need you to fill in for Dean
Vargas in the second period.
I'm worried about you, Charlie.
I just, er... maybe love
watchin' you leave the room.
Mr. Seaboldt. He maintained
a sense of humor.
I think the sense of humor
is key. I don't posses it.
I mean, I do ...
in a tragic sort of way.
Whatcha doin' here, Mr. Sea?
Uhm, filling in for
Dean Vargas.
Vargas is a bitch.
Talk shit, you get
slaped like a bitch.
You're not gonna get me
no detention neither.
I'm gonna un-fuck your shit
uptight, you motherfucker!
Un-shit... No, un-fuck
your shit uptight, motherfucker.
Wow! That is,
I mean, really poetic.
I mean, that's truly...
What, lyrical.
You should take that
on the stage.
I mean that shit sells itself.
Umm, hey who could talk
some of my thought says
I am going to un-fuck your
shit uptight, motherfucker.
I'll tell you what I will do, laddy.
I'll un-fuck your shit uptight.
And un-fuck it right uptight
up your ass, you motherfucker.
I'm going to un-fuck your shit
uptight, you motherfucker!
I'll tell what, um...
Why don't you have a seat,
OK? And then I'll...
I'll back shortly and we'll
discuss your bright future.
Okay, my man?
I mean, my motherfucker.
Okay, Mae West?
Ellen, can I see your nipples?
What? No!
Wrong.
See I... Actually I can.
See, that's the whole point,
you have to wear bra to school.
Look Mr. Seaboldt,
I'm just being me.
I don't tell you how to dress,
so you don't tell me.
Capiche?
Ellen, do you know
what that is?
It's a beautiful picture
of a sunset in Hawaii.
It's rather pretty, isn't it?
Now, Ellen.
Do you know what that is?
That's a vagina
infected with gonorrhea.
That's fucking grose.
Yes very. So, you see,
when you come to school
dressed like that, you give
you give out the wrong signal.
Don't you want people
treat you with respect?
Yo! I get respect.
I don't give it up to
every dick in my face.
Every "dick" in your face.
That's respectful.
Put this on.
Wear that for the rest...
Hey I said wear that
for the rest of the day.
Okay?
Can I go now?
I supposed you can, I mean.
If we're done.
Are we done?
- We're done.
- We're done.
Another student saved.
Come out of
the bathroom, grandma!
Come on granma,
open the door.
Hi, grandpa.
Grandpa.
Grandpa.
You okay?
What is it, grandpa?
It's Henry, grandpa.
Grandpa, it's Henry.
- Who?
- Are you in pain?
No, no. I ...
I pissed myself.
Come on, grandma,
open the door!
Excuse me
Excuse me
- Can you come in here please?
- We have a little accident?
- Yes
- You should ... haa..
- Do you wanna? - No, no.
- See, we're taking care of it.
See? You're okay.
- You right? - Are you doin'
any writing, grandpa?
In journals?
No, my life ...
My life isn't worth memoires.
It's ok, it's okay.
I didn't wanna to go
out like this.
I hate being a burden.
You're not a burden.
Okay?
You're not a burden.
Sure. You...
You like coming here, eh?
Your mother came by today.
Have you spoken to her lately?
No.
Now, you tell her
I'm fine?
You always say you're fine, but
I know you hide things from me.
You've always been closed off.
Ever since you were a kid.
Why is that?
Why?
Ah, you're upset. I shouldn't
say these things to you...
- I don't mean to make you...
- You haven't upset me, grandpa.
It's that I don't wanna
talk about the past.
You and I remember it
very differently.
Get rest, O.K?
Close your eyes. I'm here.
- I am in here with you
- When you stop coming, Henry
I'll die.
Fuck.
You got a smoke?
No, I don't have a smoke.
Where did you go, eh?
- What are you gonna do now?
- What are you gonna do, little kid?
I don't know.
Can you lend me ten bucks?
Come on, man I'm hungry.
I may have something
to eat at my place.
Come in, wash your hands.
There's soap over there.
Sit down.
Really nice place you got.
Thanks.
- You got anything stronger?
- Eat your sandwich.
Hey, hold on man!
- It's a 100 bucks.
- Relax...
What?
- Have you been raped recently?
- What do you care?
I'm not sure
that I do particulary.
Find and put something on it.
Look, I gotta get back.
Back?
Back where?
Listen, buddy,
If you don't got the
money it's cool. I mean,
I like you.
I'll blow you for 50?
Listen to me,
knock off the bullsit, okay?
Come in the bathroom.
It's gonna sting a little bit.
Why are you doing this?
Take a shower
- This is fresh towel.
- Thanks.
Go to sleep.
Hello, this is Dr. Parker
My son's ADHD and I looked it up
online, and that's what hes' got.
Now you gotta
get im a free laptop.
Mr. Kevin, your son Oliver
injured a student.
His problems are behavioral.
Hey, my kid's got a disability
and he's not learning anything,
and this is your fault!
Hey, hey...
What are you doing?
What is the matter with you?
As it is, our resources emaciated.
Now, I heave real LD kids
that need my attention.
He's always mad all the time because
he's not getting the services he needs.
No Child Left Behind
promises me my rights.
You'll be hearing from
my lawyer. - Mr...
Hey, what are you doing?
What is this?
What is this? Funny? Get to
class. Get to class right now.
What's the joke?
I don't get the joke. Huh?
Is this funny? Does that
look good to you?
You like hurting animals? Huh?!
Is that what you like to do?
Answer me! You like hurting
animals? You like this?!
Come here. Go.
Lets go. Come on.
Walk
Mr. Raymond, the studies
have shown that kids
who are prone to hurting
animals at an early age
eventually fall into a
high percentage of adults
who may fail to develop even
the most basic feeling for people.
Raven.
How do you feel about this?
I feel ...
Trapped.
Like the cat.
Fuck.
Who are you? Why?
Did you pay?
Did you pay her?
- Yeah alright, here...
- Pay her!
- Alright, here, take...
- What are you paying me for, huh?!
It wasn't in my mouth!
Get fuck out of here.
Get out of here! Fuck!
Don't hurt me!
Here ...
Change your sheets!
How do you do it kid?
Please don't be mad at me.
I am not mad at you.
Don't think about
leaving me.
I won't do it anymore,
I promise.
You don't need to promise me.
Okay don't promise to me.
Whatever it is, you feel
you need to do, you do it.
But you don't do it here!
Okay?
What are you doing there?
Don't you knock?
What is all this supposed to be?
Your tortured soul?
Why don't you paint
something cheerful?
Like happy with colors.
Whadya want from me dad, besides
for me to have been born with a penis.
I don't work all day
to have my night ruined
by your teen angst.
???
I am not goin' to support you
and your little creative habits!
Okay? I've had it with all
of all your little art projects
that are going nowhere!
You always know
what to say, dad.
Now, if you cleared...
and lost some weight
you could attract
a nice boys, who knows.
There should be
a prerequisite,
curriculum for being an parent,
before the people attempt to.
Don't try this at home.
Take these.
What are those?
You're supposed to ask me
before you take them.
They're vitamins,
and Aspirin.
At some point
you should get an HIV test.
At some point.
Why are you crying on the bus?
Go to sleep.
A friend of yours?
A friend.
Oh...No, no...
He was ....
Total asshole.
What was his problem?
He chose a vocation that
did not choose him.
And then he spent his
whole career
"casting pearls before swine",
He talked like that...
The child-hater, basically.
He tried to purge Steinbeck and
Faulkner from required reading list.
Well, let it be said from
the safety of his sabbatical,
You can do no more harm.
How did he die?
Who knows, and who cares.
"Hello"
"It's drudgery, this life"
"and retention"
"suspension, expulsion"
"staff meetings"
"The Papers cuts"
"The vacant parents"
"Their vicious kids"
"Theye're the dreads
of the pain"
"They spat on my soul"
"This humiliation will stop"
"Discipline must be restored,
these kids have us on the run."
" We're the ones on trial!"
" It's fucking madness! "
"Like every child has value? "
"Is aware and worthy of
a private education"
"Fucking kids who have
no desires,"
"no fire..."
"No minds to be..."
" Assimilate "
What does that mean?
To take something in.
OK, excellent. To absorb.
" Ubiquitous "
Anyone?
Everywhere, all the time.
So what...
"ubiquitous assimilation"
Always absorbing everything
everywhere all the time.
Well done, George.
How are you
to imagine anything,
if the images are always
provided for you?
Who here had read
"1984" last year?
Good.
Anyone?
Meredith.
Having two opposing
beliefs at once.
Believing that both are true.
Excellent.
Why do you always suck
his dick, you fuckin' kiss-ass?
To deliberately believe in lies
while knowning they're false.
Examples of this
in everyday life:
Oh, I,
need to be pretty
to be happy.
I need surgery
to be pretty.
I need to be thin
Famous
Fashionable
Our young men,
today,
are being told that women
are whores;
bitches, things to be screwed,
beaten,
shit on,
ashamed.
This is a marketing holocaust.
for the rest of our lives,
the powers that be
are hard at work
dumbing us
to death.
So, to defend ourselves
and fight against assimilating this
dullness into our thought processes,
we must learn to read
to stimulate our own imagination;
to cultivate
our own consciousness,
our own belief system.
We all need these skills
to defend
to preserve
our own minds.
Very carefully, it's perfect.
Great.
Let me have a look.
You just made your own...
- Wow. I don't care what
they say, you're doing great.
I had hard time with
math too. It takes time.
Wow, that is damn cool.
Hi guys.
Thank you for staying late,
all 15 or 20 of you.
Today we'll be presented
with a new course work
engineered to boost
State exam performance,
as mandated by
"No child had left behind".
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
it is my pleasure to be here.
I've come today with some
edifying materials
to help your matriculating and
non matric students
to better prepare for the
upcoming State Exams this May.
Let me start by stating
I love teachers.
I love what you do,
what you stand for.
You guys are the real heroes.
Now, the one thing I've learned
in all my years in the private sector,
is that
real estate generates revenue
And merchanting property values
will be this school's saving grades.
But your school's
low test scores
are bringing down the whole re-sale
value in this neighborhood
during the market already in decline.
We gotta get the scores up -
new families in our district
and more motivated
kids in the school.
And I am not placing any blame
Excuse me, are you here
to sell some tests material
or to air your concerns
as a property owner?
Listen, umm ... I am curious
Are you givin' away pop-corn with
this crap that you're pushing?
This faculty has spent their lives
on the boards, and now you tell us
that our careers are
about re-sale value.
- Bullshit !
- Give him hell lady ...
- Storm the game.
- Don't oversimplify it, mam.
That's a hazard you
can't afford.
This sounds like a threat.
- Could you please sit down?
That's enough.
Could you please sit down?
Can we have some
order here, please.
Dr. Heart was right.
- This school's the pride of
the district. - Can you get back, pal?
Could you finish your pitch,
we'd like to go home?
What's you hurry, hon?
You gotta...
So enjoy running this relic
for a few more months.
You're a fossil when
you're fucking done.
You're dread going home?
Frankly, I don't know what to do
with myself when I'm not in my classroom.
So, Friday afternoons
I am afraid to go home.
Afraid of all that time alone.
Yeah.
- My mother hates
my father passionately...
...watches a lot of TV
...the only time that I don't feel
- I teach for selfish reasons...
- My mother was in Mac Madisson
...I need a control
- I need those kids more than...
- Its the moments in school...
It must be like
...best teacher I ever had...
So what's your story?
My story?
I'm just ... I'm just taking
one thing at a time.
Why are you wasting your life?
You know...
I teach every day, I mean...
You don't really know me.
So what happened to you?
You don't want something
more permanent?
- Hi
- Where have you been?
What? I was out.
- With a colleague.
- The boy or girl?
A woman.
You make me feel so stupid.
Why are you treating me like a kid?
- Because you're a kid.
I am sorry.
I wasn't expecting this.
All you had to do was tell me
you were gonna be home later.
Back up, alright?
I'm not beholden to you, okay?
I mean, you're welcome
to stay here, but
you know, you don't get to
have expectations of me, alright?
This is a temporary thing, you ...
you're able to stay here, but ...
eventually you're gonna
have to go, you understand?
- I think it is important...
- It's clear.
I get it, you want
me to go now?
I got better to do
than clean up the stuff.
I can't believe you made dinner.
With what?
Goceries, from the goceries store.
Wow, it's really nice kid.
It's been long time since
somebody cooked me.
Thank you Erica.
We all have problems, we all
have things that we're dealing with.
And we all ...
Take them home with us at night,
take them to work
with us in the morning.
I think that helplesness, that
realization, that foreboding of
being a drift in the sea,
with no
no bowie, no saftey, when you
thought you'd be the one.
throwing the bowie.
Hi...
- Anything for dinner?
- Tell me all about it from the beginning -
- You don't care.
- Oh no ...
so much, and well.
You are so condescending.
Give me a kiss.
Come on.
We'll solve everything.
- Come on
- Stop it.
Do you remember when
I bought you this?
The beautiful summer in Venice
before our travells were
resigned to reviving old passions.
" You suck! "
- Bloody?
- Yeah
- Grandpa, you doing any writing
of your journal? - No...
I don't remember much.
I lost the habbit. You
can't think in this place.
You can't make new memories.
Thank you.
- You alright?
- What?
- You see me?
- You see me standing here?
Yes, I see you.
Oh God, its so relentless.
Thank you.
" Carol, there is no nice way
for me to do this."
"I spoke with the Superintendent"
"He's agreed to let you
out the rest of the year "
" It is where it is."
"Take your pension..."
Haven't you ever had enough.
Havent' you ever just wanted
to tell someone to fuck off.
I think I am sick.
- Why?
- I crossed the line today.
I mean the whole...
the whole thing is fucked.
Whole thing is fuck,
is it not?
What's up, Dr.Parker?
Can we get over it?
I got shit to do.
What are your plans after High School
since you're not going to college?
I don't know.
Hanging out with my boyfriend.
Do some modelling shit...
- Be in my friend's band.
- I have your 10-week grade report
Do you know what it says?
Fail, Fail, Fail
- F, F, F
- F, F, F yah.
You know what that means?
It mean you don't care.
You're brilliant.
Can I go now?
Oh god, you are a shallow
disgusting creature.
You want to know the truth?
One, you're not gonna be in a band
or an Model Missy,
because you have no ambition.
With no skills, you'll be competing
with the 80% of the U.S. workforce
for a minimum wage job
which you'll work at
for the rest of your life
til you're replaced by a computer.
- I don't care
- Two...
The only talent you'll ever have
is getting men to fuck you.
Your life will basically
become a carnivall of pain.
Now, when you can't stand it
not one more day,
not one more hour,
it will get worse,
much worse!
Every day I come into this office and
listen to you kids shit all over yourselves!
It's so easy to be careless. It takes
courage to take care.
Not that you have any
of those qualities.
- Get out! Just get out!
Get out! - Fuck You!!!
- I am a total burn out.
- You are not.
- I am. - I mean I don't know how
you make it through the day.
Listen, seriously why do you
think I take these pills for?
I mean, that's a
If I didn't take these things I'd be
committing mass murder.
and I'll be helping throwing their
fucking kids out of the window.
Come on, you're the best.
I'll tell you my opinion, the worst
thing about this job
is that nobody says thank you.
- No.
- No.
I'm here to say thank you.
You're doing the job,
that none of us can do.
None of us.
- Grace? - Have I ever I told you
that you're the only person
I have to talk to.
- Hi Henry
- What happened?
They called to your house.
- Your grandfather felt
some chest pains. - Yeah?
The Doctor says he's stable.
He doesn't have a lot of time.
- I am so sorry Henry
- How long ...
...have you been here?
Since this morning, I didn't know
how to get a hold of you?
I don't know where you work.
You've been here
all day with him?
Hi, Grandpa.
You're still hanging
in there, I see.
Oh, hi sweetheart. Your mother
was with me today.
Did you see her?
- No. - I told her I was
afraid to leave you.
...but she promised
that she'd look after you.
- Well, I'm sure she meant that.
- Patricia, darling...
You've forgiven me, haven't you?
- What do you need to be
forgiven for, daddy?
- Well, those things.
You know, the things I did.
- All you ever did
was take care of me.
- Always looked after me.
- Weren't you afraid of me?
No, daddy, not.
I know how you get sometimes
you get little mixed up.
You feel responsible for the
things that you didn't do.
So I wasn't the one
that hurt you?
No sir, that wasn't you.
I hope it wasn't true.
Patricia, darling.
I've always loved you.
Daddy, you can feel free to leave,
whenever you're ready.
Do you know that?
That's okay.
There is nothing to fear.
Come on.
Let's get outa here.
Is Patricia your mom?
What happened to her?
She left a while ago.
You mean she died?
How did she die?
My father left when I was a kid.
I don't really remember him.
It was always the three of us,
mother and grandpa and I together
in his house.
I found her... on the floor.
She'd taken enough pills...
and grandpa at that moment,
kinda of lost it...
For Henry
I sat with grandpa
on the porch, and
and we watched as they
came and took her away.
How old were you?
Seven.
I don't know for sure,
but I...
think my mother was young
when something happened.
with her and grandpa.
- Were you afraid of it?
No.
Did she ever say
anything to you?
No.
But looking back on it, I think she
protected me in her own way.
How?
She made me lock
my door at night.
The park is now empty and bare,
with an abandoned chain
The jungle Jim, the slide and
swing have rusted together.
They're all so terribly alone now.
Where did all the children go?
Didn't they know that
the park needed them?
The child's intelligent heart can find 'em
in the depth of many dark places.
I cannot find 'em, the delicate
moment of its own detachment.
- Hi Mr. Barthes.
- Hello Meredith.
- How's going?
- Fine, I am alright ...
- I made a picture for you.
Come here.
- You did?
- Yeah
Wow, it's beautiful, and it's a...
You're really talented.
- Thanks. Have you been
doing this for a long time?
Yeah, I've been doing it
since I was a kid.
Faceless man in an empty room.
Is that how you see me, Meredith?
I don't know how I see you.
It's just how thought
of you in a situation.
Do you ever think about who
your teachers are outside?
- In real life?
- I guess so.
- Does this place seem ureal to you?
- I watched you around the school,
You always seem so sad
Maybe you have a hard time with things
and you need someone to talk to
- Meredith
- Yes Sir
- Do you need someone to talk to?
- Yes, will you talk to me?
When you talk to me, when you look
at me, it's like you really see me.
I do see you Meredith
- Do you wanna go
see Dr. Parker?
- Oh come on, don't pull me off
I am not, I am not ...
What can I do?
It's like you said, we're...
There is nothing left. Nothing but
to realize how fucked up things are...
It's not enough. I won't last.
Listen to me. Just listen.
We're all the same.
We all feel pain.
We all have chaos
in our lives.
Life is very, very
confusing, I know.
I don't have the answers,
but I know if you write it out
It'll all be okay.
- Mr. Barthes, do you like me?
- Of course I do.
- Meredith, please don't.
You know I'd like to help you.
- Please, please.
- No, no.
- You don't ...
- You said you liked me, please...
Please, please...
Oh please,
don't push me away.
Please, just hold on to me, and tell
me that everything's gonna be O.K.
Everything is...
It is okay, please.
- Please... no, no...
- Meredith, wait a second.
- What's going on?
- What?
- Meredith, Meredith
- What were you just doing?
Meredith, I am sorry.
- What were you doing?
- What?
What are you doing?
- Excuse me?!
- You were just touching her.
What do you ... what are
you insinuating?
It is inappropriate to be in here
alone with that young girl.
It is inappropriate?!
She needed someone to talk to.
- What do you think I'm doing, lady?
- I don't know what you're doing.
"Just make me close."
What do you think I am fucking pervert?
Is that what you're insinuating?
She needed someone
to talk to her.
- Than why were you touching her?
- I wasn't touching her.
"It's alright my dear."
"Patricia?"
I'm not ... not a sick old man!
Is that what you
think of me?
Is that what you think?
I just wanted to help her!
- Get out! Excuse me! Excuse me!
- What am I supposed to think?
You're supposed to...
Fuck into a fucking judgement!
Hello, no he's not home.
Hello Mr. Barthes.
Whenever you feel like you are ready
we do have some paperwork downstairs
that we need you to
take care of.
I am sorry.
I wish things were different.
I tried, you know... Fuck...
The things is... We all...
We all have problems. We all
have things that we're dealing with.
Some days were better than others.
Somedays were not so great.
Some days we have
limited space
for others.
Hey. I made breakfast.
Want some milk?
These kids need something else.
They don't need me.
- Are you O.K?
- Yeah, I'm not hungry.
- You know, you can't
keep living on the street.
I am not. I mean, I'm staying
here with you.
You can't continue
to stay here with me.
- I'm not good for you.
- That's not true.
You're the only family
I've ever had.
Well, I can't be your family.
I can't give you what you need.
- You have to understand,
you should be... - You are good...
And gentle ...
You're the most kind.
I love you Henry.
- Come in. -Hi.
- Hi.
Hello there.
- Erica ...
- Don't let them take me...
Please...
- Noo...
- Listen, you should...
You are all
that I have, please...
- Don't let me go.
- You should go, sorry.
- No, no ...
- No, don't do this ...
- Henry! Henry!
- You should go
- Henry!
- You have to let go.
- Henry!
- You have to ...
- Henry!
- You have to leg go now.
Henry!
- Her things?
- Yeah.
- Henry! Henry!
- Come on.
- No! No! ...
- Things will be okay.
Don't do this.
- You gonna be okay.
- No! No! No!
No! ...
Well ... I feel
just awful for her.
- For who?
- For our school.
It may sound strange but I've always
felt that the school had a spirit.
It's not just an budgetful buildings,
but they're alive.
I just can't understand it.
Where are all the parents?
I don't know.
I was in my room for two
hours and saw one parent.
Where are they?
Where is everybody?
- We don't know.
- It's uncanny.
No air raid sirensl
No bombs.
It doesn't happen that way.
It starts in whisper,
then nothing.
We had our music once,
didn't we?
Yes, we did.
Do you remember those nights
we only had two parents at a time?
And then there were more,
there were many more
waiting in the waiting rooms.
And halls were full of joy and
celebration. Now, it's nothing.
Rememberance. The things passed.
I actually felt quite at home.
There were no parents.
I thought how appropriate.
It was like, a moment of insight
the reality of the fucking
problem in the first place.
Some of us believe that
we can make a difference.
And sometimes we wake up
and we realize we've failed.
Hi it's Gretchen
calling from the Clinic,
Erica Loius has her
test results back.
Please give us a call
at your earliest convenience.
Thank you.
" - You have good parents "
" - Bitch you shut up. "
"A Mother of mine gave her ... "
" A Diet Bitch! "
" ha ha...ha ha ... ha ha"
" What is all this supposed to be?
Your tortured soul?"
" - I won't stand that, Dad! "
" - Paint something more cheerful ..."
" We have to pay us our lives ..."
" Grow like your hair, lost some weight"
" It'll all be okay "
- Good morning!
- Good morning.
Before we take roll,
I want to tell you that today
will be my last day with you.
You're gonna have
a permanent teacher on Monday.
- Where are you going, Mr. Barthes?
- I'll go to another school.
- We will miss you, man.
- Yeah?
All those teachers in
this place... They're dickheads.
Don't you get tired of
moving around all the time?
It's how my job works. I come
in here for a period of time,
so you don't have twnenty
subs in and I'm outa here,
and then, you have a
permanent teacher come in
and I leave.
Attention to all teachers, this is an special
announcement from the Principle's Office.
There will an all faculty meeting
today, during nutrition"
Student nutrition will be extended
a ten minutes, thank you.
I invited you here today
to discuss the status things.
I know that there wasn't ...
I know that there isn't ...
- I am sorry ...
- We all need something,
to destract us from the
complexity and reality.
More or less to think about
where that came from?
No one wants to think about
the struggle that it takes
to become somebody
to get out of
... to get out of the ...
the sea of pain that,
we all have to get out of.
- Hi Meredith.
- Hi.
Haven't seen you
in class lately?
Where have you been?
- Baking.
- I see.
- I am happy I get to see you.
Today is my last day.
How ironic!
Listen, I was thinking,
I bought this for myself, but
maybe you could make
better use of it.
- I like that one the best.
- You can't have that one.
It's mine.
But, can you have this one?
- It's better for you anyway.
- Thanks.
I am sorry.
If I hurt you
in any way, I um ...
I know that its tough
right now, for you,
but it's not always gonna be this...
- Goodbye Mr. Barthes.
Goodbye Meredith.
They say that suicide is a permanent
solution to the temporary problem.
I'll let you know?
My name is Meredith and
I wanted to kill myself.
Meredith!
No!
Henry!
It's gonna be O.K.
It's gonna be O.K.
It's gonna be O.K.
We have such a responsibility to guide
our young so that they don't end up
falling apart.
Falling by the way side.
Becoming insignificant.
I realized something today.
I'm a non-person, Sarah.
You shouldn't be here.
I am not here.
You may see me,
but I'm hollow.
Failing. We're failing.
Failed in a sense that we
have let everyone down.
Including ourselves.
When you're walking down
the hallway, or in your classroom,
how many of you
have ever felt the weight
pressing down on you?
I have.
Everyone?
Wow!
Poe wrote about these
things over a 100 years ago.
So, as we read
we can see that
"The House of Usher"
is not merely an old
decrapped castle...
It is also a state of being.
" During the whole of dull, dark and soundless day "
" In the autumn of that year, when the clouds
hung oppressively low in heavens, "
" I had been passing alone, on the horseback, "
" Through the singularly dreary tract of country; "
" and at length found myself as
the shades of evening dew on, "
" within view of the melancholy House of Usher "
" I know not how it was "
" But, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of
insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit "
" I looked upon the simple landscape features of the domain "
" Upon the bleak walls, upon a few
white trunks of decayed trees "
" With an utter depression of soul "
" There wasn't an iciness "
" A sinking."
" Sickening of the heart. "
" Detachment "
people come in.
I'd like to do this without
anybody in here.
Could everybody split, that
doesn't have to be here. Thanks.
- Maybe we can keep...
- And close the door.
- Keep people away from the door.
- Is that good?
Yep. Thank you
"And never have I felt so
deeply at one and the same time
so detached from myself
and so present in the world"
(Albert Camus)
French philosopher and writer
"For Henry"
I wasn't good in school.
I didn't care for school.
Uhm ... It was nice socially,
my own experience, but
I kinda just went along...
I started off as a music major.
I was gonna be
a Rock 'n' Roll star.
But that didn't quite
work out.
In 1985,
during a hurricane,
hurricane Gloria,
I was walk... I was taking
a train into the city to work.
I'd gotten to work and I was on
the phone with my brother-in-law,
who had just
started teaching,
and he said that he was
off from school.
Now, now,
wait a second,
You're off from school
for hurricane
and I'm goin' into the city
to work in an Office building?
I said: "Woa, that's a
pretty good kick, right."
My mom was a teacher and I knew
without a shadow of a doubt
from early childhood that
the one job I would never do
was become a teacher.
Never ever I would take
toll cards on a turnpike.
I'd be a shepard, anything,
rather than become a teacher.
I decided to become a teacher
because I wanted to do
something with my life besides
what I was doing
which was driving a truck,
for a company and,
I decided I wanted to do
a little bit better for myself
so I got into teaching
a little bit.
I went back to school
at the age of 37.
A friend of mine from college...
His aunt was the...
Principle of an all-girls
inner city school
in Newark, New Jersey, and
they were desperate for teachers
So, I thought "Great,
I can do this for a year,
it'll keep my father from making
me get a job at Prudential,
and then I'll figure out
what I wanna do."
Well, they called me up
asking me to go to an interview,
and I happened to get an job
in a Junior High school,
in Queens,
and I ended up...
starting it at my...
What's now?... my 30th year.
Most of the teachers here,
at one point...
...they believed...,
that they could
make a difference
You know, I know
how important it is to
have guidance and to have
someone help understand
the complexities
of the world
that we live in.
I didn't really have that
growing up.
Producers:
Written by:
Directed by:
I am money.
I change hands
like a dollar bill
that's been robbed
by a lamp
when a genie appeared
and cried loudly, with volume.
But the tears were
all for myself.
And that's where it
all went wrong.
Hi, Lupe, Dean Vargas here.
I'm sick and I won't be
coming in today, allright?
Get to the point, Dr. Heart.
I've got a school to run.
The State's score have gone
down in the last three years.
- You're not delivering... - Don't pretend
like you don't know the game.
You earmarked my school
as the transfer dome
for the worst kids in
the district.
Well, kids deserve an education,
don't you agree?
I agree you're jerking of
and wasting my time.
- Get to the point, Dr. Heart...
- We need consensus builders.
- New methodology.
- You're corportizing the system.
No, we're cleaning house.
Our superintendent feels that
it's time your stepped down.
Babe, you got some fuckin'
nerve coming into my yard
with the heart fuckin' self.
Carol, there was a time
when you were an educator.
You were very well respected.
Why don't you go
out on top?
Oi!
Everybody sit down
and shut up,
or I'll start pulling out
the referrals.
Sit!
Sit down!
I am starting the DVD.
I am starting the DVD.
- Barth or Barthes
- Barth. Mr. Barth.
Mr. Barth Henry
So you've taken long term
assignments at the
"Lock and McArthur"?
The Fringe.
Well, that's... That's...
This a month-long assignment,
until I can fill it permanently.
I asked to meet with you
because you come
highly recommended as the
best sub on the call sheet.
That's a somewhat
dubious endorsement.
I agree, Mr. Barth.
You'll find many of your
students functioning
well below grade level.
That's your task to try
and get them caught up.
Teach the Curriculum,
most importantly.
Understood?
- Good morning
- Good morning
I'm Mr. Barth
Those of you who haven't
heard, this is English 11 A.
- Yes
- Yeah
Listen up, I have one rule.
Just one.
If you don't wish to be here
don't come.
Dude, what does that mean?
It's not dude, it's Mr. Barth.
The S is silent.
- You're fuckin' gay.
- Marcus, shut up!
No, you shut up!
You diet Bitch!
Hey, Marcus.
Guess what.
What?
You're free to leave.
- Like right now?
- Like right now.
- Hiya...
- See you later, man.
- What's the fuck? You want me
to go to the Dean's Office?
- I don't care where you go.
Everyone pull out
a sheet of paper.
I'd like to assess what your
individual writing skills are.
What if we got no paper?
Okay here is the situation.
You're dead.
- Alright, write an brief
but detailed essay about...
- Hey jackass! I asked you
a fucking question!
...about what a friend
or a parent
might say about you
during your funeral. OK?
- You have 30 minutes.
- Oh, shit...
I asked you a motherfuckin'
question, didn't I?
Anything else?
You'd better back the fuck up
before I fuckin' wreck your shit.
That bag,
It doesn't have any feelings.
It's empty.
I don't have any feelings
you can hurt either. OK?
I understand you're angry.
I used to be very
angry too, OK. I get it.
You have no reason to be
angry with me, because
I am one of the few people that's
here trying to give you an opportunity.
Now I am going to ask you,
you just sit down,
and do your best,
and I'll give you a piece
of paper. How's that?
Can I get a fuckin' pen too?
Kids don't have any
attention span. They're bored.
So how are you supposed to
reel them in with classic literature
if they don't believe
that you
have something meaningful
to share.
Thank you.
Why did you throw Marcus
out of class but not Jerry?
Well I had to make an
example out of somebody.
You know, Marcus verbally
assaulted you,
and that's not allowed
in my classroom.
And, what they say to me
isn't material.
What's your name?
Meredith.
Nice to meet you, Meredith.
So you really don't care
what the kids say to you?
Perhaps I've gotten
used to it.
I wish I could be
that strong.
It doesn't take strength,
Meredith. You gotta...
understand that unfortunately
most people lack self-awareness.
You should really keep that
in mind as you had
another transient of
second period.
You'll meet them again
at every age.
- I want to see the Principle!
- That's her, mom.
You're the bitch that expelled
my baby? And for what?
- Excuse me, maybe you'd like...
- Because you can't handle it?
Bitch why are you here?
You wanna be at home everyday.
I don't have time for this bullshit!
- Keep your voice down!
- Why are you here?
Hey mam, clam down.
We'll go talk about this
in the Dean's Office.
- I ain't goin' nowhere with you.
Look, miss, I know
you're angry
but they won't listen to you,
you need to talk to me.
- Racist bitch, I'ma sue
your ass. - Come on, ladies.
This way
- Ladies
- What happened?
Bitch, if you gimme
any mo' shit in the class
and I'ma getta my niggas
fuckin' gang rape your ass!
- Excuse me. Are you
new here? - It's, first day.
Welcome. That was quite
a scene back there.
I was a little stunned.
But it's actually safe here.
- Sorry, I'm Miss Madison.
- I am Henry, Henry Barth.
Whatever is on my mind,
I say there's a feeling.
I'm truthful to myself.
I am young,
and I'm old.
I've been bought
and I've been sold,
so many times.
I am hard to face.
I am gone.
I am just like you.
Patricia!
Patricia!
- Hello? - Henry, it's Rita,
from the hospital.
He's done it again, you
need to get down here.
Bastards, leave me alone!
Why aren't you
handling this?
I can't get him out!
- You come and get him.
- Patricia.
Thanks.
Grandpa, come on.
It's Henry, open the door.
Patricia!
No, it's Henry. It's Henry.
- Who?
- It's Henry.
Grandpa, please, open...
Open the door.
Hi, sweetheart.
I thought you were
your mom.
You're dressed okay, there...
Were you going somewhere?
Now I'm goin' to work.
You are tired, OK?
It's very, very late so I need
you to go to sleep, OK?
Lets come to bed.
How're you doin', huh?
Some old people sleep
a lot before they die.
Isn't that silly?
Fuck.
- Everything okay?
- You shut up!
You listen
I know you're just some
under-educated drone
passing the time with
these old dying people
But I'm paying for his assisted
living, and you're not assisting him.
I told you, take the lock
off of his bathroom door!
You know how he gets
at night and forgets?
So you need to be there for
him, to make him feel safe.
Let me be very clear here!
You stop neglecting his needs
or I'll start fucking with yours!
I will have you fired!
Then it's gonna
be your family!
Your children,
are gonna be at risk!
You got it?!
I got it.
Don't you ever make me come
down here again at this hour, OK?
Gimme the fuckin' money!
You heard me!
Gimmme the fuckin' money!
Give me the fucking
money now!
You think I like you?
Give me the fucking money!
- You want money?
- Now!
Why are you following me?
I am not. It's late, you should
be home, not to screw men.
What? Are you crazy now?
- What the fuck is your deal, huh?
- Get away from me.
Why did you let that guy
beat the shit out of me?
- Huh? You just sat there, like you
were a fuckin lemon or something.
Excuse me, I don't wanna
talk to you.
You think there's something
wrong with that?
Listen, little kid.
I don't know how old you
were when it all went wrong,
but this isn't
the fucking answer, OK?
You'll figure it out,
'cause you're gonne get
really old really quick.
Know that! - Why are you
so mean to me, huh?
You don't think I have feelings?
Do you?
Do you have feelings?
Listen, pal!
I mean, between you and me
you look like you've got
more problems than me.
- Oh really?
- Yeah, really!
- So come on, I'll make you better.
- What are you doing? Get off, please.
- Are you flerting with me?
- Nothing,
I'm just offering to hang out,
if you know what I mean.
- I don't wanna hang out with you.
- I don't know. You seem kinda lonely.
Maybe we go back
to your place just relax.
Afraid you'll like it?
I'm afraid you've been
fucked and thrown away
so many times
you've gotten used to it.
Fuck you, man!
Fuck off, queer.
Have a good night, yeah.
Yeah, yeah!
Just walk away? Hey?
Where are you going?
"He just fucks
their shit up, and..."
"The ladies cry for me ..."
"At the funeral"
"'cause I aint around no more,"
"to dicks that split up ..."
"Raw and shit ..."
"And ma boys all gets faded ..."
"pleasin' that skunk shit and fuck."
Toni V.
You know it's funny
I spend a lot of time
trying to not have to deal,
to not really commit.
I am a substitute teacher.
There's no real
responsibility to teach.
The responsibility is
to maintain order,
make sure nobody kills
anybody in your classroom,
and then they get
to the next period.
"She used to be a sweet girl"
"She never seemed
disatisfied with her life."
"And why should she have been?"
"Her mother and I gave her
everything she needed ... "
"So why did she
become so angry?"
"So miserable and mean
all of a sudden"
"We don't know."
"Frankly, it doesn't reflect on us."
"We were good parents"
"But still, she repaid us
for all we've done"
"by killing herself"
"Stupid selfish Child"
"Now she'll never
get into Princeton"
No name.
"Hi Lupe, Dean Vargas again"
"I can't do it anymore"
" I ...um I quit! "
Oh, if it isn't
the lovely Dr. Parker.
Would you like a happy
help you through the day?
They're yummy.
I need you to fill in for Dean
Vargas in the second period.
I'm worried about you, Charlie.
I just, er... maybe love
watchin' you leave the room.
Mr. Seaboldt. He maintained
a sense of humor.
I think the sense of humor
is key. I don't posses it.
I mean, I do ...
in a tragic sort of way.
Whatcha doin' here, Mr. Sea?
Uhm, filling in for
Dean Vargas.
Vargas is a bitch.
Talk shit, you get
slaped like a bitch.
You're not gonna get me
no detention neither.
I'm gonna un-fuck your shit
uptight, you motherfucker!
Un-shit... No, un-fuck
your shit uptight, motherfucker.
Wow! That is,
I mean, really poetic.
I mean, that's truly...
What, lyrical.
You should take that
on the stage.
I mean that shit sells itself.
Umm, hey who could talk
some of my thought says
I am going to un-fuck your
shit uptight, motherfucker.
I'll tell you what I will do, laddy.
I'll un-fuck your shit uptight.
And un-fuck it right uptight
up your ass, you motherfucker.
I'm going to un-fuck your shit
uptight, you motherfucker!
I'll tell what, um...
Why don't you have a seat,
OK? And then I'll...
I'll back shortly and we'll
discuss your bright future.
Okay, my man?
I mean, my motherfucker.
Okay, Mae West?
Ellen, can I see your nipples?
What? No!
Wrong.
See I... Actually I can.
See, that's the whole point,
you have to wear bra to school.
Look Mr. Seaboldt,
I'm just being me.
I don't tell you how to dress,
so you don't tell me.
Capiche?
Ellen, do you know
what that is?
It's a beautiful picture
of a sunset in Hawaii.
It's rather pretty, isn't it?
Now, Ellen.
Do you know what that is?
That's a vagina
infected with gonorrhea.
That's fucking grose.
Yes very. So, you see,
when you come to school
dressed like that, you give
you give out the wrong signal.
Don't you want people
treat you with respect?
Yo! I get respect.
I don't give it up to
every dick in my face.
Every "dick" in your face.
That's respectful.
Put this on.
Wear that for the rest...
Hey I said wear that
for the rest of the day.
Okay?
Can I go now?
I supposed you can, I mean.
If we're done.
Are we done?
- We're done.
- We're done.
Another student saved.
Come out of
the bathroom, grandma!
Come on granma,
open the door.
Hi, grandpa.
Grandpa.
Grandpa.
You okay?
What is it, grandpa?
It's Henry, grandpa.
Grandpa, it's Henry.
- Who?
- Are you in pain?
No, no. I ...
I pissed myself.
Come on, grandma,
open the door!
Excuse me
Excuse me
- Can you come in here please?
- We have a little accident?
- Yes
- You should ... haa..
- Do you wanna? - No, no.
- See, we're taking care of it.
See? You're okay.
- You right? - Are you doin'
any writing, grandpa?
In journals?
No, my life ...
My life isn't worth memoires.
It's ok, it's okay.
I didn't wanna to go
out like this.
I hate being a burden.
You're not a burden.
Okay?
You're not a burden.
Sure. You...
You like coming here, eh?
Your mother came by today.
Have you spoken to her lately?
No.
Now, you tell her
I'm fine?
You always say you're fine, but
I know you hide things from me.
You've always been closed off.
Ever since you were a kid.
Why is that?
Why?
Ah, you're upset. I shouldn't
say these things to you...
- I don't mean to make you...
- You haven't upset me, grandpa.
It's that I don't wanna
talk about the past.
You and I remember it
very differently.
Get rest, O.K?
Close your eyes. I'm here.
- I am in here with you
- When you stop coming, Henry
I'll die.
Fuck.
You got a smoke?
No, I don't have a smoke.
Where did you go, eh?
- What are you gonna do now?
- What are you gonna do, little kid?
I don't know.
Can you lend me ten bucks?
Come on, man I'm hungry.
I may have something
to eat at my place.
Come in, wash your hands.
There's soap over there.
Sit down.
Really nice place you got.
Thanks.
- You got anything stronger?
- Eat your sandwich.
Hey, hold on man!
- It's a 100 bucks.
- Relax...
What?
- Have you been raped recently?
- What do you care?
I'm not sure
that I do particulary.
Find and put something on it.
Look, I gotta get back.
Back?
Back where?
Listen, buddy,
If you don't got the
money it's cool. I mean,
I like you.
I'll blow you for 50?
Listen to me,
knock off the bullsit, okay?
Come in the bathroom.
It's gonna sting a little bit.
Why are you doing this?
Take a shower
- This is fresh towel.
- Thanks.
Go to sleep.
Hello, this is Dr. Parker
My son's ADHD and I looked it up
online, and that's what hes' got.
Now you gotta
get im a free laptop.
Mr. Kevin, your son Oliver
injured a student.
His problems are behavioral.
Hey, my kid's got a disability
and he's not learning anything,
and this is your fault!
Hey, hey...
What are you doing?
What is the matter with you?
As it is, our resources emaciated.
Now, I heave real LD kids
that need my attention.
He's always mad all the time because
he's not getting the services he needs.
No Child Left Behind
promises me my rights.
You'll be hearing from
my lawyer. - Mr...
Hey, what are you doing?
What is this?
What is this? Funny? Get to
class. Get to class right now.
What's the joke?
I don't get the joke. Huh?
Is this funny? Does that
look good to you?
You like hurting animals? Huh?!
Is that what you like to do?
Answer me! You like hurting
animals? You like this?!
Come here. Go.
Lets go. Come on.
Walk
Mr. Raymond, the studies
have shown that kids
who are prone to hurting
animals at an early age
eventually fall into a
high percentage of adults
who may fail to develop even
the most basic feeling for people.
Raven.
How do you feel about this?
I feel ...
Trapped.
Like the cat.
Fuck.
Who are you? Why?
Did you pay?
Did you pay her?
- Yeah alright, here...
- Pay her!
- Alright, here, take...
- What are you paying me for, huh?!
It wasn't in my mouth!
Get fuck out of here.
Get out of here! Fuck!
Don't hurt me!
Here ...
Change your sheets!
How do you do it kid?
Please don't be mad at me.
I am not mad at you.
Don't think about
leaving me.
I won't do it anymore,
I promise.
You don't need to promise me.
Okay don't promise to me.
Whatever it is, you feel
you need to do, you do it.
But you don't do it here!
Okay?
What are you doing there?
Don't you knock?
What is all this supposed to be?
Your tortured soul?
Why don't you paint
something cheerful?
Like happy with colors.
Whadya want from me dad, besides
for me to have been born with a penis.
I don't work all day
to have my night ruined
by your teen angst.
???
I am not goin' to support you
and your little creative habits!
Okay? I've had it with all
of all your little art projects
that are going nowhere!
You always know
what to say, dad.
Now, if you cleared...
and lost some weight
you could attract
a nice boys, who knows.
There should be
a prerequisite,
curriculum for being an parent,
before the people attempt to.
Don't try this at home.
Take these.
What are those?
You're supposed to ask me
before you take them.
They're vitamins,
and Aspirin.
At some point
you should get an HIV test.
At some point.
Why are you crying on the bus?
Go to sleep.
A friend of yours?
A friend.
Oh...No, no...
He was ....
Total asshole.
What was his problem?
He chose a vocation that
did not choose him.
And then he spent his
whole career
"casting pearls before swine",
He talked like that...
The child-hater, basically.
He tried to purge Steinbeck and
Faulkner from required reading list.
Well, let it be said from
the safety of his sabbatical,
You can do no more harm.
How did he die?
Who knows, and who cares.
"Hello"
"It's drudgery, this life"
"and retention"
"suspension, expulsion"
"staff meetings"
"The Papers cuts"
"The vacant parents"
"Their vicious kids"
"Theye're the dreads
of the pain"
"They spat on my soul"
"This humiliation will stop"
"Discipline must be restored,
these kids have us on the run."
" We're the ones on trial!"
" It's fucking madness! "
"Like every child has value? "
"Is aware and worthy of
a private education"
"Fucking kids who have
no desires,"
"no fire..."
"No minds to be..."
" Assimilate "
What does that mean?
To take something in.
OK, excellent. To absorb.
" Ubiquitous "
Anyone?
Everywhere, all the time.
So what...
"ubiquitous assimilation"
Always absorbing everything
everywhere all the time.
Well done, George.
How are you
to imagine anything,
if the images are always
provided for you?
Who here had read
"1984" last year?
Good.
Anyone?
Meredith.
Having two opposing
beliefs at once.
Believing that both are true.
Excellent.
Why do you always suck
his dick, you fuckin' kiss-ass?
To deliberately believe in lies
while knowning they're false.
Examples of this
in everyday life:
Oh, I,
need to be pretty
to be happy.
I need surgery
to be pretty.
I need to be thin
Famous
Fashionable
Our young men,
today,
are being told that women
are whores;
bitches, things to be screwed,
beaten,
shit on,
ashamed.
This is a marketing holocaust.
for the rest of our lives,
the powers that be
are hard at work
dumbing us
to death.
So, to defend ourselves
and fight against assimilating this
dullness into our thought processes,
we must learn to read
to stimulate our own imagination;
to cultivate
our own consciousness,
our own belief system.
We all need these skills
to defend
to preserve
our own minds.
Very carefully, it's perfect.
Great.
Let me have a look.
You just made your own...
- Wow. I don't care what
they say, you're doing great.
I had hard time with
math too. It takes time.
Wow, that is damn cool.
Hi guys.
Thank you for staying late,
all 15 or 20 of you.
Today we'll be presented
with a new course work
engineered to boost
State exam performance,
as mandated by
"No child had left behind".
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
it is my pleasure to be here.
I've come today with some
edifying materials
to help your matriculating and
non matric students
to better prepare for the
upcoming State Exams this May.
Let me start by stating
I love teachers.
I love what you do,
what you stand for.
You guys are the real heroes.
Now, the one thing I've learned
in all my years in the private sector,
is that
real estate generates revenue
And merchanting property values
will be this school's saving grades.
But your school's
low test scores
are bringing down the whole re-sale
value in this neighborhood
during the market already in decline.
We gotta get the scores up -
new families in our district
and more motivated
kids in the school.
And I am not placing any blame
Excuse me, are you here
to sell some tests material
or to air your concerns
as a property owner?
Listen, umm ... I am curious
Are you givin' away pop-corn with
this crap that you're pushing?
This faculty has spent their lives
on the boards, and now you tell us
that our careers are
about re-sale value.
- Bullshit !
- Give him hell lady ...
- Storm the game.
- Don't oversimplify it, mam.
That's a hazard you
can't afford.
This sounds like a threat.
- Could you please sit down?
That's enough.
Could you please sit down?
Can we have some
order here, please.
Dr. Heart was right.
- This school's the pride of
the district. - Can you get back, pal?
Could you finish your pitch,
we'd like to go home?
What's you hurry, hon?
You gotta...
So enjoy running this relic
for a few more months.
You're a fossil when
you're fucking done.
You're dread going home?
Frankly, I don't know what to do
with myself when I'm not in my classroom.
So, Friday afternoons
I am afraid to go home.
Afraid of all that time alone.
Yeah.
- My mother hates
my father passionately...
...watches a lot of TV
...the only time that I don't feel
- I teach for selfish reasons...
- My mother was in Mac Madisson
...I need a control
- I need those kids more than...
- Its the moments in school...
It must be like
...best teacher I ever had...
So what's your story?
My story?
I'm just ... I'm just taking
one thing at a time.
Why are you wasting your life?
You know...
I teach every day, I mean...
You don't really know me.
So what happened to you?
You don't want something
more permanent?
- Hi
- Where have you been?
What? I was out.
- With a colleague.
- The boy or girl?
A woman.
You make me feel so stupid.
Why are you treating me like a kid?
- Because you're a kid.
I am sorry.
I wasn't expecting this.
All you had to do was tell me
you were gonna be home later.
Back up, alright?
I'm not beholden to you, okay?
I mean, you're welcome
to stay here, but
you know, you don't get to
have expectations of me, alright?
This is a temporary thing, you ...
you're able to stay here, but ...
eventually you're gonna
have to go, you understand?
- I think it is important...
- It's clear.
I get it, you want
me to go now?
I got better to do
than clean up the stuff.
I can't believe you made dinner.
With what?
Goceries, from the goceries store.
Wow, it's really nice kid.
It's been long time since
somebody cooked me.
Thank you Erica.
We all have problems, we all
have things that we're dealing with.
And we all ...
Take them home with us at night,
take them to work
with us in the morning.
I think that helplesness, that
realization, that foreboding of
being a drift in the sea,
with no
no bowie, no saftey, when you
thought you'd be the one.
throwing the bowie.
Hi...
- Anything for dinner?
- Tell me all about it from the beginning -
- You don't care.
- Oh no ...
so much, and well.
You are so condescending.
Give me a kiss.
Come on.
We'll solve everything.
- Come on
- Stop it.
Do you remember when
I bought you this?
The beautiful summer in Venice
before our travells were
resigned to reviving old passions.
" You suck! "
- Bloody?
- Yeah
- Grandpa, you doing any writing
of your journal? - No...
I don't remember much.
I lost the habbit. You
can't think in this place.
You can't make new memories.
Thank you.
- You alright?
- What?
- You see me?
- You see me standing here?
Yes, I see you.
Oh God, its so relentless.
Thank you.
" Carol, there is no nice way
for me to do this."
"I spoke with the Superintendent"
"He's agreed to let you
out the rest of the year "
" It is where it is."
"Take your pension..."
Haven't you ever had enough.
Havent' you ever just wanted
to tell someone to fuck off.
I think I am sick.
- Why?
- I crossed the line today.
I mean the whole...
the whole thing is fucked.
Whole thing is fuck,
is it not?
What's up, Dr.Parker?
Can we get over it?
I got shit to do.
What are your plans after High School
since you're not going to college?
I don't know.
Hanging out with my boyfriend.
Do some modelling shit...
- Be in my friend's band.
- I have your 10-week grade report
Do you know what it says?
Fail, Fail, Fail
- F, F, F
- F, F, F yah.
You know what that means?
It mean you don't care.
You're brilliant.
Can I go now?
Oh god, you are a shallow
disgusting creature.
You want to know the truth?
One, you're not gonna be in a band
or an Model Missy,
because you have no ambition.
With no skills, you'll be competing
with the 80% of the U.S. workforce
for a minimum wage job
which you'll work at
for the rest of your life
til you're replaced by a computer.
- I don't care
- Two...
The only talent you'll ever have
is getting men to fuck you.
Your life will basically
become a carnivall of pain.
Now, when you can't stand it
not one more day,
not one more hour,
it will get worse,
much worse!
Every day I come into this office and
listen to you kids shit all over yourselves!
It's so easy to be careless. It takes
courage to take care.
Not that you have any
of those qualities.
- Get out! Just get out!
Get out! - Fuck You!!!
- I am a total burn out.
- You are not.
- I am. - I mean I don't know how
you make it through the day.
Listen, seriously why do you
think I take these pills for?
I mean, that's a
If I didn't take these things I'd be
committing mass murder.
and I'll be helping throwing their
fucking kids out of the window.
Come on, you're the best.
I'll tell you my opinion, the worst
thing about this job
is that nobody says thank you.
- No.
- No.
I'm here to say thank you.
You're doing the job,
that none of us can do.
None of us.
- Grace? - Have I ever I told you
that you're the only person
I have to talk to.
- Hi Henry
- What happened?
They called to your house.
- Your grandfather felt
some chest pains. - Yeah?
The Doctor says he's stable.
He doesn't have a lot of time.
- I am so sorry Henry
- How long ...
...have you been here?
Since this morning, I didn't know
how to get a hold of you?
I don't know where you work.
You've been here
all day with him?
Hi, Grandpa.
You're still hanging
in there, I see.
Oh, hi sweetheart. Your mother
was with me today.
Did you see her?
- No. - I told her I was
afraid to leave you.
...but she promised
that she'd look after you.
- Well, I'm sure she meant that.
- Patricia, darling...
You've forgiven me, haven't you?
- What do you need to be
forgiven for, daddy?
- Well, those things.
You know, the things I did.
- All you ever did
was take care of me.
- Always looked after me.
- Weren't you afraid of me?
No, daddy, not.
I know how you get sometimes
you get little mixed up.
You feel responsible for the
things that you didn't do.
So I wasn't the one
that hurt you?
No sir, that wasn't you.
I hope it wasn't true.
Patricia, darling.
I've always loved you.
Daddy, you can feel free to leave,
whenever you're ready.
Do you know that?
That's okay.
There is nothing to fear.
Come on.
Let's get outa here.
Is Patricia your mom?
What happened to her?
She left a while ago.
You mean she died?
How did she die?
My father left when I was a kid.
I don't really remember him.
It was always the three of us,
mother and grandpa and I together
in his house.
I found her... on the floor.
She'd taken enough pills...
and grandpa at that moment,
kinda of lost it...
For Henry
I sat with grandpa
on the porch, and
and we watched as they
came and took her away.
How old were you?
Seven.
I don't know for sure,
but I...
think my mother was young
when something happened.
with her and grandpa.
- Were you afraid of it?
No.
Did she ever say
anything to you?
No.
But looking back on it, I think she
protected me in her own way.
How?
She made me lock
my door at night.
The park is now empty and bare,
with an abandoned chain
The jungle Jim, the slide and
swing have rusted together.
They're all so terribly alone now.
Where did all the children go?
Didn't they know that
the park needed them?
The child's intelligent heart can find 'em
in the depth of many dark places.
I cannot find 'em, the delicate
moment of its own detachment.
- Hi Mr. Barthes.
- Hello Meredith.
- How's going?
- Fine, I am alright ...
- I made a picture for you.
Come here.
- You did?
- Yeah
Wow, it's beautiful, and it's a...
You're really talented.
- Thanks. Have you been
doing this for a long time?
Yeah, I've been doing it
since I was a kid.
Faceless man in an empty room.
Is that how you see me, Meredith?
I don't know how I see you.
It's just how thought
of you in a situation.
Do you ever think about who
your teachers are outside?
- In real life?
- I guess so.
- Does this place seem ureal to you?
- I watched you around the school,
You always seem so sad
Maybe you have a hard time with things
and you need someone to talk to
- Meredith
- Yes Sir
- Do you need someone to talk to?
- Yes, will you talk to me?
When you talk to me, when you look
at me, it's like you really see me.
I do see you Meredith
- Do you wanna go
see Dr. Parker?
- Oh come on, don't pull me off
I am not, I am not ...
What can I do?
It's like you said, we're...
There is nothing left. Nothing but
to realize how fucked up things are...
It's not enough. I won't last.
Listen to me. Just listen.
We're all the same.
We all feel pain.
We all have chaos
in our lives.
Life is very, very
confusing, I know.
I don't have the answers,
but I know if you write it out
It'll all be okay.
- Mr. Barthes, do you like me?
- Of course I do.
- Meredith, please don't.
You know I'd like to help you.
- Please, please.
- No, no.
- You don't ...
- You said you liked me, please...
Please, please...
Oh please,
don't push me away.
Please, just hold on to me, and tell
me that everything's gonna be O.K.
Everything is...
It is okay, please.
- Please... no, no...
- Meredith, wait a second.
- What's going on?
- What?
- Meredith, Meredith
- What were you just doing?
Meredith, I am sorry.
- What were you doing?
- What?
What are you doing?
- Excuse me?!
- You were just touching her.
What do you ... what are
you insinuating?
It is inappropriate to be in here
alone with that young girl.
It is inappropriate?!
She needed someone to talk to.
- What do you think I'm doing, lady?
- I don't know what you're doing.
"Just make me close."
What do you think I am fucking pervert?
Is that what you're insinuating?
She needed someone
to talk to her.
- Than why were you touching her?
- I wasn't touching her.
"It's alright my dear."
"Patricia?"
I'm not ... not a sick old man!
Is that what you
think of me?
Is that what you think?
I just wanted to help her!
- Get out! Excuse me! Excuse me!
- What am I supposed to think?
You're supposed to...
Fuck into a fucking judgement!
Hello, no he's not home.
Hello Mr. Barthes.
Whenever you feel like you are ready
we do have some paperwork downstairs
that we need you to
take care of.
I am sorry.
I wish things were different.
I tried, you know... Fuck...
The things is... We all...
We all have problems. We all
have things that we're dealing with.
Some days were better than others.
Somedays were not so great.
Some days we have
limited space
for others.
Hey. I made breakfast.
Want some milk?
These kids need something else.
They don't need me.
- Are you O.K?
- Yeah, I'm not hungry.
- You know, you can't
keep living on the street.
I am not. I mean, I'm staying
here with you.
You can't continue
to stay here with me.
- I'm not good for you.
- That's not true.
You're the only family
I've ever had.
Well, I can't be your family.
I can't give you what you need.
- You have to understand,
you should be... - You are good...
And gentle ...
You're the most kind.
I love you Henry.
- Come in. -Hi.
- Hi.
Hello there.
- Erica ...
- Don't let them take me...
Please...
- Noo...
- Listen, you should...
You are all
that I have, please...
- Don't let me go.
- You should go, sorry.
- No, no ...
- No, don't do this ...
- Henry! Henry!
- You should go
- Henry!
- You have to let go.
- Henry!
- You have to ...
- Henry!
- You have to leg go now.
Henry!
- Her things?
- Yeah.
- Henry! Henry!
- Come on.
- No! No! ...
- Things will be okay.
Don't do this.
- You gonna be okay.
- No! No! No!
No! ...
Well ... I feel
just awful for her.
- For who?
- For our school.
It may sound strange but I've always
felt that the school had a spirit.
It's not just an budgetful buildings,
but they're alive.
I just can't understand it.
Where are all the parents?
I don't know.
I was in my room for two
hours and saw one parent.
Where are they?
Where is everybody?
- We don't know.
- It's uncanny.
No air raid sirensl
No bombs.
It doesn't happen that way.
It starts in whisper,
then nothing.
We had our music once,
didn't we?
Yes, we did.
Do you remember those nights
we only had two parents at a time?
And then there were more,
there were many more
waiting in the waiting rooms.
And halls were full of joy and
celebration. Now, it's nothing.
Rememberance. The things passed.
I actually felt quite at home.
There were no parents.
I thought how appropriate.
It was like, a moment of insight
the reality of the fucking
problem in the first place.
Some of us believe that
we can make a difference.
And sometimes we wake up
and we realize we've failed.
Hi it's Gretchen
calling from the Clinic,
Erica Loius has her
test results back.
Please give us a call
at your earliest convenience.
Thank you.
" - You have good parents "
" - Bitch you shut up. "
"A Mother of mine gave her ... "
" A Diet Bitch! "
" ha ha...ha ha ... ha ha"
" What is all this supposed to be?
Your tortured soul?"
" - I won't stand that, Dad! "
" - Paint something more cheerful ..."
" We have to pay us our lives ..."
" Grow like your hair, lost some weight"
" It'll all be okay "
- Good morning!
- Good morning.
Before we take roll,
I want to tell you that today
will be my last day with you.
You're gonna have
a permanent teacher on Monday.
- Where are you going, Mr. Barthes?
- I'll go to another school.
- We will miss you, man.
- Yeah?
All those teachers in
this place... They're dickheads.
Don't you get tired of
moving around all the time?
It's how my job works. I come
in here for a period of time,
so you don't have twnenty
subs in and I'm outa here,
and then, you have a
permanent teacher come in
and I leave.
Attention to all teachers, this is an special
announcement from the Principle's Office.
There will an all faculty meeting
today, during nutrition"
Student nutrition will be extended
a ten minutes, thank you.
I invited you here today
to discuss the status things.
I know that there wasn't ...
I know that there isn't ...
- I am sorry ...
- We all need something,
to destract us from the
complexity and reality.
More or less to think about
where that came from?
No one wants to think about
the struggle that it takes
to become somebody
to get out of
... to get out of the ...
the sea of pain that,
we all have to get out of.
- Hi Meredith.
- Hi.
Haven't seen you
in class lately?
Where have you been?
- Baking.
- I see.
- I am happy I get to see you.
Today is my last day.
How ironic!
Listen, I was thinking,
I bought this for myself, but
maybe you could make
better use of it.
- I like that one the best.
- You can't have that one.
It's mine.
But, can you have this one?
- It's better for you anyway.
- Thanks.
I am sorry.
If I hurt you
in any way, I um ...
I know that its tough
right now, for you,
but it's not always gonna be this...
- Goodbye Mr. Barthes.
Goodbye Meredith.
They say that suicide is a permanent
solution to the temporary problem.
I'll let you know?
My name is Meredith and
I wanted to kill myself.
Meredith!
No!
Henry!
It's gonna be O.K.
It's gonna be O.K.
It's gonna be O.K.
We have such a responsibility to guide
our young so that they don't end up
falling apart.
Falling by the way side.
Becoming insignificant.
I realized something today.
I'm a non-person, Sarah.
You shouldn't be here.
I am not here.
You may see me,
but I'm hollow.
Failing. We're failing.
Failed in a sense that we
have let everyone down.
Including ourselves.
When you're walking down
the hallway, or in your classroom,
how many of you
have ever felt the weight
pressing down on you?
I have.
Everyone?
Wow!
Poe wrote about these
things over a 100 years ago.
So, as we read
we can see that
"The House of Usher"
is not merely an old
decrapped castle...
It is also a state of being.
" During the whole of dull, dark and soundless day "
" In the autumn of that year, when the clouds
hung oppressively low in heavens, "
" I had been passing alone, on the horseback, "
" Through the singularly dreary tract of country; "
" and at length found myself as
the shades of evening dew on, "
" within view of the melancholy House of Usher "
" I know not how it was "
" But, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of
insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit "
" I looked upon the simple landscape features of the domain "
" Upon the bleak walls, upon a few
white trunks of decayed trees "
" With an utter depression of soul "
" There wasn't an iciness "
" A sinking."
" Sickening of the heart. "
" Detachment "