EXT. PARKING LOT - NIGHT
The parking lot of the bar overlooks a beautiful city skyline, with a billboard near by that could easily double as a bench. CALVIN and JAMES, both in their early to mid 30s, are near the billboard, passing a marijuana pipe. Calvin is a hulking, masculine man, the epitome of alpha male, but still remarkably approachable. He gives off an almost superhumanly enviable aura, and not coincidentally, he is dressed in a full spandex Superman costume. James is bald and wears a long black trench coat. He takes a big puff and holds it in for a moment before he exhales and passes the pipe to Calvin.
JAMES
So yeah, I don’t know. Sometimes I think like, we’re meant for more. You know? Like, we’re all meant to be something greater. Something...something better, something more than. But then we don’t, for whatever reason, and then we’re just like, there. We’re just here, you know, and that’s it.
CALVIN
Why is it that people get all analyl-lit...analytical when they’re smoking weed? It just makes me relaxed, man. I don’t want to think about anything, I just want to sit back. Take it in. No offense, I just hate it when people have these existential crisii* when they’re st--
*Note: Pronounced “crise-eye”
JAMES
Fuck! Fuck man, I hate when people do that!
CALVIN
When they-when they take it in? What are you-
JAMES
Ugh! Look, Calvin, I’m sorry but it just gets me, you know? Every writer’s got his own little writing issues, little grammatical pet peeves. And that, man, that is fucking mine.
CALVIN
Existentialism?
JAMES
No, man! Fucking “crisii” and shit!
CALVIN
So you hate crisiis?
JAMES
See! There it is! I just-I don’t get why people do that. Some asshole on the internet probably started it for whatever reason, and now everybody does it.
CALVIN
Relax, hey. You want, I can pack another...
JAMES
Crises! It’s “crises,” or God forbid, “crisises,” but not fucking “crisii.” Ugh.
CALVIN
Crisises? You sure that’s right?
JAMES
Yes, I’m sure.
CALVIN
What if there are infinite crisises though? Infinite crisii...crises...
JAMES
Crises. It’d be infinite crises. It’s the same with octopus.
CALVIN
That’s octopii.
JAMES
No, it’s octopuses.
CALVIN
Or octopussees. No...octo...poos? pees? Octopees?
JAMES
Okay. Bad example. How about...penis, how about penis. It’s not “penii.” It’s penises. Or, penes.
CALVIN
Penes?
JAMES
Penes, yeah.
CALVIN
Really?
JAMES
Yes!
CALVIN
Huh. Not sure when you’d find occasion to refer to more than one penis anyway.
JAMES
Says the man who wears tights and a cape.
Calvin shrugs and looks out at the view.
JAMES
Where’d you get that thing, anyway?
CALVIN
I can’t even remember. I feel like I’ve always had it, since I was born. Flew out of the womb, just like that.
(pause)
It’s sad, really. A lot of people take these things for granted.
JAMES
Billboards?
CALVIN
No man. Capes. Criminally underrated fashion accessory.
JAMES
Right.
CALVIN
You know, there is nothing like a city skyline to put things into perspective. I travel a lot for my job, right, and let me tell you Jerry, you can go anywhere in the whole wide world--hell, the whole universe--and there’s nothing quite as beautiful as that.
JAMES
I’m James.
CALVIN
Really?
JAMES
Yeah.
CALVIN
Weird.
JAMES
But no, I got you. ‘Cause it’s like everything’s so much smaller there, from here, that it’s like not a big deal. It makes everything seem like your toy or something, like it’s yours and you just, you get it, because you’re just, you’re bigger than that now.
Calvin looks at James; a moment of silence passes, as Calvin actually considers what James has said.
CALVIN
So what you’re saying is, all those people down below, each going about his or her own business, that just because they don’t get to appreciate the same view as we do right now, you’re saying we should look down on them. That they’re somehow smaller, or less than us.
JAMES
Yeah, yeah.
CALVIN
Huh.
JAMES
What?
CALVIN
See, I couldn't disagree with you more.
JAMES
Oh.
CALVIN
Look at those moving lights down there. Imagine that there’s one person in each car, or window, or whatever. How many people is that?
(James starts to count out loud)
A lot, right? And all those people down there are part of a community. The same community, and they don’t even realize it. Even if they’ve never seen each other, they’re a part of something, something greater than the sum of its parts. And we’re up here. Alone. Well, together, but still separate.
JAMES
Huh. I thought you said you hated all this drugged up philosophy crap?
CALVIN
Well I do. It’s ingenuine. Is that the right word?
JAMES
It's ingenuous actually, but yeah.
CALVIN
Ingenuous, right. It’s what people think they’re supposed to be or feel, when they want to blend in. It’s like a pair of glasses you put on that don’t really help you see.
JAMES
It’s ‘Doesn’t.’ You’re referring to a singular pair, not the plural glasses, so you’d use ‘doesn’t,’ not ‘don’t.’
CALVIN
Are you sure that about that one?
JAMES
Absolutely. So how is what you’re saying any different than that?
CALVIN
Because what I’m saying is the truth, not same forced philosophy. For me it’s like I took the glasses off, and now I can see more clearly. Now I can focus. You see that veritable metropolis down below? That is what restores my faith in the world. Every person becomes their own little shining light from up here, and that glow is what makes each person special. Everyone is doing something, or going somewhere or whatever, giving life to this great social organism, an amoeba with moving parts. It’s like an ant farm, but we’re the ants. And there’s no Queen. Or maybe God is the Queen. Do you ever wish you could hear them?
JAMES
Queen? I’ve got the live album.
CALVIN
People.
JAMES
People?
CALVIN
That’s right.
JAMES
All of them?
CALVIN
All of them. Each and every conversation. Every whisper, every breathe. Every laugh...every tear! Everything. You can tune in or tune out when you want but you can still scan their voices. Like radio stations, like XM satellite radio, every time you need to remind yourself that everything’s alive. That every life is unique. Precious, like a, like a song.
JAMES
Wow. That was beautiful, man. You should be a writer or something. Hell, I should have you ghostwrite for me. It’d make my life easier, anyway.
CALVIN
Well what are you working on?
JAMES
I’m doing this screenplay for Warner Brothers. And like, I want to make it good, you know? Really unique and profound. But I know they’re just going doctor it to shit no matter what I write. I mean, what kind of doctor makes things worse?
CALVIN
Dr. Kevorkian, for one.
JAMES
Oh yeah. Who else?
CALVIN
Well there’s a bunch. Hugo Strange. Doctor Sivana. Rotwang. Doctor Jekyll!
JAMES
Lex Luthor.
CALVIN
Luthor, yeah. Definitely. Who else?
Beat. James and Calvin try to think of more bad doctors.
JAMES
That’s all I got.
CALVIN
Yeah, me too. Ah well.
WALTER enters. He is tall and lanky with curly hair and a beard.
WALTER
There you are! Shit, kid, I’ve been looking all over for you. The girls said they were taking off so I thought I’d come find you. Have you just sitting out here the whole time? What gives?
JAMES
We were-I came out here and we started talking and we just, you know.
WALTER
No, kid, I really don’t know, so why don’t you tell me?
(beat)
Are you high right now?
JAMES
Um. Maybe?
CALVIN
This a friend of yours?
WALTER
(to James)
Is that guy wearing a Superman costume?
(to Calvin)
Are you wearing a Superman costume?
CALVIN
Looks like.
JAMES
This is Cal, um, El-
CALVIN
(extending his hand to Walter)
Elder. Calvin Elder.
JAMES
And uh, this is my buddy Walter. He works for the studio I’m writing for.
CALVIN
Nice to meet you, sir.
JAMES
And also, I think it’s technically a uniform. Not a costume.
WALTER
Did I really just shake hands with fucking Superman, stoned off his ass, outside some shitty LA dive bar?
CALVIN
Really? You’d call this place a dive? Sure, it’s not the best looking joint but-
WALTER
Am I high now? See, this is why I hate West Hollywood. Because a moment ago, I was in that bar with four very attractive women, each with cute little accents and I was actually kind of concerned for your well being and now I’m out here and you’re smoking up with a fucking cartoon character-
JAMES
Comic. Superman’s a comic book.
WALTER
...fucking cartoon character and I strongly suggest that you leave this part out of your story treatment or perhaps you’d forgotten that it’s due next week. I mean, shit, kid, do you have any idea how much we make off merchandise? The picture’s nothin’. With a gig like this, it’s all about the brand, and a marijuana Superman would just obliterate the under-12 demographic. And that’s our bread and fucking butter! We’d have to go from lunchboxes to Superman water bongs just to break even. You really think that’s a good idea? I mean, what, is this your idea of some kind of surrealist character research? This is how you get into the character’s head for your “genre-smashing epic” Hey, “Calvin Elder,” is he giving you a cut of this, or what? I hope it was up front cash, man, ‘cause ten percent of zero is zilch. Nada.
CALVIN
Of course not. It was a gift. My treat. I offered it to him, it looked like we could both use some companionship, and really, that’s payment enough.
WALTER
Is this guy just fucked up, or does he really not have a clue?
CALVIN
Jimmy? What’s this fellow on about?
WALTER
Where the fuck did you find this guy? He’s hilarious.
JAMES
Remember that script I mentioned earlier? It’s actually for uh, for a new Superman movie.
CALVIN
Wasn’t there a just new one not too long ago?
JAMES
Yeah, well, we’re trying to kind of reboot the franchise with this one. Kind of like Batman, I guess.
WALTER
Jimmy here’s got it in his head that he’s going to pen this brilliant tragedy, a Modern Myth for the ages, I think he said. Is that what you said? Thinks he’s writing Shakespeare with tights and a cape. He’s still young. Thinks that people actually care about a fucking cartoon. No offense, of course.
CALVIN
None taken.
JAMES
There’s just a lot more to Superman than I think people realize. He’s not just a marketing scheme or a brand, you know? He’s like the perfect archetype for modern man. He’s relevant. The whole story, the whole mythos, it’s like it resonates with our collective cultural subconscious.
CALVIN
Wow. Are you sure you still want me to ghostwrite? Because this sounds like it could be a lot of work and I don’t want to ruin this for you.
WALTER
He’s your ghostwriter now?
CALVIN
Ghost Rider’s Marvel, not DC.
JAMES
Okay. Think of it this way: do you think Superman is a product of desire, or necessity?
WALTER
What the hell does that even mean?
JAMES
The guys who created Superman, did they do so because they were bored or whatever, or do you think they were fulfilling some kind of evolutionary imperative? Does our society, or any society for that matter, by its nature necessitate the creation of this ideal being, this--literally, this super man--in order to function? To survive? This enviable alpha male that we all long to be.
WALTER
That is exactly the kind of dumb fucking question you ask when you’re high. That’s the only time people think of that shit, when they’re having one of those drug induced existential crises.
CALVIN
Or crisises.
WALTER
(to Calvin)
Don’t correct my grammar. You’re wearing fucking tights.
(to James)
Alright, listen kid, I came to tell you I’m heading out. With the girls. And since you’re in whatever state you’re in, I assume that’s alright with you.
JAMES
All of ‘em? There were like four girls back there, Walt.
WALTER
Well. Guess it’s my lucky night then.
(he looks at Calvin)
Who the fuck just walks around in a Superman costume anyway? Fucking Los Angeles, I swear to God.
Walter exits. James and Calvin sit in silence for a moment.
JAMES
Why are you wearing a Superman costume?
CALVIN
Would you rather I was naked?
JAMES
What? No! I-
CALVIN
Hey, it’s cool. I get it. This is one of those West Hollywood things. I always forget that around this part of town. I mean, I’m flattered, really, but I don’t fly that way.
JAMES
You fly?
CALVIN
Ha. Actually, I was on my way to a costume party at my--well, I guess it’s my ex-girlfriend’s place now, and I don’t know. I just got nervous. So I came up here to clear my head a bit. We’re still talking and all, her and I, but we’re not together. ‘Open lines of communication,’ she calls it. It was all her idea.
JAMES
Why?
CALVIN
Well, we work together for one thing, which is already mess. I don’t know. I guess she thinks it’s healthy--emotionally--for us to still keep in contact so-
JAMES
No, I mean. Why is she-what-why’d you break up?
CALVIN
Oh. Well. It’s complicated, you know. The long and short of it is, she doesn’t think I’m not being honest with her. Honest with myself. She thinks I’m always trying to be someone I’m not, and the real me isn’t there when she needs me to be, and that she loves the man that she thinks I am, but she isn’t sure if I’m that person, and...yeah.
JAMES
Wow. That does sound complicated.
CALVIN
Yep.
(beat)
Listen. How are you feeling right now?
JAMES
Well, Walter’s kind of a buzz kill, but...I think I’m doing alright. Why?
Pause. Calvin contemplates.
CALVIN
Walk with me. Come on.
Calvin leaps to his feet, but he is no longer Calvin-he is the genuine Superman, void of all false bravado and pretention. He walks and stands and presents with confidence and comfort, but never with contrived cartoon poses, as he helps James to his feet.
JAMES
Where are we going?
CALVIN
For a walk. I think we could both use a new perspective. Clear our heads a bit. It's one thing to be all the way up here above the city, looking down at the people below, but you're never going to truly understand them, understand this whole little world, unless you walk among them. You need to appreciate it, sure, but you also need to assimilate it.
JAMES
Assimilate what?
CALVIN
Everything, Jimmy. The good and the bad. All their shortcomings. Their pettiness, their jealousy. Hell, even their hope. Especially their hope.
JAMES
Hope is a shortcoming?
CALVIN
Well that's the grand irony of it. A super paradox. But the most beautiful things in life always are. You see, Jimmy, those shortcomings are precisely what makes people so great, makes them all worthwhile, because that's the thing that makes them all so undeniably human. And that's something worth fighting for.
FADE TO BLACK.
END
JAMES
So yeah, I don’t know. Sometimes I think like, we’re meant for more. You know? Like, we’re all meant to be something greater. Something...something better, something more than. But then we don’t, for whatever reason, and then we’re just like, there. We’re just here, you know, and that’s it.
CALVIN
Why is it that people get all analyl-lit...analytical when they’re smoking weed? It just makes me relaxed, man. I don’t want to think about anything, I just want to sit back. Take it in. No offense, I just hate it when people have these existential crisii* when they’re st--
*Note: Pronounced “crise-eye”
JAMES
Fuck! Fuck man, I hate when people do that!
CALVIN
When they-when they take it in? What are you-
JAMES
Ugh! Look, Calvin, I’m sorry but it just gets me, you know? Every writer’s got his own little writing issues, little grammatical pet peeves. And that, man, that is fucking mine.
CALVIN
Existentialism?
JAMES
No, man! Fucking “crisii” and shit!
CALVIN
So you hate crisiis?
JAMES
See! There it is! I just-I don’t get why people do that. Some asshole on the internet probably started it for whatever reason, and now everybody does it.
CALVIN
Relax, hey. You want, I can pack another...
JAMES
Crises! It’s “crises,” or God forbid, “crisises,” but not fucking “crisii.” Ugh.
CALVIN
Crisises? You sure that’s right?
JAMES
Yes, I’m sure.
CALVIN
What if there are infinite crisises though? Infinite crisii...crises...
JAMES
Crises. It’d be infinite crises. It’s the same with octopus.
CALVIN
That’s octopii.
JAMES
No, it’s octopuses.
CALVIN
Or octopussees. No...octo...poos? pees? Octopees?
JAMES
Okay. Bad example. How about...penis, how about penis. It’s not “penii.” It’s penises. Or, penes.
CALVIN
Penes?
JAMES
Penes, yeah.
CALVIN
Really?
JAMES
Yes!
CALVIN
Huh. Not sure when you’d find occasion to refer to more than one penis anyway.
JAMES
Says the man who wears tights and a cape.
Calvin shrugs and looks out at the view.
JAMES
Where’d you get that thing, anyway?
CALVIN
I can’t even remember. I feel like I’ve always had it, since I was born. Flew out of the womb, just like that.
(pause)
It’s sad, really. A lot of people take these things for granted.
JAMES
Billboards?
CALVIN
No man. Capes. Criminally underrated fashion accessory.
JAMES
Right.
CALVIN
You know, there is nothing like a city skyline to put things into perspective. I travel a lot for my job, right, and let me tell you Jerry, you can go anywhere in the whole wide world--hell, the whole universe--and there’s nothing quite as beautiful as that.
JAMES
I’m James.
CALVIN
Really?
JAMES
Yeah.
CALVIN
Weird.
JAMES
But no, I got you. ‘Cause it’s like everything’s so much smaller there, from here, that it’s like not a big deal. It makes everything seem like your toy or something, like it’s yours and you just, you get it, because you’re just, you’re bigger than that now.
Calvin looks at James; a moment of silence passes, as Calvin actually considers what James has said.
CALVIN
So what you’re saying is, all those people down below, each going about his or her own business, that just because they don’t get to appreciate the same view as we do right now, you’re saying we should look down on them. That they’re somehow smaller, or less than us.
JAMES
Yeah, yeah.
CALVIN
Huh.
JAMES
What?
CALVIN
See, I couldn't disagree with you more.
JAMES
Oh.
CALVIN
Look at those moving lights down there. Imagine that there’s one person in each car, or window, or whatever. How many people is that?
(James starts to count out loud)
A lot, right? And all those people down there are part of a community. The same community, and they don’t even realize it. Even if they’ve never seen each other, they’re a part of something, something greater than the sum of its parts. And we’re up here. Alone. Well, together, but still separate.
JAMES
Huh. I thought you said you hated all this drugged up philosophy crap?
CALVIN
Well I do. It’s ingenuine. Is that the right word?
JAMES
It's ingenuous actually, but yeah.
CALVIN
Ingenuous, right. It’s what people think they’re supposed to be or feel, when they want to blend in. It’s like a pair of glasses you put on that don’t really help you see.
JAMES
It’s ‘Doesn’t.’ You’re referring to a singular pair, not the plural glasses, so you’d use ‘doesn’t,’ not ‘don’t.’
CALVIN
Are you sure that about that one?
JAMES
Absolutely. So how is what you’re saying any different than that?
CALVIN
Because what I’m saying is the truth, not same forced philosophy. For me it’s like I took the glasses off, and now I can see more clearly. Now I can focus. You see that veritable metropolis down below? That is what restores my faith in the world. Every person becomes their own little shining light from up here, and that glow is what makes each person special. Everyone is doing something, or going somewhere or whatever, giving life to this great social organism, an amoeba with moving parts. It’s like an ant farm, but we’re the ants. And there’s no Queen. Or maybe God is the Queen. Do you ever wish you could hear them?
JAMES
Queen? I’ve got the live album.
CALVIN
People.
JAMES
People?
CALVIN
That’s right.
JAMES
All of them?
CALVIN
All of them. Each and every conversation. Every whisper, every breathe. Every laugh...every tear! Everything. You can tune in or tune out when you want but you can still scan their voices. Like radio stations, like XM satellite radio, every time you need to remind yourself that everything’s alive. That every life is unique. Precious, like a, like a song.
JAMES
Wow. That was beautiful, man. You should be a writer or something. Hell, I should have you ghostwrite for me. It’d make my life easier, anyway.
CALVIN
Well what are you working on?
JAMES
I’m doing this screenplay for Warner Brothers. And like, I want to make it good, you know? Really unique and profound. But I know they’re just going doctor it to shit no matter what I write. I mean, what kind of doctor makes things worse?
CALVIN
Dr. Kevorkian, for one.
JAMES
Oh yeah. Who else?
CALVIN
Well there’s a bunch. Hugo Strange. Doctor Sivana. Rotwang. Doctor Jekyll!
JAMES
Lex Luthor.
CALVIN
Luthor, yeah. Definitely. Who else?
Beat. James and Calvin try to think of more bad doctors.
JAMES
That’s all I got.
CALVIN
Yeah, me too. Ah well.
WALTER enters. He is tall and lanky with curly hair and a beard.
WALTER
There you are! Shit, kid, I’ve been looking all over for you. The girls said they were taking off so I thought I’d come find you. Have you just sitting out here the whole time? What gives?
JAMES
We were-I came out here and we started talking and we just, you know.
WALTER
No, kid, I really don’t know, so why don’t you tell me?
(beat)
Are you high right now?
JAMES
Um. Maybe?
CALVIN
This a friend of yours?
WALTER
(to James)
Is that guy wearing a Superman costume?
(to Calvin)
Are you wearing a Superman costume?
CALVIN
Looks like.
JAMES
This is Cal, um, El-
CALVIN
(extending his hand to Walter)
Elder. Calvin Elder.
JAMES
And uh, this is my buddy Walter. He works for the studio I’m writing for.
CALVIN
Nice to meet you, sir.
JAMES
And also, I think it’s technically a uniform. Not a costume.
WALTER
Did I really just shake hands with fucking Superman, stoned off his ass, outside some shitty LA dive bar?
CALVIN
Really? You’d call this place a dive? Sure, it’s not the best looking joint but-
WALTER
Am I high now? See, this is why I hate West Hollywood. Because a moment ago, I was in that bar with four very attractive women, each with cute little accents and I was actually kind of concerned for your well being and now I’m out here and you’re smoking up with a fucking cartoon character-
JAMES
Comic. Superman’s a comic book.
WALTER
...fucking cartoon character and I strongly suggest that you leave this part out of your story treatment or perhaps you’d forgotten that it’s due next week. I mean, shit, kid, do you have any idea how much we make off merchandise? The picture’s nothin’. With a gig like this, it’s all about the brand, and a marijuana Superman would just obliterate the under-12 demographic. And that’s our bread and fucking butter! We’d have to go from lunchboxes to Superman water bongs just to break even. You really think that’s a good idea? I mean, what, is this your idea of some kind of surrealist character research? This is how you get into the character’s head for your “genre-smashing epic” Hey, “Calvin Elder,” is he giving you a cut of this, or what? I hope it was up front cash, man, ‘cause ten percent of zero is zilch. Nada.
CALVIN
Of course not. It was a gift. My treat. I offered it to him, it looked like we could both use some companionship, and really, that’s payment enough.
WALTER
Is this guy just fucked up, or does he really not have a clue?
CALVIN
Jimmy? What’s this fellow on about?
WALTER
Where the fuck did you find this guy? He’s hilarious.
JAMES
Remember that script I mentioned earlier? It’s actually for uh, for a new Superman movie.
CALVIN
Wasn’t there a just new one not too long ago?
JAMES
Yeah, well, we’re trying to kind of reboot the franchise with this one. Kind of like Batman, I guess.
WALTER
Jimmy here’s got it in his head that he’s going to pen this brilliant tragedy, a Modern Myth for the ages, I think he said. Is that what you said? Thinks he’s writing Shakespeare with tights and a cape. He’s still young. Thinks that people actually care about a fucking cartoon. No offense, of course.
CALVIN
None taken.
JAMES
There’s just a lot more to Superman than I think people realize. He’s not just a marketing scheme or a brand, you know? He’s like the perfect archetype for modern man. He’s relevant. The whole story, the whole mythos, it’s like it resonates with our collective cultural subconscious.
CALVIN
Wow. Are you sure you still want me to ghostwrite? Because this sounds like it could be a lot of work and I don’t want to ruin this for you.
WALTER
He’s your ghostwriter now?
CALVIN
Ghost Rider’s Marvel, not DC.
JAMES
Okay. Think of it this way: do you think Superman is a product of desire, or necessity?
WALTER
What the hell does that even mean?
JAMES
The guys who created Superman, did they do so because they were bored or whatever, or do you think they were fulfilling some kind of evolutionary imperative? Does our society, or any society for that matter, by its nature necessitate the creation of this ideal being, this--literally, this super man--in order to function? To survive? This enviable alpha male that we all long to be.
WALTER
That is exactly the kind of dumb fucking question you ask when you’re high. That’s the only time people think of that shit, when they’re having one of those drug induced existential crises.
CALVIN
Or crisises.
WALTER
(to Calvin)
Don’t correct my grammar. You’re wearing fucking tights.
(to James)
Alright, listen kid, I came to tell you I’m heading out. With the girls. And since you’re in whatever state you’re in, I assume that’s alright with you.
JAMES
All of ‘em? There were like four girls back there, Walt.
WALTER
Well. Guess it’s my lucky night then.
(he looks at Calvin)
Who the fuck just walks around in a Superman costume anyway? Fucking Los Angeles, I swear to God.
Walter exits. James and Calvin sit in silence for a moment.
JAMES
Why are you wearing a Superman costume?
CALVIN
Would you rather I was naked?
JAMES
What? No! I-
CALVIN
Hey, it’s cool. I get it. This is one of those West Hollywood things. I always forget that around this part of town. I mean, I’m flattered, really, but I don’t fly that way.
JAMES
You fly?
CALVIN
Ha. Actually, I was on my way to a costume party at my--well, I guess it’s my ex-girlfriend’s place now, and I don’t know. I just got nervous. So I came up here to clear my head a bit. We’re still talking and all, her and I, but we’re not together. ‘Open lines of communication,’ she calls it. It was all her idea.
JAMES
Why?
CALVIN
Well, we work together for one thing, which is already mess. I don’t know. I guess she thinks it’s healthy--emotionally--for us to still keep in contact so-
JAMES
No, I mean. Why is she-what-why’d you break up?
CALVIN
Oh. Well. It’s complicated, you know. The long and short of it is, she doesn’t think I’m not being honest with her. Honest with myself. She thinks I’m always trying to be someone I’m not, and the real me isn’t there when she needs me to be, and that she loves the man that she thinks I am, but she isn’t sure if I’m that person, and...yeah.
JAMES
Wow. That does sound complicated.
CALVIN
Yep.
(beat)
Listen. How are you feeling right now?
JAMES
Well, Walter’s kind of a buzz kill, but...I think I’m doing alright. Why?
Pause. Calvin contemplates.
CALVIN
Walk with me. Come on.
Calvin leaps to his feet, but he is no longer Calvin-he is the genuine Superman, void of all false bravado and pretention. He walks and stands and presents with confidence and comfort, but never with contrived cartoon poses, as he helps James to his feet.
JAMES
Where are we going?
CALVIN
For a walk. I think we could both use a new perspective. Clear our heads a bit. It's one thing to be all the way up here above the city, looking down at the people below, but you're never going to truly understand them, understand this whole little world, unless you walk among them. You need to appreciate it, sure, but you also need to assimilate it.
JAMES
Assimilate what?
CALVIN
Everything, Jimmy. The good and the bad. All their shortcomings. Their pettiness, their jealousy. Hell, even their hope. Especially their hope.
JAMES
Hope is a shortcoming?
CALVIN
Well that's the grand irony of it. A super paradox. But the most beautiful things in life always are. You see, Jimmy, those shortcomings are precisely what makes people so great, makes them all worthwhile, because that's the thing that makes them all so undeniably human. And that's something worth fighting for.
FADE TO BLACK.
END
