An Egyptian Goddess takes the side of a tortured
truthseeker whom society has deemed a villain.
“New Age Messiah”
FADE IN:
INT. FEDEX KINKOS Jay Johnson is a 40ish dark haired semi-handsome man intently gluing nature photographs to card stock and cutting paper on a large slicer. An acquaintance, Jim, a personable real estate salesman has some familiarity with Jay’s work.
Jim: Jay, good to see you, what are you up to?
JAY: I’m sending my prospectus for Look Your Heart in the Mirror™ to Starbucks, offering them exclusive rights to sell greeting cards and pendants.
JIM: Wow, sounds great. Good luck with that. We’ll see you later.
Jim leaves stepping spryly and confident, Jay keeps his head in his work, not into social etiquette.
Cindy, a Fedex employee, is an energetic blonde with big blue eyes, she has been watching Jay’s progress and comes to look over his shoulder.
Cindy: You sure are creative.
JAY: Thanks.
Jay assembles all the materials and puts them neatly in a packet, he’s clearly deeply devoted to his work. He tidies up and throws away his scraps and heads outside.
EXT. Fedex Kinkos – afternoon
Jay hops on an old humble black bicycle and lays the packet into the basket on the front and rides off.
EXT. Hardware store with postal annex inside.
Jay rides up and parks his bike near the door. He grabs his packet and goes inside.
INT. Hardware Store
Jay walks to the back of the store to the Postal counter and addresses the envelope, shot shows Starbucks and return address is Coeur d’Alene, ID. He hands the packet to the clerk and pays the amount.
MUSIC UP: “Street Spirit” by Radiohead.
EXT. Street scene outside hardware store.
Jay gets on his bike and rides a few blocks home and opens his mailbox. The Rolling Stone magazine is in there. He puts it in his bike basket and rides away. He ambles on his bicycle, past a friend’s purple house, looks to go into Taco Bell, but opts for Pizza Hut across the street. He parks his bike and walks inside.
INT. Pizza Hut
The hostess shows him to a window seat. He puts the magazine on the table. The chipper but superficial and distant young waitress comes with a glass of water.
WAITRESS: Did you know what you’d like today?
JAY: Yeah, I’ll just have the salad bar.
WAITRESS: Can I get you anything to drink?
JAY: No, just water.
Jay finishes his first plate of salad bar, moves the plate and opens the magazine.
ANGLE ON – Article “Kid Cannabis” in the magazine, about kids getting caught smuggling pot.
EXTREME CLOSE UP – “…worked at Pizza Hut in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.”
MUSIC UP: "Motion Picture Soundtrack" by Radiohead
Jay gets up with the magazine and walks to the front to show the manager and cooks. They talk inaudibly; he takes the magazine to the elderly couple sitting beside him. The waitress looks in, and is concerned how the elderly couple might react to knowing dope dealers worked in Pizza Hut.
Jay sits back down and turns the page.
ANGLE ON – A spread of Paul McCartney on a humble black bicycle.”
MUSIC UP: “Krystall” Café Del Soul
EXT. Outside Pizza Hut, day, street scene.
Jay gets on his bike with an air of elevation, a montage of shots as he rides home.
INT. Starbucks - next morning
BARISTA’S POV
Jay pulls up on his bicycle gets the magazine from the basket and walks inside.
Barista 1: (very familiarly) Hi Jay.
Jay: Hi. Check this out. (He opens the magazine). I got this yesterday, and took it to Pizza Hut, when I opened it up, this is the first thing I saw.
Barista 1: (Looks a moment, then, mystified) Oh my God.
(The other barista hands her Jay’s coffee)
Barista 1: Look at this.
Jay puts down $2 and takes his coffee to his chair. The two baristas read together.
Barista 2: (a bit humored) Coeur d’Alene, a gorgeous but dull resort town in Idaho.
INT. Iron Horse Bar – weekend night
Cover Band plays “Jump” by Van Halen. Jay dances with arm peculiarly in the air. He looks and is crazy. Several spectators leer at him.
Spectator 1: That guy’s fucking crazy.
Spectator 2: He’s a fucking pedophile.
A fat powerful woman bumps into Jay hard on purpose. He keeps dancing. Three big men come and surround him.
man 1: I think it’s time you leave now. (arms across chest)
JAY: (stops dancing) Why?
MAN 2: Cause you’re a fucking sex offender, and we want you to leave now.
The song ends and a new song begins. Jay starts dancing without moving away. The men’s arms fall from their chests. They scatter.
INT. Men’s restroom.
Man 1 and man 2 stand at the urinal.
Man 1: I’m gonna’ kill that fucker.
man 2: What a fuckin freak, man.
INT. - Jay’s home
He sits at his kitchen table texting.
INSERT - PHONE TEXT:
You need to honor your word and your intent and acknowledge my instrumental role in creating the lots you brag about. You don’t have to pay me, what an ass.
He sits on the back of his couch. Momentarily he receives a reply.
INSERT – PHONE TEXT:
Fuck you, get a life.
He texts back.
I am life.
Momentarily the phone rings. He answers.
Jay: Hello.
INT. In an SUV.
Mike in the driver’s seat is a tall flaccid marginally pot bellied, handsome devil with a goatee.
MIKE: Yeah, what the fuck are you doin?
JAY: I’m trying to get paid.
MIKE: What’s your instrumental role? This isn’t you project.
JAY: I set it all up for you. I arranged all those meetings. I’m the best real estate guy in town, you’ve got a blind spot.
MIKE: We don’t have to pay you. You’re a fly on my ass.
JAY: Well I’m gonna’ sue if you don’t.
MIKE: No one will believe you, you’re crazy.
JAY: I’ve got evidence.
MIKE: Why would I want you to suck my dick, there’s tons of women that want to suck my dick.
JAY: You told Nanci Kevin lived in your house because he sucked your dick good.
Mike swallows hard, a pause, he realizes he’s vulnerable.
INT. Jay’s house
MUSIC UP: “Optimistic” by Radiohead
Jay lays on his back on the floor where there is large stuffed dog and long pillow lying perpendicular, it’s his customary spot.
CGI: A swirling morphing depiction of internal suffering and chaotic processes.
In softened dilluted visage, as a dream appearing, Mike piercingly stares and licks his lips. The image fades. Then another of Mike sitting in a chair spread eagle, piercingly averting Jay's eyes to his crotch. Another as Jay walks into a fine bar, with his girl, Nanci, and Mike sits with his back turned, she stops Jay, and sneaks up behind Mike lovingly and puts her hands over his eyes. Then another as Jay enters the bar, he sees Mike playfully tying a balloon to Nanci’s purse.
Jay’s phone rings. He answers.
Jay: Hey Rick.
Rick is a fifty something genial retired postal worker now working at the phone company doing installs. He’s in his company van driving.
RICK: So, what’s happening.
Jay: I guess they’re not gonna’ pay me. I can’t believe they’d rather get sued than pay me. Mike’s nervous, though, he knows I have evidence.
RICK: (very understanding) So I guess that means you don’t have any money for rent, huh.
Jay: No. Sorry.
RICK: I’ll put another $800 in your account.
Jay: Thanks. Did I tell you about the second article I opened to in Pizza Hut?
RICK: No, I don’t think you did.
Jay: It was Paul McCartney on a bike, a three page spread, he was like throwing his jacket off at the cameraman. But it was a simple humble bike, you now, just like mine. Is that weird or what?
RICK: I have tickets to see Paul McCartney in three nights.
Jay: Oh my God, there’s no way.
Rick: Yeah, my wife’s been dying to see him in concert, so when we heard he was going to be in Sacramento, I bought two tickets.
JAY: Did you get the pendant I sent?
RICK: I don’t know, I didn’t check my P.O. Box yet.
Jay: I sent it a week ago, it should be there. Can you get it and go to the stadium and somehow give it to Paul McCartney through security or something? It’s maybe meant to be; better than a lottery ticket, anyway.
Rick: (it won’t be easy) Yeah, I think I can get there, on the day of the concert I kind of go that way. What do we say? We have to give him a note with the pendant.
Jay: I’ll call stadium security and fax them something to put in with the package that Rick Foat is bringing.
MUSIC UP: "How to Disappear Completely" by Radiohead
Montage
1) Jay enters an attorney office the attorney shakes his head no.
2) Jay lays on his back and texts “P.A.I.D. Partner acquiesces in degeneracy.”
3) Jay enters another attorney office and gets a no.
4) Jay lays on his back and texts “I am near death.”
5) Jay slow dances with a woman briefly, only to have another woman whisper derisively in her ear. The women goes away sickened by what she heard. Jay is left standing.
INT. – Lawyer’s office
A strong-jawed kindly lawyer sits behind his desk.
Lawyer: That falls under a tort called Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.
Jay: That’s exactly what it was. Will you take my case?
Lawyer: No. These things can take years.
Jay: Can I win if I do it myself?
Lawyer: (very discouraging) Slim and none and closer to none.
INT. – Jay’s house
Jay lays on his back, his phone rings.
Jay: Hello.
Carla: (V.O.)
It’s Carla, my process server is at Mike’s office, she wants to know how to get inside.
Jay: (this is it, D-Day) Cool, thanks. It’s the door just to the right of the big overhead door, it’s usually unlocked during the day. She can just open it and go upstairs.
CARLA: (V.O.) O.K. I’ll call you when it’s done.
Jay’s paperwork from the lawsuit is spread everywhere. He reads momentarily and the phone rings again.
Carla: (V.O.) He has been served, and he was NOT happy.
Jay: That’s so cool, thank you so much, Carla.
Carla: (V.O) We’ll get his moneybags partner served for you in about an hour.
Jay: OK, Bye Carla, thanks.
INT. – Conference room
Two male attorneys, Ian Smith and Steve McCrae, sit directly across from Jay, Mike sits to their left. An older male non-descript court reporter reads into the record.
COURT REPORTER:
The deposition of Curtis Jay Johnson taken on behalf of the defendants on February 14th 2006.
Ian smith: So if I understand you correctly, then, you were defying societal conventions, and correct me if I’m wrong here, and you were public about it, informing people about it. You thought at the time that that was the right thing to do, but then you started to reassess your position and maybe regretted doing that.
Jay: I was – basically – and this is very personal and not legal, this is just- this is my – because I have had to resolve what happened with Mike McPhee in my own heart and mind, and the way I have done that is to just- everything- my whole life was like this (shaking in panic shock) after the trauma, and I just started to loosen “this” and to look out. And as I looked out, I saw back to what I declared on line, that I was going to bear my soul and I was going to find something that nobody ever found before. And I just saw that falling into the submissive abusive relationship with Mike McPhee was the deal that drove me into the abyss that caused me to look at my heart in the mirror, which is what I found- which is the name of my company, which is probably the most profound words ever spoken.
Ian smith: And you said that – you made an example with the movie Liar Liar with Jim Carrey, correct?
Jay: Correct.
Ian smith: And in that movie Jim Carrey is an attorney and he can’t tell a lie, correct?
Jay: Correct.
Ian smith: And in the movie it is to the detriment for his professional career; correct?
Jay: Very much so.
Ian smith: So in a business context, were you prone to be honest, even if that honesty was going to affect the outcome of the business transaction?
Jay: My mantra on line was: Reality is God, when you pretend or lie, you cease to exist you die. And I was egotistical about that. And when things got rough for me, in the very beginning of this trauma – one of the most important initial things that happened was, I seduced a woman in a listing that I had in Coeur d’Alene. I was caught but not red handed, and I was under severe pressure to come up with an explanation of why I was in that house with that woman. And I concocted a story that somehow kept me from being fired. Every day for six months I lived with that lie and everybody staring at me: you liar you liar, you liar. And that caused my sense of well being to erode. I pretended and lied, I ceased to exist, I died.
FADE IN:
INT. FEDEX KINKOS Jay Johnson is a 40ish dark haired semi-handsome man intently gluing nature photographs to card stock and cutting paper on a large slicer. An acquaintance, Jim, a personable real estate salesman has some familiarity with Jay’s work.
Jim: Jay, good to see you, what are you up to?
JAY: I’m sending my prospectus for Look Your Heart in the Mirror™ to Starbucks, offering them exclusive rights to sell greeting cards and pendants.
JIM: Wow, sounds great. Good luck with that. We’ll see you later.
Jim leaves stepping spryly and confident, Jay keeps his head in his work, not into social etiquette.
Cindy, a Fedex employee, is an energetic blonde with big blue eyes, she has been watching Jay’s progress and comes to look over his shoulder.
Cindy: You sure are creative.
JAY: Thanks.
Jay assembles all the materials and puts them neatly in a packet, he’s clearly deeply devoted to his work. He tidies up and throws away his scraps and heads outside.
EXT. Fedex Kinkos – afternoon
Jay hops on an old humble black bicycle and lays the packet into the basket on the front and rides off.
EXT. Hardware store with postal annex inside.
Jay rides up and parks his bike near the door. He grabs his packet and goes inside.
INT. Hardware Store
Jay walks to the back of the store to the Postal counter and addresses the envelope, shot shows Starbucks and return address is Coeur d’Alene, ID. He hands the packet to the clerk and pays the amount.
MUSIC UP: “Street Spirit” by Radiohead.
EXT. Street scene outside hardware store.
Jay gets on his bike and rides a few blocks home and opens his mailbox. The Rolling Stone magazine is in there. He puts it in his bike basket and rides away. He ambles on his bicycle, past a friend’s purple house, looks to go into Taco Bell, but opts for Pizza Hut across the street. He parks his bike and walks inside.
INT. Pizza Hut
The hostess shows him to a window seat. He puts the magazine on the table. The chipper but superficial and distant young waitress comes with a glass of water.
WAITRESS: Did you know what you’d like today?
JAY: Yeah, I’ll just have the salad bar.
WAITRESS: Can I get you anything to drink?
JAY: No, just water.
Jay finishes his first plate of salad bar, moves the plate and opens the magazine.
ANGLE ON – Article “Kid Cannabis” in the magazine, about kids getting caught smuggling pot.
EXTREME CLOSE UP – “…worked at Pizza Hut in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.”
MUSIC UP: "Motion Picture Soundtrack" by Radiohead
Jay gets up with the magazine and walks to the front to show the manager and cooks. They talk inaudibly; he takes the magazine to the elderly couple sitting beside him. The waitress looks in, and is concerned how the elderly couple might react to knowing dope dealers worked in Pizza Hut.
Jay sits back down and turns the page.
ANGLE ON – A spread of Paul McCartney on a humble black bicycle.”
MUSIC UP: “Krystall” Café Del Soul
EXT. Outside Pizza Hut, day, street scene.
Jay gets on his bike with an air of elevation, a montage of shots as he rides home.
INT. Starbucks - next morning
BARISTA’S POV
Jay pulls up on his bicycle gets the magazine from the basket and walks inside.
Barista 1: (very familiarly) Hi Jay.
Jay: Hi. Check this out. (He opens the magazine). I got this yesterday, and took it to Pizza Hut, when I opened it up, this is the first thing I saw.
Barista 1: (Looks a moment, then, mystified) Oh my God.
(The other barista hands her Jay’s coffee)
Barista 1: Look at this.
Jay puts down $2 and takes his coffee to his chair. The two baristas read together.
Barista 2: (a bit humored) Coeur d’Alene, a gorgeous but dull resort town in Idaho.
INT. Iron Horse Bar – weekend night
Cover Band plays “Jump” by Van Halen. Jay dances with arm peculiarly in the air. He looks and is crazy. Several spectators leer at him.
Spectator 1: That guy’s fucking crazy.
Spectator 2: He’s a fucking pedophile.
A fat powerful woman bumps into Jay hard on purpose. He keeps dancing. Three big men come and surround him.
man 1: I think it’s time you leave now. (arms across chest)
JAY: (stops dancing) Why?
MAN 2: Cause you’re a fucking sex offender, and we want you to leave now.
The song ends and a new song begins. Jay starts dancing without moving away. The men’s arms fall from their chests. They scatter.
INT. Men’s restroom.
Man 1 and man 2 stand at the urinal.
Man 1: I’m gonna’ kill that fucker.
man 2: What a fuckin freak, man.
INT. - Jay’s home
He sits at his kitchen table texting.
INSERT - PHONE TEXT:
You need to honor your word and your intent and acknowledge my instrumental role in creating the lots you brag about. You don’t have to pay me, what an ass.
He sits on the back of his couch. Momentarily he receives a reply.
INSERT – PHONE TEXT:
Fuck you, get a life.
He texts back.
I am life.
Momentarily the phone rings. He answers.
Jay: Hello.
INT. In an SUV.
Mike in the driver’s seat is a tall flaccid marginally pot bellied, handsome devil with a goatee.
MIKE: Yeah, what the fuck are you doin?
JAY: I’m trying to get paid.
MIKE: What’s your instrumental role? This isn’t you project.
JAY: I set it all up for you. I arranged all those meetings. I’m the best real estate guy in town, you’ve got a blind spot.
MIKE: We don’t have to pay you. You’re a fly on my ass.
JAY: Well I’m gonna’ sue if you don’t.
MIKE: No one will believe you, you’re crazy.
JAY: I’ve got evidence.
MIKE: Why would I want you to suck my dick, there’s tons of women that want to suck my dick.
JAY: You told Nanci Kevin lived in your house because he sucked your dick good.
Mike swallows hard, a pause, he realizes he’s vulnerable.
INT. Jay’s house
MUSIC UP: “Optimistic” by Radiohead
Jay lays on his back on the floor where there is large stuffed dog and long pillow lying perpendicular, it’s his customary spot.
CGI: A swirling morphing depiction of internal suffering and chaotic processes.
In softened dilluted visage, as a dream appearing, Mike piercingly stares and licks his lips. The image fades. Then another of Mike sitting in a chair spread eagle, piercingly averting Jay's eyes to his crotch. Another as Jay walks into a fine bar, with his girl, Nanci, and Mike sits with his back turned, she stops Jay, and sneaks up behind Mike lovingly and puts her hands over his eyes. Then another as Jay enters the bar, he sees Mike playfully tying a balloon to Nanci’s purse.
Jay’s phone rings. He answers.
Jay: Hey Rick.
Rick is a fifty something genial retired postal worker now working at the phone company doing installs. He’s in his company van driving.
RICK: So, what’s happening.
Jay: I guess they’re not gonna’ pay me. I can’t believe they’d rather get sued than pay me. Mike’s nervous, though, he knows I have evidence.
RICK: (very understanding) So I guess that means you don’t have any money for rent, huh.
Jay: No. Sorry.
RICK: I’ll put another $800 in your account.
Jay: Thanks. Did I tell you about the second article I opened to in Pizza Hut?
RICK: No, I don’t think you did.
Jay: It was Paul McCartney on a bike, a three page spread, he was like throwing his jacket off at the cameraman. But it was a simple humble bike, you now, just like mine. Is that weird or what?
RICK: I have tickets to see Paul McCartney in three nights.
Jay: Oh my God, there’s no way.
Rick: Yeah, my wife’s been dying to see him in concert, so when we heard he was going to be in Sacramento, I bought two tickets.
JAY: Did you get the pendant I sent?
RICK: I don’t know, I didn’t check my P.O. Box yet.
Jay: I sent it a week ago, it should be there. Can you get it and go to the stadium and somehow give it to Paul McCartney through security or something? It’s maybe meant to be; better than a lottery ticket, anyway.
Rick: (it won’t be easy) Yeah, I think I can get there, on the day of the concert I kind of go that way. What do we say? We have to give him a note with the pendant.
Jay: I’ll call stadium security and fax them something to put in with the package that Rick Foat is bringing.
MUSIC UP: "How to Disappear Completely" by Radiohead
Montage
1) Jay enters an attorney office the attorney shakes his head no.
2) Jay lays on his back and texts “P.A.I.D. Partner acquiesces in degeneracy.”
3) Jay enters another attorney office and gets a no.
4) Jay lays on his back and texts “I am near death.”
5) Jay slow dances with a woman briefly, only to have another woman whisper derisively in her ear. The women goes away sickened by what she heard. Jay is left standing.
INT. – Lawyer’s office
A strong-jawed kindly lawyer sits behind his desk.
Lawyer: That falls under a tort called Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress.
Jay: That’s exactly what it was. Will you take my case?
Lawyer: No. These things can take years.
Jay: Can I win if I do it myself?
Lawyer: (very discouraging) Slim and none and closer to none.
INT. – Jay’s house
Jay lays on his back, his phone rings.
Jay: Hello.
Carla: (V.O.)
It’s Carla, my process server is at Mike’s office, she wants to know how to get inside.
Jay: (this is it, D-Day) Cool, thanks. It’s the door just to the right of the big overhead door, it’s usually unlocked during the day. She can just open it and go upstairs.
CARLA: (V.O.) O.K. I’ll call you when it’s done.
Jay’s paperwork from the lawsuit is spread everywhere. He reads momentarily and the phone rings again.
Carla: (V.O.) He has been served, and he was NOT happy.
Jay: That’s so cool, thank you so much, Carla.
Carla: (V.O) We’ll get his moneybags partner served for you in about an hour.
Jay: OK, Bye Carla, thanks.
INT. – Conference room
Two male attorneys, Ian Smith and Steve McCrae, sit directly across from Jay, Mike sits to their left. An older male non-descript court reporter reads into the record.
COURT REPORTER:
The deposition of Curtis Jay Johnson taken on behalf of the defendants on February 14th 2006.
Ian smith: So if I understand you correctly, then, you were defying societal conventions, and correct me if I’m wrong here, and you were public about it, informing people about it. You thought at the time that that was the right thing to do, but then you started to reassess your position and maybe regretted doing that.
Jay: I was – basically – and this is very personal and not legal, this is just- this is my – because I have had to resolve what happened with Mike McPhee in my own heart and mind, and the way I have done that is to just- everything- my whole life was like this (shaking in panic shock) after the trauma, and I just started to loosen “this” and to look out. And as I looked out, I saw back to what I declared on line, that I was going to bear my soul and I was going to find something that nobody ever found before. And I just saw that falling into the submissive abusive relationship with Mike McPhee was the deal that drove me into the abyss that caused me to look at my heart in the mirror, which is what I found- which is the name of my company, which is probably the most profound words ever spoken.
Ian smith: And you said that – you made an example with the movie Liar Liar with Jim Carrey, correct?
Jay: Correct.
Ian smith: And in that movie Jim Carrey is an attorney and he can’t tell a lie, correct?
Jay: Correct.
Ian smith: And in the movie it is to the detriment for his professional career; correct?
Jay: Very much so.
Ian smith: So in a business context, were you prone to be honest, even if that honesty was going to affect the outcome of the business transaction?
Jay: My mantra on line was: Reality is God, when you pretend or lie, you cease to exist you die. And I was egotistical about that. And when things got rough for me, in the very beginning of this trauma – one of the most important initial things that happened was, I seduced a woman in a listing that I had in Coeur d’Alene. I was caught but not red handed, and I was under severe pressure to come up with an explanation of why I was in that house with that woman. And I concocted a story that somehow kept me from being fired. Every day for six months I lived with that lie and everybody staring at me: you liar you liar, you liar. And that caused my sense of well being to erode. I pretended and lied, I ceased to exist, I died.
