David Elliott
Professor Andrews
196 spring 2001
Billy Badass
For some reason or another, I’ve thought of this
whole project in black and white.
White letters on a black background.
Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so
often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker
in the world.
––Neal
Stephenson––
1 Shouting
and derisive comments can be heard amidst a strong drum beat. A television
screen appears, Someone is watching Fight Club. Brad Pitt is being beating
unmercifully by Lou, the greazy mafioso-type owner of the bar, but returning
each punch with a glib remark.
Across the room a young man (Billy) sits in a sofa eating
Cocoa Puffs. His attention is divided. He is half transfixed on the film
playing on his television, but is busy c
Îleaning a revolver with a small wire brush and greasy
hand-rag. Brad Pitt screaming “you don’t know where I’ve been
Lou!” grabs his attention: He looks up, admiring the image on the
television and smiling. Suddenly, he looks over his shoulder at a clock on the
wall and is stunned by the time.
Outside his apartment, Billy locks his deadbolt and
doorlock, wiggles the door handle to test its security, then leaves. A moment
passes and Billy returns to check the lock a second time.
2
Outside a small bank, a line has formed for the ATM. Billy is fourth in line;
looking down and fumbling through his wallet for his card. The line progresses
while Billy’s head is lowered, and a space opens. Just as he fishes his
card out and looks up, two men
having a conversation walk up and stand in front of Billy. The corners of his
eyes flash in anger. He glares at the backs of the men. One of the men shifts
his weight, and notices Billy staring at him; they make eye contact. The man
holds his hand up to s
ignal his friend there might be a problem.
MAN
(casually
to Billy)
....What?
Billy freezes and says nothing. After a pause the two men
continue speaking.
3 The
door to Billy’s apartment swings open violently. He storms in.
Infuriated, he rips his jacket off and hurls it across the room. A “free
Tibet” poster can be seen in the background. Billy paces angrily for a
few moments, then plops down onto his
couch. He looks back at the clock, distraught. After chewing his
thumbnail for a moment, he stands quickly, snatches his jacket from the floor
and heads across the room. He rummages through a drawer, pulls a canister of
pepper spray from it, then quickly heads out the door, slamming it as he
leaves.
4 Billy
is at the ATM again, punching the numbers furiously, he looks around the
parking lot. A man gets in line behind billy, which prompts him to shove his
unused hand deep into his jacket pocket. The machine spits his cash out, he
grabs it and walks away.
MAN
Hey!
BILLY
(with
attitude)
W
4hat?
The man extends his arm to Billy, he has his receipt.
With his hand still in his pocket, Billy takes the receipt quickly, almost
jealously, and storms off.
5 The
sounds of George Thouroughgood blaring over a car speaker mixes with the sounds
of traffic. A conversation slowly fades in. Billy is driving his car, his
friend is in the passenger seat. Billy’s hands are planted firmly on the
wheel at ten and two o’clock. His back is locked in an upright position.
FRIEND
Yeah?
BILLY
I
almost came out of my skin and beat both their
asses.
FRIEND
Then
what’d they do?
BILLY
Nothing.
Just stood there. After they knew I wasn’t
fucking around they didn’t give me anymore shit....Any ways I’m sorry
I’m late.
(laughs)
I
should have told them I’m a crack shot.
FRIEND
A
4 crack pot...I guess you gotta go with your strengths
BILLY
(slightly
wounded)
No
really man. I’m a good shot. I practice three round bursts
to the head neck and chest at the range. When it comes down to it,
I’m fucking ready man.
The friend grimaces awkwardly at Billy’s statement,
before turning his attention back to the radio.
The car pulls up to a curb and Billy’s friend gets
out, he leans down to speak through the open door.
FRIEND
Thanks
for the ride. I’ll give you a call, or you can give me
a call if you want to go to that concert later.
BILLY
Yeah,
I probably will. See you later.
FRIEND
In
the meantime, don't go berserk and slaughter anyone, Wolverine.
His friend waves and slams the door before walking off.
Billy drives two feet the stops the car to reach[1]ˇ across the
passenger seat to lock the door, before driving away.
6 Billy
has parked in front of a coffee shop. He methodically points to each of the
four door locks making sure they are locked. After this he pulls the pepper
spray from his pocket, examines it, returns it to its place and gets out of the
car. He checks the handle on the driver’s side after he gets out.
Inside, Billy slowly thumbs through Nietzsche’s
Genealogy of Morals. Every so often he peeks his eyes over the pages to glance
at a woman sitting at a table across from him.
(This scene still needs work. I want Billy to try and
flirt, but humiliate himself by speaking condescendinly and coming off like a
pompous jackass. Any suggestions would be appreciated.)
7 Billy
is on the phone in
! his house.
BILLY
No.
No. Yeah, after I dropped you off.
(laughs)
Not
unless she cuts me off. No. I told you, at the coffee
shop. She’s hot man. You gotta see this girl. I asked her,
she
said she wasn’t in the mood for a concert.Yeah, she’s
coming
over here. Allright. Have fun tonight ...I know I will. Bye
Time has passed, and Billy now sits on his couch thumbing
through a copy of Siddharta. After putting it down, he picks up a copy of the
Tao Te Ching.
A while later, Billy sits in the Lotus position breathing
deeply with his eyes closed.
The lights are dimmed, and the space on the floor where
Billy was sitting is now empty. A rapid clicking sound can be heard. Billy sits
in front of his computer studiously clicking. He clicks again, then lifts a
pair of glasses
[1]
off a Poetry book by Kahil Gibran. After situating them on his face he stares
back at the screen. He clicks a button, and enters a porn sight dedicated
to bondage and sadomasochism. His
expression is one of aloofness. He clicks again to view images of bound women
being beaten. His expression never changes.
8 The
lights are out and Billy is fast asleep, appearing relaxed with one arm
tucked beneath his pillow. There
is a slight sound that comes from somewhere undistinguishable. His eyes open,
and after a moment his eyes scan the room. The arm under his pillow withdraws
the revolver and Billy heads out of the room.
He aims the gun around the apartment in the dark. Drawing
the hammer back methodically, then letting it drop every time he raises it. The
noise
xoccurs again and Billy heads for the door “stealth
style.” He slowly inches out the door and tiptoes out onto his patio. He
draws the hammer back again and turns the corner slowly, aiming the pistol from
the shadows. Three of Billy’s neighbors sit outside their apartment
speaking softly and smoking cigarettes. The crack jokes and muffle their
laughter with their hands. Billy tracks the sights along each of their backs as
they speak. As he muzzle of the gun
points at each one, Billy slightly jerks the gun pretending to shoot
each of them. Smug, and apparently satisfied Billy stalks back to the house. He
enters, and the door lock wiggles. There is a pause and it wiggles again.
9 It
is morning and Billy is on the phone again laughing.
BILLY
Oh
man. You wouldn’t believe this girl, man.
There is a pause as Billy listens.
Really? Sounds like the show was great, but...o
6h yeah. No. No, she left really early, said she
had to go to work.
I don’t know man, I don’t think this is a call back type situation.Anyway,
I’m going to the range today. See you later.
He hangs the phone up.
He heads toward the closet and pulls a gun case. Heading
back to the bedroom, he pulls the gun from beneath his pillow, then grabs a pair of goggles and ear
plugs from a drawer . As he heads for the door, he stops as if he has forgotten
something, then turns and walks back to the drawer and withdraws the can of
pepper spray.
The door shuts and from inside the apartment we hear
Billy testing the locks. After a moment the handle wiggles again.
10 Outside
his apartment as Billy walks toward his car, yelling can be heard. Billy rounds
the corner to find a woman backed against a wall by
ñ her boyfriend. The passage to the parking lot is
blocked by the scene. They shout at each other until the man pushes the woman
against the wall.
MAN
(furiously
gritting his teeth)
You,
Shut the fuck up!
Just then the man looks up, and is taken back by
Billy’s appearance. Billy is avoiding eye contact at all cost. He slings
the sparring equipment over his shoulder and scoots by the couple, making a
meek gesture with his hand to excuse the interruption. With that out of the way
the man leans inward growling and spitting through his teeth at the woman. He
waits a moment the roughly grabs the woman by the arm and starts to haul her
down the hallway. Without looking up, Bill starts his car, and the radio begins
blaring Gun’s N’ Roses’ cover of Hair of the Dog. The lyrics
‘Now your messing with a son of a bitch’ reverberate through the parking lot out of the open car
window, and Billy speeds off.