Sicko script breakdown

In my feverish imaginings, the gap between reality and fantasy meet like fused pebbles on a beach. I sometimes think that is all I need. To hold the cold pebble and gaze into its multicoloured essence. A salty rock washed by a billion waves could be a motif for the bigger picture; to step boldly into the big blue without the slightest of regret.

It makes me wonder about the reality of being. About how we form this matrix of existence; always moving forward in time and experience until our light is extinguished. Billions of beings consuming the planet by the forkful. Not caring enough to stop, but caring enough to be worried.

I wonder about the continual interaction of those beings too. Some typing, some reading, some posing, some filming, some doing all those things (and more). The half-duplex media world of creation and consumption. The telegram art. Taken from the quiver, slotted into the bow and fired dead and true though our milky membranes; a gunslingers instinct to fire back.

We don’t know nothing. We don’t even know what nothing means. We regurgitate. We plaster over the cracks of our knowledge with yesterday’s leftovers, and to be honest it really does leave a bitter taste. I long for a guru. Are you my guru? My spiritual guide? I thought Father John Misty might be, but now I fall asleep to his voice.

In this Gen Z world we are bombarded with meme philosophy; but we challenge. Because to stop challenging would be acceptance. And that would be unforgivable.

There is a track on Paul Simon’s masterpiece album ‘There Goes Rhyming’ Simon’ called ‘Kodachrome’. The song is a love song about photography, but there is a line in it that fits here. He sings: ‘If you took all the girls I knew when I was single. And bought them all together for one night. I know they’d never match my sweet imagination. And everything looks worse in black and white’. My interpretation of those words are that he understands the value of fantasy. That it is worth more at times than lived experience. Any attempt to live out a fantasy would surely lead to disappointment? And imagination is also bound by experience. You cannot imagine something you have not done, or at least witnessed in some way.

There is no preamble here. Straight into nude Missy on beach. Sombre churchlike choir music playing. The words are incoherent though. Possibly latin.

I can relate to this. There is no evidence (as far as I can tell) that suggests humans cannot separate fantasy from reality. In fact there is plenty of evidence that we can suspend belief such as within a universe created for a film franchise. We do not leave the theatre thinking we can fly, or perform magic. We understand the concept of fantasy.

Straight men tend not to have rape fantasies. However it is an (allegedly) popular fantasy among straight women. The reality is frightening and sick, but the fantasy (mostly around relinquishing control) appeals to some. That does not make those women sick. It means they have a healthy ability to compartmentalise fantasy and reality.

The importance of understanding this concept cannot be understated.

TITLES

Screen goes black, but music continues.

Living room. Ambient music. Rule of thirds applied to shot. Back of male head framed by a Screen he is facing. We shall call him Male 1. The screen is off. He is shaven headed and wears a grey vest. A door opens noisily. We hear an unseen male person call ‘mate’. Now the shot is showing the front of he head (face) we note Male 1 is approximately in his late forties maybe early fifties with a beard and moustache. Another man (Male 2) enters the shot. He is younger, Possibly in his late 30s. Shaggy haired, also with a beard and moustache. Green T-Shirt. He sits in front of the Male 1, taps his legs and says ‘I have just had the best idea for a new business’. We note the accent is Australian. Male 1 sniffs in distaste. Male 2 continues unabashed ‘You know how people like to make sex tapes?’. Male 1 just looks at Male 2 without expression. Male 2: ‘fuck. What’s this shit?’ He pauses the ambient music that we now see is coming from an iPhone. We can conclude that Male 1 was in fact meditating. Male 2: ‘Turn that shit off’. Male 1 looks offended and sniffs again looking ruefully at Male 2. Male 2: ‘We’ (pointing to himself and Male 1), ‘go into business together’. ‘Right’… ‘Making’. ‘Home’. ‘Porn’. He slaps Male 1 on the chest. Male 1 nods. Clearly confused but allowing Male 2 to continue. Male 2: ‘We go round to peoples houses with camera, lights and all the gear, and shoot sex tapes’. Male 2 grins at Male 1. He is obviously very pleased with this idea. Male 1 closes his eyes and speaks for the first time: ‘Why would anybody want to do that?’. We note he also has an Australian accent. Male 2: ‘Mate…people will love it’. Male 1: (unconvinced) ‘I wouldn’t’. Male 2 (incredulous) ‘yeah, but you’re a prude…mate…this…is a great idea…you sure you don’t want to get in on this?’ Male 2 slaps Male 1 on the chest again and says; ‘I came up with a name for the business’. He looks at Male 1 expectantly. Male 1 smiles resignedly. Male 2: ‘Are you ready?’ Male 1 grunts. Male 2: (drawing quotation marks in the air) ‘Home-o-Erotic..But’ (he looks pleased with himself) ‘the home-o is spelt h.o.m.e.o….home-o-erotic’. He slaps Male 1 again and jabs a finger at him. Male 2: ‘Get it?’. There is a pause. Male 1: (smirking) ‘Do you know what homo-erotic’ means?’. Male 2: (uncertainly) ‘yeah’. Male 1: ‘means…gay…(nodding now) like…gay sex’. Male 2: (incredulous) ‘really?’. Male 1: (nodding and smiling) ‘hmm’. Male 2: (disappointedly turning away) ‘Ah fuck….took me like an hour to come up with that’. Screen goes black.

I have never seen this before. Very funny. I like it.

TITLE

Male 2 groans. L cut. Picture fades to a beach scene with some piano music. Missy has her back to us. She is some distance away close to some rocks. She is wearing a hat, and nothing else. She is unfolding a blanket. The shot is slowed down.

Male actor is saying ‘there are things out there that we don’t understand’. ‘We are always looking for answers’. Missy walks away from us. She appears to be walking towards a sheltered spot in the rocks where there is a bag. A blanket already laid on the sand, and a water bottle. The blanket she is carrying is being blown by the wind.

I was wondering whether to include one of my fantasies here. But this is about you, so I won’t.

‘We’ve only begun to scratch the surface’.

Explosive sound effect. Female Actor is saying ‘I wanna know what happened to my daughter’.

Yeah. I have a few.

Actor saying ‘humans are capable of very vile acts’. Female actor; ‘my bizarre dreams got weirder’. Male actor ‘what happened that day?’

The music intensifies. Missy goes to lay the blanket down near the other blanket when the screen breaks up. Blank screen.

Female actor ‘what would happen if each of my secrets came out?’ (Indecipherable words). ‘The upside of letting go of your secrets, is that you will have a lot more freedom.

‘The downside of your secrets coming out…is punishment’. Screen changes to profile of a young looking girl (is that Missy?). ‘Stubborn Love’ by the Lumineers starts to play.

We see the girl from another angle. Her hair is blowing and we perceive she is sitting in a car. Dusty yellow colour palette.

We see a helicopter view of a road. The colour palette has not changed but this is a spotlit view of the road at night.

The child wipes condensate from the window with her hand. We see a very cracked road from the helicopter again in spotlight. I think this is clever editing as sometimes the child looks very much like Missy. At other times it is clearly not her, but we are meant to assume they are one and the same.

I like the word ‘seething’. Near Tower Hill, (where I worked for a while) there was a road called ‘Seething Lane’. It used to make me chuckle when I walked past it, I always wondered how it got the name.

Close up on the tar macadam repairs to the road. Cut to a forest scene where the trees are lit up in the dark. It looks like night. The colour palette remans a dusty yellow.

We see that the forest is littered with cable drums. The drone shot (the trees are not moving so this can only be a drone) moves among and above the trees in an almost negative sepia tone.

The girl looks out of the car window.

When you are young, sex is thrilling. I do remember some wild parties where lots of public sexual groping was going on. This was the 70s, so it was probably all non-consensual thinking about it. I remember hearing that a girl was gang banged at one, though I never witnessed it, thinking back I hope she was ok. But at that age, young and horny boys and girls, sexual things happened all the time. Now I am older I recognise that the sex was actually not very good. But who cared? We were experimenting with our bodies. But these are the things we remember. They are the fuel for our adult fantasies.

The scene cuts to a makeshift telegraph pole with the wires dangling uselessly off of it. The pole resembles a crucifix. It stands in pool of light surrounded by darkness. The colour palette remains dusty yellow.

Interior of car with rosary beads hanging from rear view mirror child looks away. Cut to ruffled sheet over which two hands seek each other then clasp together. Both are wearing bracelets. One is a smaller hand. Cut to negative view of a barn. The light is moving

Shot of Child/Missy looking out of the car window.

Shot of tree in the dark in a pool of light. The light continues to move, indicating travel.

Very nice words. I particularly like ‘falling angel met the rising ape’. That describes the move into adulthood so well.

Close up on face of Child/Missy

Child/Missy has drawn a crude stick figure of a rabbit on the steamed up window.

I am not sure I get that analogy.

Child/Missy has opened the window and is leaning on the window sill. A woman (her mother) looks back at her. She smiles.

Screen goes black. Music continues.

Screen breaks up and we hear a number of beats while the picture cuts to Missy on the beach again. The palette is slightly pinker than before, but still quite sepia. Missy is wearing sunglasses and long sleeved T-Shirt and Jeans. Missy has clearly not put a bra on today. The film is slowed down. ‘Miss You’ by Clinic starts playing.

That would make you about 24 years young.

Missy faces the camera and puts her hands behind her head. Her T-Shirt rides up to reveal her navel. She holds her hands in the air, and stretches her back. She knows this accentuates her breasts. She is aware. Its almost as if she wants you to look at them.

Camera pans round, and Missy pulls the shirt away from her body so that daylight can shine through showing the outline of her breasts as the sun shines through her clothes.

Now we see the back of Missy. She is looking down.

The camera pans round. The T-Shirt is cheesecloth material and very light. We now see Missy in profile. The wind is plastering the T-Shirt to her body.

Driving home naked is now almost a porn genre on its own. I have seen a ton of film footage of this act alone. Driving through fast food counters naked. Stripping naked during a car wash. All good healthy stuff.

We are facing Missy now as she crosses her arms and starts to lift the hem of the T-Shirt.

Missy’s breasts are bared to us.

Missy’s head emerges from the T-Shirt which is discarded.

Topless Missy is shown from above and below wearing just her jeans and sunglasses. The image is blurry.

Blurry topless Missy pushes her jeans down her legs to leave herself naked on the beach.

The tank was full.

Missy comes into sharp focus. Now standing. Posing naked on the beach.

The camera is panning round naked Missy to capture her from all angles.

The view is now of naked missy walking away further into the distance.

Close up of Missy’s face then chest then left breast.

Close up of Missy’s vagina as she walks down the beach.

I get this. You are thinking of the term ‘sugar tits’.

Even closer repeat shot of face then left breast this time concentrating on the nipple.

Naked Missy walks towards, then away from the camera. Into the distance.

Cut to Missy lying naked on the sand. Her legs are spread and we are looking up between them.

Cut to overhead shot of naked lying missy. Legs spread. Arms above her head.

Cut to shot of naked Missy from between her legs looking up at her torso as she crouches.

There is very little I can add. This is a great fantasy.

Missy straightens up and we are shown a close up of her ass.

Wide angle view of Missy’s breasts.

Wide angle view of Missy’s torso, She holds her hands discretely over her vagina.

Missy’s hands drop away.

The palette has changed again. This is an orange filtered video of Missy’s naked back, pulling back to show Missy looking down the beach with her hair whipped by the wind.

Camera moves to the front of Missy again.

Cut to clip from the Simpsons. Two Bikers approach a table where Marge and a Biker Chick are sitting. They address Marge; ‘Hey Baby. Feel like getting lucky?’. Marge’s eyes narrow. ‘I am Lucky’. The Biker gets angry and bangs the table; ‘Listen Baby, I always get what I want’. Screen goes black.

ME TOO

I am a fan of the Simpsons but have not seen them all. This one is lost on me. What is Marge doing there?

Cut to blurry scene of Missy in tartan skirt outside. We are looking up at her and can see some trees in the background. The colour palette is orange again. The film is sped up. It is full of jump cuts. Sometimes Missy is nude outlined against palm trees. Sometimes she is laying down. Sometimes she has a backdrop of trees. Most of the time she is naked. ‘You Cannot Call for Love Like a Dog’ is playing by Holy Holy.

Hmm. Good fantasy Missy. Like the public nudity leading to some sexual molestation with strangers that you wanted and encouraged.

Male fantasies (I should warn you) tend to not have much narrative.

CREDITS

We are back to the scene in the living room with the two males. Male 2: (disappointedly turning away) ‘Ah fuck….took me like an hour to come up with that’. Male 1 smiles his agreement the stretches his arms and neck groaning. Male 2: (scratching his beard) ‘There’s got to be…’ Suddenly dawning and face lit up he turns to Male 1, flicks his fingers and jabbing a finger and smiling (pleased with himself) says ‘Gary’s. Glitter. Productions.’ He thumps Male 1 on the chest again and says a positive ‘Hmm?’ Male 1 keeps his eyes closed. Arms behind his head and says ‘He was a pedo’. Male 2 looks on. His face showing a dawning realisation and says ‘Ah……yeah’. Male 1: ‘Hmmm, Hmmm’. Male 2 looks away. ‘Yeah’.

The scene cuts to a stock room of sorts with a male perusing some shelving that are crammed with old paper registers. The words ‘Depreciation’ and ‘Asset Summary’ with various dates from the 1980s are drawn on the spines. There is no soundtrack. He makes very little noise. There is silence.

The male comes into view. He looks to be in his 20s. He is wearing a white T-Shirt and his hair is shaved on the side but long on top. He pokes at the books obviously browsing.

That is the point of fantasies. You live out an imaginary scene in a world that has no rules.

The male has wandered down a corridor into an auditorium or classroom? of sorts there is a folded chair. He approaches it.

Perhaps it is me, but the thought of someone eating your tits is weird.

The male has selected a folded chair and opens it out onto the floor. He picks up a Fender Stratocaster (black body, maple neck with rosewood fretboard) guitar and sits on the chair he has unfolded. We see he is wearing white trousers.

Peter Pan reference. Right there.

In a fantasy.

A naked woman encouraging a crowd of horny males to slap her?

The male has started singing while playing the guitar. I recognise the voice, but I do not know who this is. He sings well.

See now this level of detail just wouldn’t be in a male fantasy.

This is strange, but I am now stuffing popcorn into my mouth like Michael Jackson in Thriller.

In the middle of the fantasy you have psychoanalysed yourself. Only you Missy.

If only. Except only half the population would enjoy it. The other half would be traumatised.

ALL OF IT

Blues Brothers reference. Right there.

The young male is now joined by a young woman. She is also dressed only in white and she has unfeasibly long false nails on with a knuckle duster array of hardware rings. She sings in duet with him. I have no idea who this is.

True. Fantasies are designed for consumption by one. When shared (as yours is) they become art.

I wonder. Do people fantasise purely to escape a horrible existence? I am not sure.

The young man and the young woman are seen singing together now.

The young couple are now singing into each others faces.

EXCEPT

NOW

We should learn to live in the now. It is the most positive state of being.

There is more to that story.

I think this is common. But I am not sure. Boys struggle with the concept of worrying we will never be given the opportunity to make a girl do dirty things. Some of us never get the chance. Some do. That is the lottery of life.

OR WHY.

These are existential questions. You are straying beyond fantasy and into a deeper conversation with yourself.

This feels more like a male fantasy.

Yes this fantasy is very male.

This film explored the concept of fantasy well. Thanks Missy. It works for me.

Thank you for sharing your fantasy. It was a brilliant piece of storytelling. The cliffhanger at the end was brilliant as the final fantasy became more male oriented. Another cold shower for me I think.

Maybe it is a sick world. But I think this film will be popular. I guess whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends on the message.

Until next time.

x

Alan