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This Shouldn't
Have Happened
Mary and Whitney are sitting at a table in the King Kong Restaurant on Dodge Street. Both have a gyro and fries in front of them. No one else is in the dining area, other than the staff who are starting to clean and close up.
WHITNEY: So, are you and Patrick…?
MARY: Together?
WHITNEY: Yeah.
MARY: Do we seem together?
WHITNEY: You seem close. But you seem…
MARY: (joking) Out of his league?
WHITNEY: Well sure.
MARY: Thank you.
WHITNEY: I was going to say that things seem a little contentious.
Pause.
MARY: Could we talk about something else?
WHITNEY: Sure. Absolutely. Sorry.
MARY: You don’t need to apologize.
WHITNEY: I know I don’t have to, but I want to. So I will.
Pause.
MARY: We just fuck and that’s it. And I don’t…really want to wonder how I feel about it or think about it or anything. I like…having sex and…then going off and doing whatever I want to do. And Patrick is great for that. When he’s not in front of me…I don’t think about him. But I think about things…that I really enjoy thinking about. Like, I know it sounds silly, but I’ll just stare at the wall and think sometimes. For like an hour. And it’s great. And then, like…I can bike to somebody’s house, fuck, and then bike back to my thinking wall? Wow! What a life! And grad school…seems like a great time to do something like that.
WHITNEY: Sure.
MARY: (jokingly, but flatly) And I feel great about it. All the time.
WHITNEY: Sounds fun.
MARY: You know, sometimes it really is. It’s just…you know…car rides and dinners that are problems.
WHITNEY: Ah.
MARY: The talking times.
Pause.
WHITNEY: So what else do you like to do?
Pause.
MARY: I row crew.
WHITNEY: Cool.
MARY: I read a lot.
WHITNEY: Read anything good lately?
Pause.
MARY: Well right now I’m reading this book about the philosophy of films. Like, the book is trying to talk about movies not as a media product made by humans, but as a form of thought. The movie zooms in. The movie cuts. The movie shows you this or that. And that is the movie thinking. They call it filmic thought. So, with that, humans can form this mystic bond with this non-anthropomorphic form of non-human thought and use it as a way to express and understand different forms of thinking about the world around us that transcends our personal phenomenological experience or structured language. I mean, there is definitely a language to film, but that language is much less strict and codified and, if anything, feels a little more personal and intuitive. But I’m feeling kind of mixed about the book. It keeps talking about movies as if movies think things and love things. But if you ask me, that is an incredibly anthropomorphic view of filmic thought. Most movies are just ones and zeroes. They don’t feel anything. So even if they are, in some mystic sense, doing the work of philosophy, I don’t think we can really talk about them thinking or loving something. If anything, I think you would need to have an additional layer of interpretation that acknowledges that humans have made these things as cultural objects. I mean, any form of talking about film that doesn’t acknowledge that it was made by humans on purpose for a reason seems to be missing a central tenet of the essence of all art.
Pause.
WHITNEY: Cool.
MARY: Sorry.
WHITNEY: You don’t need to apologize. I just wish I understood what you are saying.
Pause.
MARY: My roommate and I play a lot of board games.
WHITNEY: Now we’re talking.
MARY: Oh?
WHITNEY: This is great news.
MARY: You play a lot of board games?
WHITNEY: Well, now that you mention it…I guess I used to play a lot of board games. My ex was the one who collected them and…would invite people over.
MARY: I know how that goes.
WHITNEY: But, I'd love to play some.
MARY: (a little skeptical, a little confused) Now?
WHITNEY: No, once I’m done eating I have to sleep…for a long time probably.
MARY: Okay, good. I’m pretty tired.
WHITNEY: Is there a day that works well for you?
MARY: Sundays. Like a Sunday afternoon?
WHITNEY: Okay, so maybe next Sunday?
MARY: Yeah.
WHITNEY: Very cool. Can I…?
Whitney pulls out her phone. They exchange numbers.
KING KONG EMPLOYEE: We’re closing up. You guys need to go.
They do.
The End.
WHITNEY: So, are you and Patrick…?
MARY: Together?
WHITNEY: Yeah.
MARY: Do we seem together?
WHITNEY: You seem close. But you seem…
MARY: (joking) Out of his league?
WHITNEY: Well sure.
MARY: Thank you.
WHITNEY: I was going to say that things seem a little contentious.
Pause.
MARY: Could we talk about something else?
WHITNEY: Sure. Absolutely. Sorry.
MARY: You don’t need to apologize.
WHITNEY: I know I don’t have to, but I want to. So I will.
Pause.
MARY: We just fuck and that’s it. And I don’t…really want to wonder how I feel about it or think about it or anything. I like…having sex and…then going off and doing whatever I want to do. And Patrick is great for that. When he’s not in front of me…I don’t think about him. But I think about things…that I really enjoy thinking about. Like, I know it sounds silly, but I’ll just stare at the wall and think sometimes. For like an hour. And it’s great. And then, like…I can bike to somebody’s house, fuck, and then bike back to my thinking wall? Wow! What a life! And grad school…seems like a great time to do something like that.
WHITNEY: Sure.
MARY: (jokingly, but flatly) And I feel great about it. All the time.
WHITNEY: Sounds fun.
MARY: You know, sometimes it really is. It’s just…you know…car rides and dinners that are problems.
WHITNEY: Ah.
MARY: The talking times.
Pause.
WHITNEY: So what else do you like to do?
Pause.
MARY: I row crew.
WHITNEY: Cool.
MARY: I read a lot.
WHITNEY: Read anything good lately?
Pause.
MARY: Well right now I’m reading this book about the philosophy of films. Like, the book is trying to talk about movies not as a media product made by humans, but as a form of thought. The movie zooms in. The movie cuts. The movie shows you this or that. And that is the movie thinking. They call it filmic thought. So, with that, humans can form this mystic bond with this non-anthropomorphic form of non-human thought and use it as a way to express and understand different forms of thinking about the world around us that transcends our personal phenomenological experience or structured language. I mean, there is definitely a language to film, but that language is much less strict and codified and, if anything, feels a little more personal and intuitive. But I’m feeling kind of mixed about the book. It keeps talking about movies as if movies think things and love things. But if you ask me, that is an incredibly anthropomorphic view of filmic thought. Most movies are just ones and zeroes. They don’t feel anything. So even if they are, in some mystic sense, doing the work of philosophy, I don’t think we can really talk about them thinking or loving something. If anything, I think you would need to have an additional layer of interpretation that acknowledges that humans have made these things as cultural objects. I mean, any form of talking about film that doesn’t acknowledge that it was made by humans on purpose for a reason seems to be missing a central tenet of the essence of all art.
Pause.
WHITNEY: Cool.
MARY: Sorry.
WHITNEY: You don’t need to apologize. I just wish I understood what you are saying.
Pause.
MARY: My roommate and I play a lot of board games.
WHITNEY: Now we’re talking.
MARY: Oh?
WHITNEY: This is great news.
MARY: You play a lot of board games?
WHITNEY: Well, now that you mention it…I guess I used to play a lot of board games. My ex was the one who collected them and…would invite people over.
MARY: I know how that goes.
WHITNEY: But, I'd love to play some.
MARY: (a little skeptical, a little confused) Now?
WHITNEY: No, once I’m done eating I have to sleep…for a long time probably.
MARY: Okay, good. I’m pretty tired.
WHITNEY: Is there a day that works well for you?
MARY: Sundays. Like a Sunday afternoon?
WHITNEY: Okay, so maybe next Sunday?
MARY: Yeah.
WHITNEY: Very cool. Can I…?
Whitney pulls out her phone. They exchange numbers.
KING KONG EMPLOYEE: We’re closing up. You guys need to go.
They do.
The End.
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