Extract from Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe (1998) ELAINE (peering at her lips) Yes... yes, you have... At the door is a furtive 15 year-old Girl. She checks her cheek, straightens her hair. She hides something under her coat, and gathers the proper nonchalance to enter. Music fades. INT. KITCHEN -- DAY 5 We now hear the dialogue between this lively Mother and her son, as she cooks a pan full of soy-based health-food cutlets. The meal simmers unappetizingly in the pan. Across the kitchen we see William. He's a great listener, with a calm and curious face that takes everything in. ELAINE Yes you have. I can tell. ANITA (boldly) You can't tell. WILLIAM - so Livia - Mom steps closer and examines the lips even more carefully. To her, everything is a quest for knowledge. ELAINE -- killed everyone off so her son Tiberius could inherit the throne. (thoughtful pause) Just like Nixon. ELAINE Not only can I tell, I know who it is. It's Darryl. William nods, intrigued. He has a good disposition. The world of knowledge engages him, and he loves what it brings out in his Mom. There is a small clatter at the front door, as the girl we've just seen enters, barely brushing some chimes. She silently curses herself. ELAINE (cont'd) Anita, is that you? ANITA'S VOICE Hey Mom! I already ate. Mom moves to the living room to greet William's sister. William peers into the next room. 6 ANITA No I haven't. INT. LIVING ROOM -- DAY Anita is stunned silent. She turns slightly to look at herself in a hall mirror, searching for clues, implicating herself immediately. ELAINE (cont'd) And what have you got under your coat? This is the booty Anita didn't want to give up. Mom picks at the corner of an album cover now visible under her jacket. She withdraws the album. It's Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends. ANITA (busted) It's unfair that we can't listen toour music! ELAINE (weary of6 the issue) Honey, it's all about drugs and promiscuous sex. She's almost to her bedroom down the hall when mom catches her. We now discover ANITA, 16, up-close. She is alluring with a suspicious and sunny smile. ANITA Simon and Garfunkel is poetry! ELAINE You sure? I'm making soy cutlets. ELAINE Yes it's poetry. It's the poetry of drugs and promiscuous sex. Look at the picture on the cover... The words "soy cutlets" sends a small shiver through the girl. CLOSE ON BOOKENDS ALBUM COVER ANITA I'm fine. Already ate. William stands in the doorway now, watching, monitoring, as Mom moves closer to his sister. She sees something curious about her daughter. ELAINE Wait. You've been kissing. ANITA (too quickly) No I haven't. Mom's fingers at the edges. We examine the insolent faces on Richard Avedon's classic album cover. Even Simon and Garfunkel look guilty under her scholarly inspection. ELAINE (cont'd) ... honey, they're on pot. ANITA First it was butter, then sugar and white flour. (pause) Bacon. Eggs, bologna, rock and roll, motorcycles. You don't even know the truth! Nearby, William squirms as he watches the gently escalating conversation. Anita glances at her brother. He silently urges her to downshift. She can't. ANITA (cont'd) Then it was celebrating Christmas on a day in September When you knew it wouldn't be "commercialized." William looks vaguely confused. ELAINE Sweetheart, don't be a drama queen. Anita takes a breath and then out of her mouth comes the strangled-sounding words of a kid swearing at her parent for the first time. ELAINE That was an experiment. But I understand - ANITA Feck you! All of you! ANITA What else are you going to ban? ELAINE Hey! ELAINE Honey, you want to rebel against knowledge. Anita runs down the hall to her room. Elaine turns to William, relating to him more as a fellow parent than a child. ELAINE (cont'd) I'm trying to give you the Cliff's Notes on how to live in this world. ANITA (simple and direct) We're like nobody else I know. ELAINE (cont'd) Well, there it is. Your sister using the "f" word. WILLIAM I think she said "feck." ELAINE (sputtering) What's the difference? These are the words that sting Mom most. ELAINE I'm a teacher. Why can't I teach my own kids? (pats chest) Use me. WILLIAM (encouraging) Well. The letter "u"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ii8naF_0A0 ANITA Darryl says you use knowledge to keep me down. He says I'm a "yes" person and you're trying to raise us in a "no" environment! ELAINE (immediately, can't help it) Well, clearly, "no" is a word Darryl doesn't hear much. Anita gasps. Ever the peacemaker, William weighs in. Nearby is a poster - "No More War." WILLIAM Mom -ELAINE Everything I say is wrong. ANITA I can't live here! I hate you! Even William hates you! WILLIAM I don't hate her. ANITA (to William) (starts at 3.25)