ORIGIN
Written by
Ava DuVernay
Inspired by Isabel Wilkerson's CASTE
INT/EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - NIGHT
We glide above a city on the edge of sleep. Amidst the
treetops, a streetlamp invades the darkness. We drop through
the lace of branches to land at a simple convenience store.
A fresh-faced TEENAGE BOY strolls by. He's Black with close-
cropped hair and a bright smile. He flashes it while talking
on a cell to his GIRLFRIEND. They chat about nothing, really.
TEENAGE BOY
(laughing)
I know you wanna say it. Go `head.
GIRLFRIEND (O.S.)
(giggling)
I ain't gotta say it.
TEENAGE BOY
But you wanna. I know. Go `head.
GIRLFRIEND
I told you so.
TEENAGE BOY
Always with the `I told you so.'
You did. You right. This time.
He enters the store with a grin as she banters back.
CUT TO: Handing the CLERK a five-dollar bill, he gathers his
change, along with a watermelon iced tea and bag of Skittles.
Before he exits the store, he notices DRIZZLE outside. He
puts his hoodie up, heading into the night. We watch him
until he disappears into the darkness. A title appears:
ORIGIN
EXT. RUBY'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON
The radio is tuned to NPR as Isabel balances a PINK BAKERY
BOX on her lap in the car. Next to her is BRETT HAMILTON,
white, handsome and attentive. He pulls into the driveway of
a well-loved home.
The curtains of the house are closed. A hint of worry on both
of their faces.
ISABEL
Not up yet.
2.
BRETT
Later than last week.
They exit the car. Brett heads to the curb to pull in the
trash bins. Isabel goes to the front door and uses her key.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
Isabel makes her way through the place by heart. In the
kitchen, she places the bakery box on the counter and starts
a pot of coffee. In the laundry room, she unloads the dryer.
Finally, she comes to her intended destination with a basket
of clothes under her arm. She listens at the door, then taps
lightly with her fingertips.
ISABEL
Afternoon... Mama?
No answer. She opens the door, then respectfully peeks in. An
older woman, RUBY WILKERSON, is asleep. Maybe.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Are you really sleeping or kinda?
RUBY
(beat)
Kinda.
Isabel nods knowingly, then sits on the bed with the laundry.
Ruby turns over. A beauty in her early 80s. Sleepy, but spry.
RUBY (CONT'D)
Sweetie with you?
ISABEL
He's bringing the trash round back.
RUBY
Ah, yeah. Garbage day. Everything
in its right place.
(regarding the laundry)
He saw these bras like this?
ISABEL
No, ma'am. Of course not.
Ruby struggles to sit up and turn. Isabel helps her by
straightening her paralyzed legs, propping a pillow.
RUBY
Where you off to this time?
3.
ISABEL
Birmingham tomorrow.
RUBY
England or Alabama?
ISABEL
Alabama. A quick turnaround trip.
RUBY
Can't keep track. Stay careful.
They fold the clothes. Inside the basket are ISABEL'S KEYS.
Ruby hands them to her without a second thought.
ISABEL
Thanks. After this, I'm taking it
easy on work trips for a while.
RUBY
I think that's silly.
ISABEL
I know you do.
RUBY
What'll your book people say? I
don't want them to let you go.
ISABEL
They're not letting me go, Mama.
RUBY
You don't know that. All you
control is you. Those folks'll do
what they want, how they want.
ISABEL
I've been on tour for ten months.
It's okay to take a break.
RUBY
You don't have to though.
ISABEL
I want to. I want to control my
calendar, my time. I want to.
RUBY
You know, your Father and I used to
wonder how we got a child who was
so bad at lies. Really, Isabel.
(chuckling now)
(MORE)
4.
RUBY (CONT'D)
Who doesn't know how to tell a tiny
one? A small fib. My goodness.
Isabel smiles a little, caught. They fold quietly.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE/KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS
Isabel carefully arranges the donuts and preps the coffee.
In the living room, Ruby attempts to slip on her shoes. Brett
rolls her WHEELCHAIR over, then kneels at her feet to help.
BRETT
Why not let me do that?
RUBY
`Cause I can still do it.
BRETT
(charming her)
I know you can do it. I do. But you
don't have to when we're around.
A beat. She relents, nods and watches him tenderly place her
shoes on. She touches his head lovingly.
BRETT (CONT'D)
(quiet, looking up to her)
You ready?
RUBY
Not really, Sweetie.
BRETT
You're gonna be okay. Promise.
She encircles him with her arms. Half hug, half signal. With
that, he LIFTS her easily and places her in the wheelchair.
Isabel watches their exchange from the kitchen.
INT. ASSISTED SENIOR LIVING APARTMENTS - LATER THAT DAY
Isabel's hand rests on Brett's as he wheels Ruby through the
complex. A SALES EXECUTIVE gives the tour. Dining hall. Game
room. Gym. Ruby chats up the exec, who feigns interest.
RUBY
My husband was a Tuskegee Airman.
Fought for America in World War II.
5.
The door of the unit opens. It is less than half the size of
Ruby's home. Isabel, Brett and Ruby take it in. Underwhelmed.
Ruby commandeers her wheelchair, moving herself to the
window. Brett talks to the executive as Isabel watches her
mother for a beat. Then goes to her, bending by her side.
RUBY (CONT'D)
At least there's good light.
Isabel nods in agreement. They both gaze at a gorgeous sky.
RUBY (CONT'D)
Look at that cloud. I see a
swimming pool with boys jumping in.
ISABEL
Where do you see boys...?
RUBY
There. Look. There's their arms.
ISABEL
Oh, yeah. I see it!
RUBY
They're a little league team. Just
won the big game. Celebrating and
having a ball. See the splashes?
ISABEL
Little league team? What splashes!?
They crack up. Then, glide back from the clouds to reality.
Ruby holds Isabel's hand, lacing their fingers together.
Brett observes them both, hopeful that this will work out.
INT. ISABEL AND BRETT'S BATHROOM - SAME NIGHT
Isabel is in the bathtub. Brett brushes his teeth.
ISABEL
Being in her own place is better.
With her furniture, her own things.
BRETT
It's her idea, Belle. Her decision.
ISABEL
Because she's lonely. I need to be
around more.
6.
BRETT
We go by three, four times a week.
Whenever she calls, you're there.
My office is ten minutes away. I'm
there. She's not alone. She wants
something for herself.
ISABEL
She doesn't want to be a burden. I
know what to do. It'll be okay.
He finishes, kisses her on the forehead and heads out.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Can you get that li...
He has already turned it off, leaving her in candlelight. It
feels like a nighty ritual. She picks up a book on a nearby
table, opens it and reads as she soaks.
EXT. AIRPORT - NEXT DAY
Ruby and Brett pull up to the curb. He gets out to gather her
overnight bag from the trunk. Isabel exits, puts on her coat.
BRETT
Got your boarding pass?
She pats her pockets, unsure. He takes the pass out of his
pocket with a sly smile.
ISABEL
I knew you had it.
They share a quick peck before she enters the terminal.
She turns to wave at him. He waves back, watching her through
the thick glass - until he can't see her anymore.
INT. AIRPORT SECURITY/LARGE AIRPORT - DAY
Isabel navigates through the TSA lines. But at the scanning
machines, the bag of the traveler in front of her is flagged
for inspection. He's an Indian man in his 30s with a wild bun
of the coolest, unruly hair. His skin is a hue that could
easily be mistaken for African-American. He is SURAJ YENGDE.
Slipping on latex gloves, A BROTHER WITH TSA taps a SMALL
BOX, then lifts it out of the bag.
TSA BROTHER
Who's the owner of this bag?
7.
SURAJ
I am, sir.
TSA BROTHER turns the box upside down, looks underneath.
Suraj watches calmly, letting the man do his job. Isabel
wants to get going, but is stuck observing the exchange.
TSA BROTHER
I'll have to swipe it again.
As the TSA employee heads to a LARGE SCANNER to send the box
through again, Suraj turns back to Isabel. He's embarrassed.
SURAJ
It's an award. I apologize.
ISABEL
It's no problem.
TSA BROTHER
Permission to open the box?
SURAJ
Yes, sir. Of course.
The agent lifts a BRONZE STATUE of a bespectacled Indian man
with a serious expression and receding hairline out of the
box. He raises it to eye level, reviews it quizzically.
TSA BROTHER
Who is this?
Curious, Isabel leans in to hear the answer.
SURAJ
Um... he was the Dr. King of India.
TSA BROTHER looks to Isabel, the nearest Black person. They
eye each other, intrigued and impressed. He rewraps the bust,
then places it in the box as if it were King himself.
Isabel moves through security without fanfare. She observes
Suraj on a nearby bench, lacing his polished shoes. She grabs
her things and heads to the gate in a SEA OF TRAVELERS.
OMITTED
8.
EXT. GERMAN SHIPYARD FACTORY - 1936 - MORNING
A sea of flannel jackets and wool coats lurches forward under
gray skies. But though clouds obscure the sun, an eager
energy moves among the WHITE MEN who lean against the cold.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Shipyard workers at Blohm and Voss
gather for a ceremony celebrating
the company's new 295-foot vessel.
The hundred or so men settle in. Listening intently. And
then, all at once, they RAISE their right arms rigidly.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Adopted by the Nazis, a heil salute
was mandatory for German citizens.
But if you look closely, you'll
find someone who defied this.
Amidst a wave of outstretched allegiance to the Third Reich,
clouds glide away to shine sunlight on the face of ONE MAN.
ISABEL (V.O.)
His name is believed to be August
Landmesser. He had joined the Nazi
Party two years before this day.
But in that time, August fell in
love with a woman unlike any he'd
ever met...
EXT. WORKING CLASS STREET - 1934 - DAY
Leaning on a light post, AUGUST's face is lined with worry.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Irma Eckler. A Jewish woman.
IRMA rounds the corner with a shopping bag. Her eyes sparkle
with intelligence and integrity. She spots him, beams. He
smiles back, adoringly. He goes to her. Both speak German.
IRMA
An unexpected treat. You're early.
AUGUST
I'm a surprise.
IRMA
That you are. A handsome one.
He takes the bag from her. She touches his face, unaware of
the storm in his mind. He leans down and kisses her sweetly.
9.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Although a member of the dominant
class, August saw in Irma what
others like him chose not to see.
Her humanity. Her beauty. Her love.
EXT. HAMBURG, GERMANY - MORNING
Back at the shipyard. CLOSE on August, defiant.
ISABEL (V.O.)
So, on this day, he folded his arms
rather than salute a regime that
deemed that love illegal. On this
day, he was brave.
August, unintimidated, stands on his conviction. The camera
PULLS BACK to find that the shipyard scene is -
INT. MASSIVE LECTURE HALL - 2012 - NIGHT
- an image projected on a LARGE SCREEN in a full auditorium.
In a perfectly tailored dress, Isabel is centerstage at the
podium. She speaks with conviction and control, exuding both
humility and authority all at once. From her cadence and
manner, it's clear that she's made this speech many times.
Yet, she refers to TYPED NOTE CARDS. Precise in her delivery.
ISABEL
He couldn't have been the only one
who felt that something tragic was
happening. So, why was he the only
one among those men who didn't go
along that day? How would history
have changed if more had resisted?
Attendees listen in rapt attention.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Perhaps we can reflect on what it
would mean to be him today. How can
we too be brave? Right now. Today.
I leave you with that. Thank you.
The speech she's clearly given many times is met with robust
applause as the screen switches from the photo to: "Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson."
10.
INT. BACKSTAGE/GREEN ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Isabel makes her way through other SPEAKERS, SCHOLARS and
CONFERENCE PERSONNEL backstage.
She passes AMARI SELVAN, a dashing Black newspaper editor,
who she knows well. Surprised, they greet one another warmly.
ISABEL
You're speaking? I didn't know.
AMARI
One of our reporters is. I'm
cheerleading. You were solid up
there. Nice work.
ISABEL
You know I write better than I
lecture.
AMARI
You write better than most people
do anything.
Amari signals to WAITING COLLEAGUES that he'll join in a few.
AMARI (CONT'D)
I thought about reaching out on
something. I'll take seeing you as
a sign.
Amari glances arounds quickly, then leans in.
AMARI (CONT'D)
This Trayvon Martin case is...
Isabel nods, leans in too.
ISABEL
I know.
AMARI
Have you heard the tapes?
ISABEL
No. Of what? Not the murder?
AMARI
Yep. 911 calls. The killer called
911 before he did it. Tapes from
people who heard the kid screaming
too and called the police.
11.
ISABEL
Is that all public?
AMARI
It's being slowly released. We have
them. Interested in listening? To
consider writing something for us.
ISABEL
You've got a stable of writers.
AMARI
They don't have Pulitzer Prizes.
ISABEL
Some actually do.
AMARI
Well, they aren't as brilliant as
you on things like this.
ISABEL
You know what I do now, Amari.
AMARI
Yeah. And I know what you used to
do. Some of the best reporting I
ever edited.
ISABEL
I write books now.
AMARI
That one book took way too damn
long. It was a masterpiece and what
not. But, too long if you ask me.
Writers write. So, write.
ISABEL
I can't do assignments anymore. I
want to be inside the story. All
the way in. That takes time.
AMARI
Maybe after you hear the tapes...
Amari eyes his colleagues who are eager for him to join them.
AMARI (CONT'D)
(as he heads off)
Sending them to you. No pressure.
12.
INT. CUSTOMER SERVICE CUBICLE - DAY
A quartet of cubicles. Inside of one is MARION WILKERSON, a
bright-eyed woman in the midst of a spirited conversation.
MARION
I know keeping our elders at home
is supposed to be the noble thing
and all. But there's something to
her being independent while she can
be. Doing things her own way, in
her own time, for as long as she
can. That's important. It is.
INT. ISABEL'S HOUSE - DAY
Isabel talks to her cousin on SPEAKERPHONE as she calls to
her dogs, Chi-Chi and Sophie, then attaches their leashes.
ISABEL
I agree with that.
(beat)
Where are my keys? Shoot.
MARION (V.O.)
And, she's got a dining hall for
socializing with other folks her
age. Not sitting up in the house
withering away so you can say: `I
kept Momma at home.'
ISABEL
She's the only Black person there.
INTERCUT ISABEL/MARION as Isabel searches for her keys.
MARION
Aunt Ruby's been around white folks
all her life. If anybody knows how
to maneuver, it's your Mom. "My
husband was a Tuskegee Airman." She
knows what to do. Your Daddy was
like that, too. Talk to anybody.
Boy, they were a sight to see,
weren't they? Best dressed in the
family. Always dressed to the
nines. You get that from them.
ISABEL
It's how she taught me. And how her
mother taught her.
13.
MARION
You know, make sure to put all
those pictures of your parents and
the grands in archival paper before
you lock everything up at her
place. It preserves it better.
ISABEL
Good thought. I'll do that.
Brett enters the room, her lost keys now found and in hand.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
(to Brett, relieved)
Where were they?
BRETT
Next to the lamp. Under a scarf.
With the ringer off. Gotta keep it
on the hook, Belle.
MARION
Is that Mr. Brett?
BRETT
Ms. Marion! You good? How's Teddy?
Now with her keys in hand and dogs ready, Isabel wraps it up.
ISABEL
You two can have your little catch-
up another time. We gotta get the
babies out before dark.
MARION
Brett. She's just jealous of our
relationship. Teddy is too. It's
okay though. We know.
BRETT
What we have is special.
MARION
That's right!
INT. ISABEL BEDROOM/OFFICE - SAME NIGHT
We pan across their bed to find Brett, sleeping restlessly.
Lost in thought, Isabel rises and walks through their home,
knowing the path in the dark. Into her office.
14.
She sits at her desk, only the screen illuminates her face.
She reluctantly clicks on an audio file entitled "Martin 911
Dispatch."
EXT. STREETS - NIGHT
Seventeen year old TRAYVON MARTIN grins as he continues on
his cell to his girlfriend. He strides down one residential
street, then another, minding his business.
He pops Skittles as a CAR PASSES HIM SLOWLY. He doesn't pay
any mind, crossing the street, closer to his destination.
We watch Trayvon, but hear THE CALL being placed to police.
MALE VOICE (V.O.)
We've had some break-ins in my
neighborhood, and there's a real
suspicious guy just walking around.
This guy looks like he's up to no
good or he's on drugs or something.
Trayvon clocks the car passing again, this time slowing down.
We now hear his conversation with his girlfriend on the cell.
TRAYVON
I think this guy's following me.
Keeps looping around the block.
MALE VOICE (V.O.)
He's just walking around the area,
looking at all the houses.
Trayvon tries to glimpse the driver. What do they want?
MALE VOICE (V.O.)
Now, he's just staring at me. He's
got his hand on his waistband. He's
a Black male.
Trayvon's girlfriend wastes no time.
GIRLFRIEND (O.S.)
Just get home. Run home real quick.
The boy starts to jog towards his destination, uncomfortable.
MALE VOICE (V.O.)
Shit, he's running.
The window rolls down to reveal a ROUND-FACED LATINO MAN.
15.
ROUND-FACED
What're you doin' here?
TRAYVON
What you following me for?
ROUND-FACED gets out of the car. We are CLOSE on Trayvon as
the man walks up to him, a SEMI-AUTOMATIC 9mm in his hand.
Fear flashes on the teen's face. Then, the man grabs his arm.
TRAYVON (CONT'D)
Get off me! Get off!
Trayvon SWINGS to defend himself, grabs the man and wrestles
him to the ground. After a few moments, the man is on top.
CLOSE on Trayvon's face. The man is trying to POINT THE GUN
at him. Trayvon swings, then grabs the man's hands, his legs,
anything he can. He's fighting for his life.
And then, a GUNSHOT.
Trayvon's fear disappears. Skittles candy scattered nearby.
INT. ISABEL'S OFFICE/KITCHEN - NIGHT
Isabel stands at her desk, head bowed as if in prayer, as the
GUNSHOT rings out. The sound of Trayvon's fate echoes in the
room as if it's happening in the moment. Then, SILENCE.
She opens the desk drawer and takes out a file. She's been
keeping articles about the murder. She moves her fingertips
across them with reverence.
She opens her laptop, types: "His middle name was Benjamin."
She doesn't notice Brett at the door, watching for a moment,
pleased and admiring. He then disappears down the hall.
She rises to search her shelves, picking up one book in
particular like a treasure. THREE BLACK PEOPLE IN A 1930s
PICKUP TRUCK are on the cover. It's entitled "DEEP SOUTH."
As she leafs through the pages, her eyes drift to FRAMED
PHOTOS on the shelves, looking back at her at eye level.
Images of her family. Her father in his military uniform as a
TUSKEGEE AIRMAN. Marion and Isabel at various ages, always
together. Brett and Isabel, traveling the world.
And a PICTURE OF RUBY, in earlier years, standing in front of
her home, on her two feet, smiling and gorgeous. A moment of
everyday joy. Isabel picks up the picture and brings it
close, reveling in the details of her mother.
16.
After some reflection, Isabel places the picture back. Places
the book back. She turns off her computer, abandoning the
writing.
On the way to the bedroom, she notices the KITCHEN LIGHT on.
She enters to find Brett about to boil water.
BRETT
Honey or sugar?
She goes to him and kisses him with thanks.
ISABEL
I'm going to Mama's early. Pottery
class.
She exits wearily. A confused beat. Then, he follows.
INT. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY - NIGHT
A lavish black-tie affair. Luxury oozes from every corner.
Isabel and Brett enter hand in hand. She's a knock-out. He is
in a tux and the most handsome we've seen him.
Isabel's editor, KATE MEDINA, early 50s, genuine and
grounded, and her agent, BINKY URBAN, 60s, a spirited mix of
sass and class, approach them warmly. Hugs and air kisses.
BINKY
Looking gorgeous, dear. And he's
wearing that tux very well.
KATE
He can hear you.
BRETT
He agrees and thanks you.
KATE
(to Isabel)
Amari Selvan asked me twice if you
were coming. He wants something for
the paper.
ISABEL
He's made that clear.
KATE
You interested? We can time it to
the audiobook. Get a lift.
Binky overhears and steps in.
17.
BINKY
She doesn't want to do that. Do
you, dear? I'll handle him.
ISABEL
I'll talk to him. It's okay.
Smiles and good vibes all around as party patrons vector
around them. Isabel is a big writer. Kate is a big editor.
Binky is a big agent. And everyone in the room knows it.
While making their way through the party, Brett takes the
lead in their interactions. Isabel prefers it. As guests
approach, he blocks and tackles for her - picking up the
volley of a conversation, excusing them when it's run its
course. Always with his hand on the small of her back.
Brett is chatting with two guests when Amari approaches
Isabel from the opposite side.
AMARI
You listen?
(off her nod)
And?
ISABEL
A lot of ideas came to mind, but...
longer form stuff. Questions that I
don't have answers to.
Amari glances arounds quickly, catches Brett's eye and nods
politely while Brett is still otherwise engaged.
AMARI
Ask them in a piece.
ISABEL
I don't write questions. I write
answers.
A slow smile from Amari. Brett has one eye on their exchange
while still listening to the other guest. Kate does too.
AMARI
Questions like what?
ISABEL
Like, why does a Latino guy
deputize himself to stalk a Black
kid so he can "protect" a mostly
white community? What is that?
18.
AMARI
The racist bias I want to explore.
Excavate for readers.
ISABEL
We call everything racism. What
does it mean anymore? It's the
default. When'd that start?
Amari laughs. At this, Brett breaks from his convo and makes
his way over. The men shake hands. Isabel observes them both.
AMARI BRETT
Brett. Hi, Amari.
Amari immediately refocuses on the conversation with Isabel.
AMARI
You're saying the man isn't racist?
ISABEL
Not that he isn't racist. I'm
wondering why everything is racist.
Brett looks from Isabel to Amari, proud of his wife.
AMARI
This feels like a set-up.
ISABEL
(beat, then she dives in)
Unmarked graves. Millions of
enslaved people stripped of their
legacy, their dignity, even in
death. White people wouldn't allow
us to properly bury our departed.
To even mark where they were laid
to rest. Is that the same racism
that murdered Trayvon?
AMARI
Yes. Absolutely.
Isabel straightens her back, feeling the challenge. Brett is
enjoying this, having already been on the other side.
ISABEL
Okay. Home ownership. Covenants
written into land deeds barring
Black people from having wills. No
generational wealth allowed. You
could not legally pass down what
you earned to your kids if you were
Black. For almost 500 years.
19.
AMARI
And still we rise.
ISABEL
Amen.
AMARI
Black family, black love, I tell
you, it's our mighty underestimated
weapon. They tried, but it can't be
destroyed. By law or anything else.
ISABEL
That's right.
(they nod as Brett looks
on)
So, was not being allowed by law to
will the fruits of our labor to our
families the same racism that took
Trayvon's life?
AMARI
Systemic racism. Yes. Same.
ISABEL
You're sure? If it's the same, why
give it different categories to
hold all the meaning we've placed
on it? The subtle kind. The
systemic kind. What does it mean?
Amari likes this. Brett listens intently.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Murders of Black people by police.
We call that racism. Corporations
say Black people can't wear the
natural hair growing from our heads
in the workplace. We call that
racism. Everything's the same?
AMARI
I get it. Being followed at a
department store and being lynched
shouldn't be called the same thing.
ISABEL
Racism, as our primary language to
understand everything, seems
insufficient. That's all.
AMARI
Good. I need a piece delving into
what the Martin case means.
(MORE)
20.
AMARI (CONT'D)
Set the context with these
questions. It's what you do best.
Making the hard stuff digestible.
And this is a hard one. What does
it all mean? These questions are
the piece.
Brett wants her to say yes. She hesitates.
AMARI (CONT'D)
We'll make it splashy. Prime
placement. Sunday. Maybe a cover.
ISABEL
There's something to it, but... I'm
on hiatus.
AMARI
Isabel, c'mon.
ISABEL
I am. Family responsibilities.
Brett covers his disappointment. Amari looks to him,
wondering what's going on. Then, gives up.
AMARI
Listen, good for you for taking
time. We'll talk again. Take care
you two.
He nods to the couple and leaves. Brett wants to discuss and
starts to ask her about the decision to decline, but a FELLOW
AUTHOR approaches. They put on their smiles.
OMITTED
INT. RUBY'S SENIOR APARTMENT - NIGHT
The TV in the now fully furnished unit is tuned to JEOPARDY.
They all watch, shouting answers to questions. Then -
RUBY
I want you to go on over to the
house and check on my yard. That
big ol' tree sheds this time of
year. I don't want the neighbors
getting the wrong idea.
ISABEL/BRETT
Yes, ma'am.
21.
Jeopardy ends. Brett turns the channel to cable news. A story
about President Obama speaking about the Trayvon Martin case.
They watch, flooded with equal measures of sadness and rage.
RUBY
That poor child's mother. Wish he'd
answered the man right.
ISABEL
What was that, Mama?
RUBY
I wish he'd have answered the man
when he asked him why he was there
in the neighborhood. Maybe he would
still be with us.
Brett looks to Isabel, wide-eyed. This is unexpected.
ISABEL
You're saying it's the boy's fault?
RUBY
No, of course not. Don't be silly.
I'm saying there's a way to act
that keeps you safe. He was too
young to know it. Like Emmett. They
think it's fair. Think they're the
same. Got hurt before they learned.
ISABEL
They are the same. And he shouldn't
have to had to answer to anyone.
RUBY
Should've and real life are two
different things, darling. You know
that. You can't be walking around
at night on a white street and not
expect trouble. That's intimidating
to most whites.
(to Brett)
True or not?
Brett struggles with how to answer.
BRETT
Unfortunately, yes. But you can't
live your life based on what other
people are intimidated by.
RUBY
Sure you can, Sweetie.
22.
INT/EXT. RUBY'S SENIOR APARTMENT COMPLEX - CONTINUOUS
Isabel and Brett cross the parking lot. A quiet tension
builds. No words as they walk together - but apart.
They climb in the car and drive. She finally looks to him.
ISABEL
What's wrong?
He drives on, wrestling with his feelings. She waits.
BRETT
She asked me that... like I was a
stranger. Not her son.
(beat)
She doesn't think of me like I
think of her.
ISABEL
That's not true, baby. She loves
you.
BRETT
I know she loves me. That's not
what I'm saying.
ISABEL
She's from a different time. She
was just trying to sort through her
feelings about...
BRETT
You're on a hiatus?
ISABEL
Huh?
BRETT
You told Amari you're on a hiatus.
(beat)
You told me you were going to
travel less.
Isabel is processing, trying to catch up to this turn in the
conversation.
BRETT (CONT'D)
You never told me you weren't going
to write at all.
ISABEL
I said I want to focus on her.
23.
BRETT
What's that got to do with writing?
ISABEL
She shouldn't be at that place. She
should be home. She moved because
she was lonely. I should have spent
more time. Daddy would want me to
fix this.
BRETT
Your father wanted you both happy.
Sacrificing your work does exactly
the opposite. She told you what she
wants. This is not it.
The conversation is becoming intense. She tries to diffuse.
ISABEL
(beat)
She's my responsibility.
BRETT
And you're mine.
(beat)
People are asking you to write for
a reason. Your voice. The way you
think. And you're zoning out.
Hanging out at an old folks' home
all day. Making cups?
(beat)
What are you doing?
ISABEL
I'm taking care of someone I love.
BRETT
This was her choice. Dammit,
Isabel!
His outburst stuns her.
BRETT (CONT'D)
Let the woman make her own
decisions! You're hiding. And I
don't get it.
ISABEL
Hiding from what?! I'm not hiding.
He doesn't respond. Isabel is stunned.
Quiet.
24.
INT. ISABEL'S HOUSE - A SHORT TIME LATER
They enter their home. Separate in all of their movements.
Unusual.
BRETT
I'm gonna have some of that pasta.
Want some?
ISABEL
Yes, please. Save me some.
He heads into the kitchen. She heads to the bedroom.
INT. ISABEL'S BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Isabel ties up her hair, exhausted. She runs hot water, adds
bath salts. She reclines in the tub, a table of books nearby.
A moment to think, process. She opens a small BIOGRAPHY on
BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR and begins to read to unwind.
INT. TRAIN STATION - 1913 - NIGHT
From inside of a train car, Black passengers with luggage in
hand trail behind white passengers who have disembarked and
are headed for the exit. Proud Black men known as Pullman
Porters cater to the whims of the white customers.
The voice of Suraj Yengde, the author, narrates the scenes.
SURAJ (V.O.)
In the early 1900s, a young Indian
graduate student found himself in
New York City on a scholarship to
Columbia University. Upon his
arrival, he immediately recognized
the similarities between how
African-Americans were treated and
the treatment of Indian people like
him known as Dalits.
OMITTED
EXT. NEW YORK STREETS - 1913 - DAY
A 24-year old Indian man, BHIMRAO AMBEDKAR, walks down the
Harlem street transfixed by his surroundings. All curiosity
and wonder. Observing Black joy and community.
25.
SURAJ (V.O.)
Bhimrao Ambedkar's presence in the
United States was a highly unusual
endeavor, for a Dalit is also known
by some as a so-called Untouchable.
Not the lowest caste in India. Not
even below the lowest caste. They
are outcast. Disposable. Despised.
Considered untouchable. He saw
kindred spirits among Black people
in America. Both in the oppression
they face and in their survival.
INT. AMBEDKAR HOUSE - 1918 - LONDON - DAY
In a cozy library room, Ambedkar reads with intensity.
SURAJ (V.O.)
He then studied in London earning
two PhDs and passing the bar before
returning to India as a heralded
scholar to help draft India's new
constitution.
EXT. INDIA SEASIDE - 1925 - DAY
Dr. Ambedkar is cheered by Dalit workers upon arrival.
SURAJ (V.O.)
Ambedkar wielded his pen for his
people like a weapon against
injustice. He said: "The
emancipation of the mind and the
soul is a necessary preliminary for
the political expansion of the
people. Education all must have.
Means of defense all must have.
These are paramount requirements
for self-preservation."
INT. ISABEL'S BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS
Isabel drinks in every word. Her eyes jumping from line to
line, reacting with nods and murmurs of agreement.
SURAJ (V.O.)
"Religion, social status and
property are all sources of power
and authority, which one man has,
to control the liberty of another."
26.
She reads a line and sits up. She looks around for a pen,
something to mark the passage.
SURAJ (V.O.)
"The strength of a society depends
upon the presence of points of
contact, possibilities of
interaction between different
groups which exist in it. Caste in
India divides groups into fixed
units that cannot be moved. The
destruction of caste does not mean
destruction of a physical barrier.
It means a notional change."
She dog ears the page. Then takes a bit of wax from the
nearby candle and drips it gently on the word... "CASTE."
INT. ISABEL AND BRETT'S BATHROOM/BEDROOM - LATER
She closes the book, eager to share her excitement with
Brett. She emerges from the bathroom in her robe, applying
lotion to her hands, WHEN SHE SEES HIM.
From the other side of the bed, only his legs are in view.
Brett is on the floor. Face down. Still. She tries to compute
the image. Then, she calls out.
ISABEL
Brett.
No answer. Her greatest fear.
She scrambles over the bed to reach him. At the edge, she
screams. But we hear NO SOUND. She falls toward him.
INT. FUNERAL - DAY
In the front row is Isabel, Ruby, Brett's parents and
children. Then, rows of friends and loved ones. Marion is
behind Isabel with her partner, TEDDY. Most are crying.
PASTOR
By trade, Brett Hamilton was a
mathematician, a financial analyst.
By heart, he was a passionate
champion of those he loved deeply.
With bloodshot eyes, Isabel is in her head - far away.
27.
INT. ISABEL AND BRETT'S BEDROOM - DREAM
Surrounded by darkness, Isabel lies in a LARGE PILE OF LEAVES
with her eyes closed. She opens them slowly to find herself
facing Brett. His eyes are closed. So, she closes hers again.
EXT. ISABEL'S FOYER - DAY
Mrs. Copeland is in the foyer in tears, baked goods in hand.
Marion receives the package.
INT. RUBY'S SENIOR APARTMENT - DAY
The TV flickers in Ruby's dark apartment, making shapes
across Isabel's expressionless face. She is on the couch next
to her mother, both covered in a crocheted blanket as Donald
Trump demands to see President Obama's birth certificate.
Ruby looks to Isabel, recognizing her daughter's pain.
RUBY
Your father was supposed to be here
too. They're supposed to be here.
Teary, she holds her daughter's hand. Isabel can't move.
INT. ISABEL'S OFFICE - DAY
INTERCUT CALL with Isabel's editor, Kate, in her office.
MARION
Isabel Wilkerson's office.
KATE
Hello. Hi. This is Kate. I'm
Isabel's editor and I...
MARION
I know your name. Hi, Kate. This is
her cousin. Marion.
KATE
Marion, hi. My condolences for your
family's losses. I don't have the
words. Unfathomable. Unthinkable.
28.
INT. ISABEL AND BRETT'S BEDROOM - DREAM
Eyes closed, Isabel is still in the leaves in her bedroom.
She opens her eyes to find Brett still there, eyes closed.
And now, her mother Ruby in front of him, with closed eyes.
INT. HOSPICE UNIT - DAY
Ruby is bedridden, on oxygen, under a crocheted blanket.
Isabel sits on the side of the bed, applying lotion to her
mother's hands. Lip balm to her lips. Ruby doesn't respond.
KATE (V.O.)
Who can withstand this? The two
closest people to you in a year?
It's just... I don't know how she's
managing. How is she?
INT. ISABEL'S BEDROOM - DAY
The blinds are drawn. It's dark. Marion looks through the
door to find Isabel in bed, wrapped in Ruby's crocheted
blanket. Huddled into herself in the fetal position, Isabel's
hand is over her face, shutting out the world.
Tears brim Marion's eyes. She carefully climbs onto the bed,
settling herself closely near her cousin. She wraps her arm
around Isabel, then draws her in. Isabel lets herself sink
into the tenderness, the sisterhood. Marion holds on tight
and close, trying with everything she has to protect her
loved one from the darkness.
INT. ISABEL AND BRETT'S BEDROOM - DREAM
In her mind, Isabel is still on the floor in the leaves. Eyes
closed. She opens them to find Ruby and Brett, both looking
back at her now. She gazes upon them, not wanting to blink.
Not wanting to lose them. Ruby reaches out, placing her hand
on her daughter's face. Isabel touches her hand. Brett looks
on with love. She closes her eyes.
BRETT
Breathe, Belle.
When Isabel reopens her eyes, they are gone.
She rises from the leaves, on her feet, in the room, alone.
29.
INT/EXT. ISABEL'S HOUSE - DAY
Isabel sits on the couch, still.
She carefully places Brett's watch on her wrist and her
mother's wedding band on her finger.
Near the front door, Isabel puts on a sweater. She calls to
her dogs, puts on leashes and takes her KEYS off of a hook
with a sign that reads: "Keys." She ventures outside for what
feels like the first time in a while.
She crosses the lawn, blanketed in leaves, and takes the same
path that she and Brett would always take.
And like clockwork, she sees Mrs. Copeland, who approaches.
MRS. COPELAND
Isabel. Hi. I haven't seen you out.
How are you? I mean, you look well.
Do you need anything?
The woman is nervous. Isabel senses it and puts her at ease.
ISABEL
I'm okay. Thanks for asking.
MRS. COPELAND
I brought a basket over when I
heard. I hope you got it.
She didn't.
ISABEL
I did. Thank you.
MRS. COPELAND
He was a wonderful man. And you two
made the loveliest couple. Both so
attractive and accomplished. A
beautiful, unlikely pair. May his
memory be a blessing. I'm so sorry.
Mrs. Copeland continues to talk. But Isabel is stuck. She
can't hear the words. She's upset, but tries not to show it.
EXT. RUBY'S HOUSE - DAY
Isabel turns into the driveway under the canopy of trees. She
exits the car to find green landscape bins at the curb. It's
her job now. She goes to retrieve them.
30.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE/PHARMACY - DAY
In her mother's living room, she opens drapery, allowing the
sun in. The reflection of a tree outside duplicates itself on
the living room wall as if it's growing there.
In the dining room, she removes a package from her shoulder
bag. A bundle of archival paper like Marion instructed.
JUMP CUTS as she takes frames from the walls and pictures
from the frames. Carefully wrapping them in the special paper
and placing the fragile images in an acid-resistant album.
Her cell rings. It's MARION. She's entering a PHARMACY.
INTERCUT.
MARION
Hey. You made it in okay?
ISABEL
Yep. I'm here. How're you?
Marion enters the megastore's pharmacy. She waits in line.
MARION
(gently)
Tell me how you are. How does it
feel to be with all her things?
ISABEL
I'm here, Marion. That's all I am.
(softening)
I walked the babies.
MARION
Good! Good. How'd that feel?
ISABEL
I had a meltdown after.
Noticing a SLIGHT PLASTER WELT in the kitchen, Isabel moves a
chair, climbs up, touching the bubble with a knife.
MARION
You went the way you two'd walk.
ISABEL
There's no other way.
Marion mouths her name to the pharmacist to grab her
medication and pays with her credit card.
MARION
Right.
31.
ISABEL
I ran into my neighbor. She said
something so disrespectful.
MARION
Girl, what?
ISABEL
She called us an unlikely couple.
Isabel waits for a response. Marion waits for the bad part.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Me and Brett.
MARION
(um...)
That hit a nerve for you?
ISABEL
Hell yeah, it did.
MARION
Why?
Isabel can't believe her ears.
ISABEL
To say that we were improbable?
"Unlikely" as in unbelievable.
MARION
She was just being nice, I think.
That's probably not what she meant.
ISABEL
She meant that we didn't match. But
somehow we ended up together. Like
it's this unbelievable phenomenon.
MARION
You two were from different places,
backgrounds. It's kind of a miracle
your paths crossed like they did,
that you got together. Isn't it?
Isabel is in disbelief, holding back how hurt she is. Marion
is lost as to what the problem is. But stands down.
MARION (CONT'D)
Listen, no one knows what goes on
inside a relationship. And we
shouldn't talk about things we
don't know. My mistake.
32.
ISABEL
I've got to go and get this done.
MARION
You don't have to pack everything
up now. I can come next weekend and
help. Take it slow.
ISABEL
I've got to get this house packed
before I start back to work.
MARION
You're starting back working?
ISABEL
Of course. What am I supposed to
do? How am I supposed to live?
MARION
You've got money saved. Why not...
Isabel sighs, frustrated. Marion's swimming against the tide.
MARION (CONT'D)
... What are you working on? When
do you have to start?
ISABEL
I'm already behind on things I
should be doing. I gotta go, okay?
MARION
Okay.
And with that, the line disconnects. Off Marion, worried.
EXT. AIRPORT - DAY
The same spot where Brett dropped Isabel off and kissed her
goodbye. Now, she's alone, dropped by a TOWNCAR DRIVER. She
grabs her bag, tips, then looks up to the sky.
CLOSE on a clear, cloudless sky. No shapes. No Little
Leaguers in pools. Clearly thinking of her mother, she enters
the terminal. We watch her - until we can't anymore.
INT. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY - NIGHT
Another year. Another gala. But, this night is different.
Isabel enters alone, alongside tuxedoed and gowned guests.
33.
She is a known entity. And a popular one. Her nature as an
introvert is challenged as she's stopped every few steps.
Smiles here. Hugs there. She's uncomfortable without Brett to
buffer the attention. But, covers it well enough.
Her editor, Kate, and her agent, Binky, approach immediately.
They all hug. It's heartfelt. These women know her well. And
they know what she's been through.
KATE
You came.
ISABEL
I'm here.
These two have a special bond.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
(teasing)
I thought I'd get a couple rounds
in before having to talk business.
As the women talk, they glide around the room, searching for
their table assignments, stopping to smile and wave.
BINKY
Darling, we don't have to talk
about anything you don't want to.
The market is hungry for you now
and it'll be hungry tomorrow. We
published "Warmth" how many years
ago, and your touring is still
fully booked whenever you're ready.
You take your time. They've waited
a year. They can wait longer. We
don't have to talk business at all.
Isabel looks to Kate, who is quiet. An awkward beat.
ISABEL
(to Kate)
I take it you don't agree.
KATE
I agree that you should move at
your own pace. I also know what
writing does for you. And maybe,
you need that feeling right now.
BINKY
She has to want to, Kate.
KATE
You're right.
34.
ISABEL
Well, I have an idea.
BINKY
Yes. I knew that's why you came.
KATE
Tell us, Isabel.
CLOSE on Isabel. A deep breath and then she goes for it.
ISABEL
I never really explored the Trayvon
Martin case. I know it's been a
while, but I think there's still a
lot unpacked there. I've been
thinking about my Mom and how she
insisted that we be polite and
buttoned up around white people.
And there's Nazi symbolism all over
right now. You saw what happened to
the young woman in Charlottesville.
BINKY
Yes, the neo-Nazi...
ISABEL
Yes, drove into a crowd at a
protest for Black lives. Killed a
white woman. Heather Heyer. All
those idiots with tiki torches.
They're evoking imagery from the
KKK and Nazi Germany to stoke fear.
This terrific Indian scholar I
happened to see randomly. I didn't
even meet him. I saw him at an
airport and I meant to read about
his work, I just haven't, I...
He's a Dalit professor. He won a...
The women listen for her to say something that clicks.
BINKY
Sorry, what's a Dalit professor?
ISABEL
He's Dalit and he's a professor.
Dalits used to be Untouchables in
India. Beneath the lowest caste.
BINKY
Ah, yes, I see.
35.
ISABEL
He won an award. I saw the bust of
Ambedkar. A huge figure among
Dalits. Have you heard of him?
Both women shake their heads no, trying hard to follow Isabel
while partygoers clink glasses and mingle.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Me neither. Why?
As she talks, Kate and Binky share a quick glance of concern.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
There's connective tissue I could
find to build a thesis about...
about how this is all linked.
Isabel notices their glance to each other. They are alarmed.
She stops, regretting talking, being there. Kate notices.
KATE
This is the writer's journey.
Sorting it out. There's a lot going
on in that big brain of yours. I
love that. But I'll be honest, I
don't understand how the woman
killed by the Neo Nazi connects to
the Dalit professor connects to
Trayvon Martin connects to your
Mom. I don't see it right now. But
if you can make people see it,
that's an incredible book.
BINKY
I agree, dear. Wholeheartedly.
Isabel nods, embarrassed, wanting to be anywhere but there.
KATE
Like I said, writing will do you
good. Maybe a research trip? Get
out of the country. Read books,
relax, find the way to say what you
want to say.
BINKY
Keyword there is relax. Let me set
up a trip for you to somewhere
beautiful and tropical. Massages,
blue water. The agency'll arrange
it all for you.
The women look at her with loving concern.
36.
ISABEL
I feel like...
She stops short. ECU on Isabel, lost in her thoughts.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Okay, I'll get back to you.
They nod in sympathy and support. They don't understand her.
She feels like she's reeling, but smiles through it.
INT. NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY - A SHORT TIME LATER
Isabel has wandered away from the party. To get her bearings.
To breathe. She walks up the stacks, looking for something.
She finds it and relaxes when she tenderly pulls a book from
the grand shelf. It is "DEEP SOUTH." We've seen the book
before in her office. The cover picture features three Black
people in the 1930s, sitting in the bed of a pickup truck.
She leafs through the pages with care, taking in the words
like a balm. We pan away from her across the spine of
GLORIOUS BOOKS to find ANOTHER READER at the shelves. We are
now in...
INT. BERLIN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY - 1933 - DAY
A movie-star handsome man with a thin mustache, ALLISON
DAVIS, peers at book shelves alongside his wife, ELIZABETH
DAVIS, a refined beauty of a woman. They are a stunning
couple. Both extremely light-skinned African-Americans who
could pass for white on first glance.
ALLISON
I don't see it, Lizzy. Do you?
Elizabeth bends to search a bottom row, shaking her head no.
ELIZABETH
Maybe it's checked out.
ALLISON
There are no books here at all by
him. Odd, don't you think?
ELIZABETH
At the premiere library in the
city. The country.
ALLISON
Beautiful library though.
37.
ELIZABETH
I could get lost in these books
forever. All these ideas.
ALLISON
Let's build a little tent over
there and read and grow all day.
ELIZABETH
You've never said anything more
romantic to me.
They smile flirtatiously. Then continue their search.
INT. BERLIN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN'S DESK - CONTINUOUS
The couple waits in line with a few books in hand. The
LIBRARIAN, a white man, waves them over, nods in begrudging
acknowledgment as he checks them out. They all speak German.
LIBRARIAN
Your card.
ALLISON
Good afternoon. Of course.
Allison hands his library card with his passport. Elizabeth
has hers in hand too.
ALLISON (CONT'D)
Can you tell us when Erich
Remarque's `All Quiet on the
Western Front' is due back?
The librarian looks at them with suspicion, then reviews the
passport and card as if it's a matter of national security.
LIBRARIAN
From the United States.
ALLISON
That's correct.
LIBRARIAN
What are you doing this far from
home?
ALLISON
My wife and I are studying here.
LIBRARIAN
What are you studying?
38.
ELIZABETH
We work with Dr. Diedrich
Westermann.
This satisfies him enough to complete the transaction. He
doesn't place the books in the couple's hands. But, drops
them on the counter and waves the next person over.
As they exit, they pass a bespectacled white man, ERICH
KASTNER, a few spots back in line. He follows them unnoticed.
EXT. BERLIN UNIVERSITY - MOMENTS LATER
Kaster catches the couple as they cross the pristine campus.
Nazi Party flags wave on the buildings. English is spoken.
KASTNER
Excuse me. I heard you inquire
about Remarque, but couldn't hear
the librarian's answer. Would you
mind sharing what he told you?
ELIZABETH
He actually didn't answer. He began
asking why we were in Germany.
Alarm flashes across Kastner's face. The Davises aren't sure
what to make of it.
KASTNER
I'm Kastner. I'm from here. I'm not
asking in the same way that he did.
I'm asking for a different reason.
How long have you been in Berlin?
ALLISON
About five weeks. We're
anthropologists studying...
Kastner seems distressed.
KASTNER
You have no idea what's happening.
ELIZABETH ALLISON
Pardon me. I'm sorry, I didn't catch
that.
A pause, then he looks them directly in the eye with an
urgency that startles them.
39.
KASTNER
You have no idea what's happening
here. Everything is being torn
apart.
EXT. THE BEBELPLATZ - NIGHT
A light DRIZZLE falls in the central city square as about
forty thousand people gather in a heightened frenzy.
STUDENTS, PROFESSORS in their academic robes and the HITLER
YOUTH paramilitary organizations, carrying torches and Nazi
banners, walk beside OPEN-BED TRUCKS through Brandenburg
Gate. The trucks are filled with BOOKS and have demeaning
caricatures of Jewish people emblazoned on the sides.
Through a large crowd of onlookers, we see a FUNERAL PYRE of
logs piled twelve feet wide and five feet high. The unified
phalanx of marchers cross the square to throw their lit
torches onto the logs, setting the pyre AFLAME.
CLOSE on a marcher's torch being tossed. Flying from the hand
of a GERMAN STUDENT, it reveals Allison, Elizabeth and
Kastner. They are wide-eyed. But, cover their horror as best
they can so as not to draw attention to themselves.
A NAZI BAND plays. The crowd sings along. Students gleefully
carry ARMFULS OF BOOKS to the FLAMES with cheers, destroying
them by fire as the organizers recite "fire oaths" in German.
NAZI STUDENT ORGANIZER
Sigmund Freud! For falsifying our
history and degrading our heroes!
The crowd goes wild with cheers and screams of approval.
NAZI STUDENT ORGANIZER (CONT'D)
Erich Remarque! For degrading the
German language's patriotic ideals!
Allison shakes his head in disbelief as the crowd roars.
NAZI STUDENT ORGANIZER (CONT'D)
Georg Bernhard! His Jewish kind of
journalism is alien to this nation!
Many in the crowd respond with Nazi salutes.
NAZI STUDENT ORGANIZER (CONT'D)
Against decadence and moral decency
and custom, I deliver to the flames
the works of Heinrich Mann, Ernst
Glaeser, and Erich Kästner!"
40.
Elizabeth subtly touches Kastner's arm. The crowd roars like
a vicious animal.
KASTNER
I must go. I must go now.
ALLISON
We'll help you.
KASTNER
No. I'll walk one way. Wait a few
minutes, then go to your lodging.
And I urge you. Leave here.
ELIZABETH
We'll be right behind you.
KASTNER
No, my friends. Leave here. Leave
Germany. Go to your home as soon as
you can. You'll be safer there.
He walks away at a clip, his hands buried in his pockets and
hat brim over his eyes.
Just then, the main attraction begins. The applause and
cheers reach a fever pitch as uniformed, high-ranking NAZI
OFFICIALS take the stage. One is introduced in the rain.
NAZI STUDENT ORGANIZER
Salute Joseph Goebbels!
The crowd heils like fans at a rock concert. Goebbels stands
before a podium draped with the Nazi flag. In German.
GOEBBELS
Comrades! The period of exaggerated
Jewish intellectualism is now at an
end! The German soul can express
itself again! These flames do not
only illuminate the final end of
the old era, they also light up the
new! In this late hour, entrust to
the flames the intellectual garbage
of the past!
Allison and Elizabeth shudder. He takes her hand and they
walk in the opposite direction of Kastner. Heads down.
GOEBBELS (CONT'D)
No to decadence and moral
corruption! Yes, to decency and
morality in family and state!
41.
The crowd is in a complete frenzy. The couple walks at a
brisk pace out of the square.
They pass someone very closely.
It is Isabel in the PRESENT DAY, entering the same square.
EXT. THE BEBELPLATZ - PRESENT/NIGHT
Isabel walks across the now EMPTY PLAZA towards a GLOWING
WHITE SQUARE cut into the cobblestones. The carved opening
emits a surreal light, slicing the shadows of the grand
buildings on the perimeter.
Behind Isabel is NIGELLA, a white British woman with ivory
hair.
As they approach the light, Nigella explains the solemn
sight.
NIGELLA
`Where you burn books, you end up
burning men.' A quote by Heinrich
Heine. He was a poet. The poets
always seem to know best, don't
they?
Isabel nods in agreement, then gazes down into the square to
find a SUBTERRANEAN WHITE ROOM protected by thick glass.
Inside are ROWS AND ROWS OF EMPTY BOOK SHELVES. An eerie
reminder of what was lost on the night that the Nazis burned
books, burned freedom.
NIGELLA (CONT'D)
The bookshelves stand empty to bear
witness. Over 20,000 books filled
with ideas and imagination and
history were lost that night.
Isabel takes in this space so full of meaning and memory.
NIGELLA (CONT'D)
In Germany, they have a memorial to
everyone victimized by the Nazis. A
memorial to homosexuals who
perished. Memorials for women, for
children. Everyone is remembered.
EXT. HOLOCAUST MUSEUM AND MEMORIAL - DAY
Isabel stands amidst a concrete maze the size of three
football fields with over 2,700 coffin-shaped rectangles.
42.
NIGELLA (V.O.)
No entry gate. No sign. It's open
both day and night, in all weather.
Just standing. To bear witness.
Isabel enters, weaving among the stones with reverence.
INT. HOLOCAUST MUSEUM AND MEMORIAL - DAY
Inside the museum, she reads the last words of Holocaust
victims. She stops in her tracks as she reads one message in
particular: "What is my life worth even if I remain alive.
Whom to return to in my hometown of Warsaw? For what and for
whom do I carry on this whole pursuit of life? Enduring.
Holding out. For what?" These words hit her heart. They are
her questions to herself.
Across the room, she watches a MOTHER and ADULT DAUGHTER,
arms linked as they mournfully observe the exhibit. She's
lost in their gestures of love as they move through the space
together. Then, she exits the room, alone.
INT. KOSTLIN TOWNHOME - NIGHT
Voices spill from an architectural gem of a modern townhome.
Five stories. Walls drenched with CONTEMPORARY ART in an airy
interior illuminated by massive bespoke windows.
This is the home of ULRICH, white, German, mid-60s, with the
polish of someone whose been wealthy for a while.
He shares it with his husband NATHAN, Vietnamese-American,
40s, with bright eyes. They host Isabel, Nigella and a
European journalist friend SABINE, 50-ish, red hair.
SABINE
It's the American way!
NATHAN
We know! We know! It's ridiculous!
SABINE
Well, that's what I'm looking at
with the article. You have 900
shootings a week it seems and keep
giving people guns.
ULRICH
I don't understand it.
43.
NATHAN
Dear, we don't even understand
ourselves.
Nathan holds Ulrich's hand, who kisses it tenderly.
ISABEL
It's true. There's so much that
makes no sense. I read that here
displaying the swastika is a crime.
Three years in prison?
NIGELLA
That's true. It's not tolerated.
ISABEL
In America, the Confederate flag,
which is like your Nazi flag, the
flag of murderers and traitors,
it's incorporated into the official
state flag of one of our states.
Mississippi. There's a hospital in
Hattiesburg today named after a KKK
Grand Wizard. Statues of men who
went to war for the right to own
human beings? They're sprinkled all
over the country. Right now.
SABINE
Madness. It's not perfect, but
Germany has no monuments that
celebrate Nazis.
ULRICH
All the sites we've either made a
memorial or paved over.
NIGELLA
Everything Hitler is gone. They
paved right over it all. And built
new things.
SABINE
You can literally walk right over
Nazi places and not know it was
ever there.
NATHAN
And the bunker.
ULRICH
Yes, the bunker. Long gone.
44.
NIGELLA
Isabel, we passed it on the way.
ISABEL
We did?
NIGELLA
You'd never know. It looks like
nothing. It was 30 feet underground
and protected by reinforced
concrete. Now it has a Volkswagen
or something parked on top of it at
any given time of day.
ISABEL
A very different approach than in
the States.
SABINE
Well, I think there are many
differences between here and there.
I mean, we are talking about the
systematic murder of 11 million
Jews, which is the new official
number. 11 million. Astonishing.
It's very different than your
monuments of soldiers and what not.
Isabel is taken aback. Nathan is too.
NATHAN
What are you saying is different?
SABINE
All of it. This was deliberate
extermination. Over many years.
NATHAN
Wasn't slavery for, like, hundreds
of years? Right, Isabel?
Isabel is upset, but swallows it. She speaks calmly. Like a
teacher. Even smiling slightly.
ISABEL
Slavery lasted for 246 years. That
is thirteen generations of people.
(beat)
And another 100 years of Jim Crow
segregation, violence and murder.
SABINE
It's, of course, horrific. I'm not
downplaying any of it.
45.
ISABEL
There were so many hundreds of
millions of Black lives lost
between the Middle Passage and the
legal end of segregation that it's
beyond the realm of an official
number. There is no number.
NATHAN
I didn't know that.
NIGELLA
Stunning.
SABINE
It is. And I understand that you
want to find a way to make American
racism make sense. It's noble. But
your thesis to link it with caste
in Germany and India is flawed.
ULRICH
Maybe it's not exactly the same,
but her thesis of structural
similarity certainly gives context
for a framework.
SABINE
A framework is not enough for a
book, my friends. She is trying to
connect Germany and India with the
United States. And it doesn't fit.
It's as if you're trying to fit a
square into a circle, as they say.
Everyone, but Sabine, is uncomfortable.
NIGELLA
I've read books with a lot less to
go on, Sabine. Honestly, darling...
SABINE
Not good ones. And don't we want
Isabel's to be a good one?
NATHAN
She's a Pulitzer Prize winner. I
think her book'll be just fine.
SABINE
Of course it will be.
(to Isabel)
(MORE)
46.
SABINE (CONT'D)
But you must just note for yourself
that American slavery and the caste
system in India are rooted in
subjugation. Dominating Dalits and
Blacks for the purposes of
capitalism. Using bodies and labor
for profit. For Jews in the
Holocaust, the goal was not
subjugation.
(beat)
It was extermination. Kill them
all. Wipe them off the face of the
earth. There is no need for them.
(beat)
It is different.
The table is quiet. Isabel takes it all in.
SABINE (CONT'D)
I hope you aren't offended by
honest critique.
ISABEL
I appreciate your candor.
EXT. GERMAN CANALS/MARION'S RECLINER - NEXT DAY
Isabel walks the canals in mid-conversation with Marion by
phone, who reclines in a lounger. INTERCUT.
ISABEL
She's not wrong. Not right either.
MARION
I say leave the Jewish folks alone.
They're fine. They don't need you.
Black folk need you to do what you
do. That's why the first book hit.
It was about us. Write about us.
ISABEL
I am writing about us. The parts
they hid. What was taken, cheated.
The manipulation. I couldn't
explain to her what's in my head
yet. I have to figure out...
MARION
See? You're better than me. I
would've had words. She was rude.
47.
ISABEL
She was being what she's been
taught to be. And I said words. I
said a lot of words.
MARION
Yeah, but none of them were: `I'm
the right one on the wrong day.'
ISABEL
I'm my mother's daughter. You'll
never hear that from me.
MARION
That's why you could never bag
back. Not since we were kids.
Always'll think of a comeback the
next day. `I shoulda said...'
ISABEL
If Brett were there last night...
MARION
Oh Lord. Poor lady.
ISABEL
We'd still be there confronting.
They laugh. Then, settle into a comfortable quiet.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
We were having conversations we
didn't get to finish.
MARION
I know.
WIDE on Marion, full of sympathy. We see now that the lounger
she sits in is hooked to a DIALYSIS MACHINE. A TECH tends to
the process. The cousins are quiet together, worlds away.
INT. BERLIN MUSEUM - LATER
An austere open-air space punctuated with smooth surfaces.
Weaving her way through tourists and students, Isabel
overhears a teacher explain that the structure they are
standing in is built on top of the former SS headquarters.
She continues into a VIEWING ROOM, where vintage black and
white IMAGES are projected on the walls. Transfixed and
repulsed, she focuses on every detail of the photographs.
48.
She TAKES PICTURES of the caption card next to the images.
The words are in German, but she zeroes in on "United States"
and "anti-miscegenation." She takes out her translation book
and tries to decipher the passage.
As she continues, her eyes grow large. This can't be right.
She sits on a concrete bench and writes detailed notes on the
images of 17 high-ranking Nazi officials. The date the images
were taken is June 5, 1934.
She stares at one German official in particular, in a kind of
disbelief. He seems to stare right back at her.
INT. MEETING ROOM - JUNE 5, 1934 - DAY
The man staring right into the camera is ACHIM GERCKE,
dressed in an official top coat with Nazi insignia that
states his rank.
Gercke sits at a long table with the 16 OTHER MEN. All white
Germans. All feel like slightly different versions of one
person. In this room, they will decide the fate of millions
of Jews and others. At points in this debate, various men are
denoted here by last name while sharing their opinions. All
suited and serious. A STENOGRAPHER captures each word.
GRAU
The American model is useful. The
notion that race mixing in marriage
is illegal is ingrained in their
public opinion. Quite stunning.
LÖSENER
But that takes time. Centuries.
GERCKE
American segregation might provide
a possible approach. More recent.
GRAU
Segregation isn't suitable to our
circumstance. German Jews are too
arrogant and too wealthy. Our
problem is different.
EXT. ULRICH AND NATHAN'S TOWNHOME COURTYARD - PRESENT DAY
Nigel and Isabel lean over a LARGE BOOK as he translates the
German text. She is eager and excited.
49.
NIGELLA
(reading in English)
`Our problem is different. Their
problem is Negroes with nothing to
build upon. A problem that plays no
role for us in Germany. Our problem
is the Jews, who must be kept
enduringly apart...'
(shocked)
What is this?
ISABEL
It's a transcript of a meeting I
saw a picture of. A meeting where
Nazi lawyers study and debate
American laws and customs to figure
out how to pull off the Holocaust.
INT. MEETING ROOM - JUNE 5, 1934 - CONTINUOUS
Various men debate. Now in translated English.
GRAU
Our problem is the Jews, who must
be kept enduringly apart since
there is no doubt that they
represent a foreign body in the
Volk. Segregation will never
achieve the goal, as long as the
Jews have economic power in our
German Fatherland as they do now.
GERCKE
As long as they have the most
beautiful automobiles, the most
beautiful motorboats. As long as
they play a prominent role in
pleasure spots and resorts, and
everywhere that costs money.
GRAU
This can only be achieved through
measures that forbid sexual mixing
of a Jew with a German and imposes
criminal punishment.
INT. GERMAN NIGHTCLUB - 1934 - NIGHT
August and Irma Landmesser are in love. Dressed up. Dancing.
Twirling. Dipping. Laughing. Kissing. All to the popular
music of the day being played by a LIVE BAND.
50.
IRMA
Our rehearsing has paid off.
AUGUST
Has it really? I can't tell.
IRMA
You've become quite decent.
AUGUST
It's only taken six months to get
that twirl down.
IRMA
Give or take. Mostly give.
AUGUST
Has it been more than six?
IRMA
A little over a year. But,
completely worthwhile!
AUGUST
Let's go again.
IRMA
Yes! Let me powder my nose first.
As she heads across the crowded club to the POWDER ROOM,
August notices GESTAPO OFFICERS on the sidelines of the dance
floor. Scanning. Searching. Discreetly pointing.
Most dancers are completely unaware of what's going on. The
harassment and questioning that's about to happen. These are
the early days.
But August recognizes it. And he's caught off-guard. His eyes
dart to find Irma, just as she disappears into the bathroom.
INT. NIGHTCLUB BATHROOM - CONTINUOUS
Irma stands in front of the mirror next to SEVERAL OTHER
WOMEN, pinning her hair back in place with a smile as the
ladies banter on. Their words spilling on top of each other.
LADIES
Did you see them?/I heard they'll
just ask for names/And addresses/
They won't/They're looking for
artists/ And people who listen to
jazz/I don't believe it/It's all
blown out of proportion/No.
(MORE)
51.
LADIES (CONT'D)
This happened at the Wonder Room
last month/Rumors.
With concern, Irma hurries to finish, then heads out.
INT. GERMAN NIGHTCLUB - CONTINUOUS
August waits directly outside the restroom door. Irma stops
short when she sees him. They exchange a look.
To Irma, August appears enraged. To August, Irma appears
afraid. Expressions that they don't recognize in each other.
He holds out his hand. She takes it.
AUGUST
Laugh, dear. Laugh right now.
She does. He does too. Then, he hugs her tightly and spins
her in the opposite direction of the officers, away from the
dance floor. The MUSIC STOPS. Officers approach.
August and Irma are already halfway out of the door. CLOSE on
their coats on the chairs they've quickly left behind.
INT. MEETING ROOM - JUNE 5, 1934 - DAY
The heated deliberation continues in the wood-paneled room.
LÖSENER
We must answer the question here
today as to whether laws that the
Reich will institute should declare
only the separation of races. Or if
it should declare the superiority
of one and inferiority of others.
KOHLRAUSCH
The American material gives us a
path to an answer. America has
succeeded here. Their legislation
does not base itself on the idea of
mere racial difference, but, to the
extent this legislation is aimed at
Negroes, it bases itself absolutely
on the idea of inferiority.
KLEE
Germans are already convinced the
Jews are an inferior race. German
law should reflect that.
52.
FREISLER
Precisely, I am of the opinion that
we can proceed with the same
primitivity as the American states.
Such a procedure would be crude,
legally, but it would suffice.
EXT. ULRICH AND NATHAN'S TOWNHOME COURTYARD - DAY
Nigella and Isabel huddle over the document. He stops his
translation, comes up for air taking a much needed swig from
his wine glass.
ISABEL
(energized)
The Nazi blueprint for the
extermination of millions of human
beings was patterned directly on
America's enslavement and
segregation of Black people.
NIGELLA
America taught the Nazis. That's
what this is saying. It is... it is
jaw-dropping.
ISABEL
Yes. So, if the Holocaust is one of
the prime examples of caste... and
if America was the blueprint,
then...
NIGELLA
Then, America does fit.
He marvels at the new information. Isabel is on a roll.
ISABEL
Caste functions in America, India
and Germany in the same way. The
outcomes might be different, like
Sabine said. But they function the
same. The Third Reich's caste
system and America's terrorism
toward Black people? One was built
on the back of the other.
NIGELLA
Yes.
ISABEL
And the Hindu caste system in
India, I believe is connected too.
(MORE)
53.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
I have more work to do there,
but... there's something to this,
right? The interconnectedness. That
is my point. That's what I'm trying
to prove.
NIGELLA
You'll find it. You'll put it in
your book. But promise me one
thing?
ISABEL
What's that?
NIGELLA
Promise me you'll send your first
copy to Sabine. That'd be
perfection.
INT. MIDTOWN RESTAURANT - NIGHT
Dinner with Kate, her editor, takes place in a swanky eatery.
KATE
There's work on this...
(refers to her notes)
James Whitman...
ISABEL
"Hilter's American Model." It's
great.
Kate is listening while looking around for a waiter.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
I'm building on his legal angle to
prove that the origins in different
eras, different parts of the globe,
have the same roots. India's next.
KATE
Where is this guy? We've been
sitting here for what... twenty
minutes? No bread. No water.
She sees a server filling the glasses at another table. She
waves and mouths "bread please." The server nods, but
continues in the other direction.
KATE (CONT'D)
I think what you've got is enough.
The Black and Jewish connection
through the Nuremberg Laws? Solid.
(MORE)
54.
KATE (CONT'D)
Using that as scaffolding for the
argument is compelling enough.
ISABEL
I'm not arguing anything actually.
These are facts in plain sight. In
anthropology, psychology, political
science, philosophy, history
writing for years. I'm synthesizing
so people understand how it works
in their own lives.
KATE
How Nazis creating the Nuremberg
laws works in our own lives? It's
heady, Isabel. Let's maybe consider
focusing the thesis more. So people
have a shot at understanding what
you're getting at. You know?
(beat)
Where are these people? I mean, how
long do we sit here to be ignored?
That table came after us.
(then)
Have you started?
ISABEL
Yes.
KATE
I mean the actual writing.
ISABEL
I'm not ready yet. You know the
process.
KATE
I know your process. Very well.
You're an investigator. It's the
way your mind works. And it's
beautiful. But even if you slash
the time it took to finish "Warmth"
in half, we've got to let go of
these hold dates.
The waiter finally comes over with water and bread.
KATE (CONT'D)
(to the server)
What's going on? Why are tables
that came in after us being served?
Can you not see us? Is something
about our table different that's
made you treat us differently?
55.
At this point, we realize that Isabel is the only Black
person in the restaurant. The waiter is taken aback.
SERVER
No, ma'am. Not at all. I apologize.
I'll look into the order right now.
This seems to satisfy Kate. Isabel hasn't said a word about
it. She just watches.
ISABEL
You done?
KATE
What?
ISABEL
(moving on)
I want those dates.
KATE
I can't hold dates and personnel
for something that's not on track
to be finished in time.
ISABEL
I'll hit the date.
KATE
How? It's 14 months away. You know
we need six months, minimum, with
the completed material and...
ISABEL
I'll get it done.
KATE
Why are you rushing this?
ISABEL
I'm not rushing. I'm pushing
myself.
KATE
Why? Take your time. That's your
style. What's the rush?
ISABEL
Please hold the date, Kate.
KATE
(long, skeptical beat)
If we miss it, it's my ass.
56.
ISABEL
I won't miss it.
EXT. MIDTOWN RESTAURANT - A SHORT TIME LATER
The women head out of the restaurant onto the street, pulling
their coats on. A MAN holds the door open for them.
KATE
I'm not great at this kind of
thing, so forgive me if I'm clumsy
here. But, how are you holding up?
(beat)
I don't want you to leave thinking:
"She didn't ask." "She doesn't
care." Because I think of you so
often. More than you know. But then
by asking, maybe I'm bringing it up
and you were having a good day and
I messed that up.
ISABEL
I'm glad you asked.
KATE
Yeah?
ISABEL
Yeah. There's no day I don't think
about them. Mom crossed my mind
just now. She loved when men would
hold doors for women. She'd be
offended if the door wasn't held.
Old-school.
KATE
I'm with her.
Kate tightens her arm around Isabel. They walk on.
INT. RUBY'S BEDROOM - DAY
Isabel sits on her mother's bed. In the empty house. She runs
her hand across the pillow. Takes a moment to feel the space.
She picks up the pillow and puts it in a packing box. She
doesn't want to do this. Her eyes happen upon a crack on the
wall. She follows it with her eyes up to the ceiling.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE - LATER THAT DAY
A confident Latina realtor, GINA, explores as Isabel follows.
57.
GINA
Roomy. Fantastic light. Will you
update it or sell as original?
ISABEL
I'm thinking a fresh coat of paint.
GINA
Vintage it is.
Gina points to peeling wallpaper in a spare bedroom.
GINA (CONT'D)
There might be water damage there.
Gina enters the kitchen, turns on the water. No pressure. Two
or three droplets drip out in a sad, little stream.
ISABEL
With everything going on, I
basically locked the house up. I
have to deal with it.
GINA
It's a process. Isn't everything?
ISABEL
What's the price difference between
fixing it up and selling as is?
GINA
As is? You're basically giving this
little jewel away. The area is hot
right now with hipsters. These
older homes, when they're fixed up,
sometimes double in value. If you
can put in couple hundred or so to
fix it up, you'd have a competitive
situation with multiple bidders.
(off Isabel's shock)
You write books, right?
ISABEL
One book. Working on another. But
books don't pay like people think.
GINA
I get it. Sell as a fixer and don't
worry about it. Let someone else do
the work.
58.
EXT. RUBY'S HOUSE - DAY
Neighbors on their lawn peer with curiosity. A jogger snoops
mid-stride. Dogs bark in protest. Isabel speaks with an
ARBORIST beneath the magnificent oak tree that has adorned
Ruby's house with beauty for ten decades.
ARBORIST
The heartwood's infected, but it
ain't spread. I'd take it down now,
if I was you.
ISABEL
If it hasn't spread, then it can be
saved, right?
ARBORIST
I ain't a roof guy, but yours ain't
safe. Got water coming in. If
water's getting in, other things
get in. Termites. Mold. What not.
ISABEL
Yes. Of course.
ARBORIST
It's bad up there. Exposed holes to
the insulation, whole nine. My guys
can fix it with the tree removal.
ISABEL
Oh, but... I'm not sure yet. My
mother loved that tree. I don't
want to cut it down.
ARBORIST
You need it done.
(impatient beat)
Lady, I can fix this or I can
leave. What do you want?
Isabel freezes. He's trying to strong-arm her. She's upset.
And then, we hear a CAR DOOR BANG SHUT across the street.
Isabel turns to find...
EXT. ISABEL'S HOUSE - EARLY EVENING - FLASHBACK
Brett waves to her from across the street.
BRETT
Mornin'.
59.
ISABEL
Hi. Good morning.
He observes a PEST CONTROL WORKER working on a BUG NEST under
the eaves of her house.
BRETT
Looks like they decided to move in.
Even built their own guesthouse.
They both squint at the bad joke. The pest man climbs down
from a ladder with the DRIPPING HORNET'S NEST in his gloved
hands, heading to the back of Isabel's house.
PEST CONTROL
Puttin' it in the backyard to empty
out. Have your gardener get rid of
it in a day or two.
ISABEL
Wait, sir. Sir? I... I'd rather not
have it in the yard. I have dogs.
That spray can't be good for them.
He keeps moving towards the back gate.
PEST CONTROL
It's fine. It won't hurt `em.
Isabel blinks back her frustration. Doesn't push or protest.
Brett's been watching. He crosses the street toward her.
BRETT
(quietly to her)
Can I help?
She thinks for a second, then nods. He steps forward.
BRETT (CONT'D)
Hey. She said she doesn't want it
back there. You didn't hear her?
PEST CONTROL
I heard her, but I can't take it
with me today. My bins are full.
BRETT
You gotta figure something out
then, don't you? Or did you just
remove that for free? If it's your
treat, then you can drop it right
there. If you wanna get paid,
buddy, you gotta finish the job.
60.
Pest Control looks to Isabel, then back to Brett. He goes to
his truck in the driveway and pushes the hive in a bin.
Isabel and Brett watch. Standing on the curb, together.
BRETT (CONT'D)
Did I just mansplain?
ISABEL
You asked for permission. If you
hadn't...
BRETT
I'd be in white savior mode.
ISABEL
(surprised)
What do you know about that?
BRETT
I try to break bad habits.
ISABEL
(beat)
You asked for permission. Let's
call it being neighborly.
(then)
I haven't seen your Mom and Dad on
their walks much. How are they?
BRETT
They're slowing down. Talking about
moving to Florida. But, they're
okay. Hanging in, ya know?
ISABEL
The same with my mother. I get it.
BRETT
My Mom made me promise to come by.
She always wants to see me on my
birthday.
ISABEL
Wait? Is today your birthday?
BRETT
(nodding)
She still bakes me cake like a kid.
ISABEL
Cause you're still her baby. It's
sweet. Happy birthday...
61.
BRETT
Brett.
ISABEL
Happy birthday, Brett. Isabel.
(shaking his hand)
Birthdays are a big deal.
BRETT
They are?
ISABEL
They should be.
He takes her in. Somehow, he doesn't want to leave her.
BRETT
Why not come over and grab a slice
of cake? Mom'd love it. You could
help me make it a big deal. I have
no idea how to do that.
She takes him in, calculating. Then...
ISABEL
I haven't seen your folks in a
while. Sure, I'll come and say hi.
EXT. RUBY'S HOUSE - DAY
Isabel allows her memory to guide her now.
ARBORIST
Lady, I can fix this or I can
leave. What do you want?
ISABEL
My mother loved this tree. If
there's a solution that doesn't
involve cutting it down, I'm happy
to consider it. If not, I'll pay
the service fee and we can call it
a day. No hard feelings.
ARBORIST
(sigh)
Let me take another look.
Isabel nods with no satisfaction.
62.
EXT. CITY PARK - UNITED STATES - DAY
If you've never been to a Black family reunion, feast your
eyes on the food, the fun and the festivities.
FRANKIE BEVERLY AND MAZE's "Happy Feelings" plays on a large
speaker that shimmies with sound. Old folks and young-uns and
everyone in between dance and take delight in each other.
Several BBQs are on full blast. A spades game at one table.
Uno at another. Loud boasts and brags can be heard from both.
Standing near the BBQ pit and the long serving table are
Marion and Isabel working on replenishing the food.
Marion moves around like a pro, but this time with a CANE.
MARION
An arborist? What the hell is that?
ISABEL
It's a tree doctor.
MARION
Is it that serious? Lord. What's it
all costing?
Two twentysomethings, PATRICE and ANDRE, saunter through.
MARION (CONT'D)
What?
ANDRE
Respectfully, we - and everybody -
are wondering about an ETA?
Marion looks at Isabel, deadpan. Isabel muffles a laugh.
MARION
The ETA is when I say it's ready.
ANDRE
Yes, ma'am.
(then)
Aunt Isabel, how you been?
PATRICE
Yeah, how are you holding up?
The sympathy they offer changes the tone.
ISABEL
All's well. You both good?
63.
PATRICE
Oh yeah. Everything's good. I was
going to ask if you knew one of my
professors. Dr. Montgomery. I think
he studies the things you do.
ISABEL
Doesn't ring a bell, but I haven't
been keeping up like I used to.
PATRICE
Of course. Yeah. Well, he's a smart
man. A nice older gentleman. I
thought you might like to meet him.
Handsome for his age. Black.
This catches Isabel off-guard. Marion steps in.
MARION
Here, take this to the Uno table.
Let folks know we'll start in ten.
Patrice and Andre grab the bag of chips and head off.
MARION (CONT'D)
They mean well.
ISABEL
Brett always looked forward to
these. Only you and Mama really let
him in.
MARION
People weren't mean.
ISABEL
No, but there was always that.
What's she doing with him when she
could have a good brother? I even
thought it at one point, I guess.
(beat)
The containers we're in. Maybe the
label on your container says Black
woman, maybe it says white man,
maybe it says Muslim or immigrant
or Asian, whatever it says. We
assume that because we read the
label, we know what's inside. Trust
the label, put the container on the
shelf and that's it. That's what
the book is about in a way.
MARION
About interracial relationships?
64.
ISABEL
No. I'm looking at caste, the
phenomenon of setting one group of
people over another and the
consequences to the victims and
presumed beneficiaries.
Marion looks back at her with a blank stare.
MARION
Can you repeat that in English?
Pulitzer Prize-less.
(a challenge)
If you can.
ISABEL
Of course, I can.
MARION
Then do it. Please. Make it plain.
The Nazi stuff got me all twisted
around. How's that in the same book
about Brett? I don't get it.
ISABEL
(thinking, then new idea)
Was slavery a system of torture and
terrorism that Europeans used to
profit on the labor of Black people
who they considered inferior?
MARION
Yes. Hell, yeah, it was.
Isabel shakes her head no.
MARION (CONT'D)
Yes, it was.
ISABEL
They made it up, Marion. Race is
not real. It's pseudoscientific
nonsense that they used in their
quest for supremacy. They made it
all up. Toni Morrison said, you
don't give your children to be
nursed and raised by people you
feel aren't human. Who are animals.
MARION
Yes, Toni.
65.
ISABEL
They knew that was a lie. They knew
we weren't inferior. All of it was
lies. But they magnified those
myths and codified them - set them
in stone - inside systems. In our
laws, our medical care, where we
live, how we learn, what work we
do, even our food.
MARION
Racism at its finest.
ISABEL
Caste.
MARION
Everything you said is racist.
ISABEL
Then what do you call the same
thing happening in India? They're
all brown. All Indian. They have a
whole system with generations of
people forced to clean sewers with
their hands to this day. Right now.
A certain kind of person some call
Dalits. They're beneath the bottom
of the hierarchy. At one point,
they were forced to wear brooms
tied around their waists because
their shadow was supposedly
polluted. Their shadow. Had to
sweep behind themselves when they
walked. How's it racist if they're
the same race?
Marion raises an eyebrow. Good point.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
(on a roll)
You consider Jews to be white?
MARION
Definitely.
ISABEL
Okay, the majority are and the same
thing happened to them during the
Holocaust. Nazis wanted an all-
white republic. And they hated
Jews. So how did they make the Jews
not white? Put them at the bottom
of the hierarchy.
(MORE)
66.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Start with they're greedy, they're
dishonest, they're to blame for all
that's wrong in Germany. They're
dogs. Gas them. Kill them. Wipe
them out. Nazis and Jews were the
same color.
Marion nods, getting it.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
We've got to consider oppression
without always centralizing race.
It's hard to grasp being American
because it's all we know. But these
three containers have a lot in
common - and the label called race
isn't one of them. It's caste.
MARION
(a long, smiling beat)
Only took you 10 minutes for that
comeback.
Isabel smiles, feeling good about herself.
MARION (CONT'D)
Figure out how to say more of what
you just said. Make it plain. Talk
to real people. Like you just did
to me. Real people. Real things.
Marion goes back to her tasks. Isabel takes in the advice.
INT. HOME OF MISS HALE/LIVING ROOM - DAY
FIVE ADORABLE SMALL CHILDREN of varying ages run towards
Isabel. She kneels down and opens her arms wide to receive a
gaggle of hugs and giggles.
Their mother, MISS HALE, the picture of energetic motherhood,
enters with a smile. She wipes her hands with a dishcloth.
MISS HALE
(to the kids)
You have 30 minutes of reading time
left please. Back in the school
room, please.
The 12-year-old and 9-year-old grab their chubby-cheeked
three- and 4-year-old siblings, with the 7-year-old trailing
to get one last word with Isabel before running off.
67.
SEVEN
Mommie made your favorite.
ISABEL
She did!?
SEVEN
Yep. It's my favorite, too. It's so
good, Ms. Isabel. She only makes it
when you come because you love it.
ISABEL
I do love it. It's the sauce that's
my favorite part.
MISS HALE
(from the other room)
I'm missing a child in here please!
SEVEN
(whisper)
Me, too.
Seven runs off. Isabel, familiar with the house, heads into
the kitchen, grabs a spoon and takes a taste of the sauce.
MISS HALE
Isabel!
ISABEL
(caught, laughing)
I'm sorry, it's just...
MISS HALE
You're just as bad as these kids!
INT. MISS HALE/DINING ROOM TO KITCHEN - DAY
The homemade lasagna has been enthusiastically eaten and the
kids are getting put to bed by Miss Hale's husband, JAMES.
Before they leave, they all bid her a good night.
KIDS
Good night, Ms. Isabel./See you
next time./Night, night!
JAMES
Isabel, come by more often, will
ya? We seem to only get the lasagna
when you're around.
Hugs and good vibes. Clearing the table commences.
68.
MISS HALE
I can't believe you want to
interview me of all people.
ISABEL
Of course, I do. You're a dynamo.
(beat)
Your kids are perfect. Your husband
is a sweetheart. I mean...
Isabel smiles at Miss. A beat as Miss looks back at her
friend, her heart full. She goes to hug Isabel. A sisterly
embrace that takes on new meaning with how long Miss hangs
on. Isabel holds her tight, appreciating her sympathy.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
I'm okay. Promise.
EXT. MISS HALE'S BACKYARD PATIO - A SHORT TIME LATER
Miss sits in the backyard on a deck chair across from Isabel
who has her PORTABLE TAPE RECORDER going and her notebook
out. We catch the women in mid-conversation.
MISS HALE
Growing up, he watched white folk -
complete strangers, children even -
call his mother and grandmother by
their first names. Teenagers had
the nerve to call out `Pearlie' to
his mother instead of `Mrs. Hale.'
He hated that disrespect.
ISABEL
This is in Alabama, right?
MISS HALE
Selma. The family house is a few
blocks from the Bridge. He marched
the day the bridge was attacked.
ISABEL
Wow. I didn't know that.
MISS HALE
He was a kid. Was way in the back
of the group. He didn't get hurt,
but what he saw never left him. So,
he decided if there was one thing
he would do, he'd make them respect
the next generation in his line.
Imagine a young Black man plotting
to force respect from white folks.
(MORE)
69.
MISS HALE (CONT'D)
Decided he'd name his firstborn
`Miss' so they'd have no option but
to call me with the respect my
grandmother never got.
Isabel takes furious notes.
ISABEL
That's direct defiance of caste.
The most personal I've heard yet.
MISS HALE
I think one of the happiest times I
ever saw him was when this name
payed off exactly the way he always
dreamed it.
ISABEL
I need all the details.
MISS HALE
You sound like Dad. The day I came
home from school and told him what
happened, he needed every detail.
`What'd they say? And then what'd
you say? And what after that?'
Could barely contain himself.
ISABEL
That's me right now.
MISS HALE
Okay! So I was in tenth grade and
we'd just moved to Texas. My friend
and I had these walkie-talkies we'd
use between classes to talk or
whatever. Pre-cell phones, of
course. This is the late 80s. One
day, the principal calls me into
his office, all suspicious, wanting
to know why these people were
gathered around my locker. So I
showed him the walkie-talkie. He
asked my name. `Miss Hale,' I said.
`What's your first name?' `It's
Miss.' `I said, what is your first
name?' `My name is Miss.' `I don't
have time for this foolishness,
gal. What's your real name?' I
repeated my damn name about four
times.
70.
ISABEL
Your father tore a loophole in the
hierarchy. It's brilliant.
MISS HALE
So, the principal is furious. Tells
the secretary to check my records.
Of course, they confirm that my
legal name is Miss Hale. He then
says: `Hale. I don't know any
Hales. You're not from around here.
Where is your father from?' I said
`He's from Alabama.'
(a sad beat)
He said: `I knew you weren't from
around here. Know how I knew?' I
said no. He said, real cold, `You
looking me in the eye. Colored folk
`round here know better.' Then told
me to get the hell out.
The moment still hurts. Miss shakes her head, gazing out.
MISS HALE (CONT'D)
My Daddy'd told me again and again
to live up to my name. He'd say:
`They don't have the corner on
humanity. They don't have the
corner on femininity. They don't
have the corner on what it means to
be a whole, noble, honorable
person.' Quite the opposite.
She takes a sip of her red wine, defiant - like her Dad.
INT. ISABEL'S LIVING ROOM - DAY
Isabel is curled up on her couch watching a video on her
laptop of an academic conference.
ON THE VIDEO: An ornate room with a small group of prominent
academics, a mix of Indian-Americans and Indian nationals. An
INDIAN-AMERICAN WOMAN, a conference leader, speaks.
A man shifts in his seat uncomfortably. It is Dr. Suraj
Yengde. The traveler that Isabel saw years ago in the airport
with the Ambedkar bust.
INDIAN WOMAN
We proudly bestow this Ambedkar
Award to Dr. Suraj Yengde,
postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard
Kennedy School.
71.
As he takes the award, Suraj doesn't meet anyone's eyes.
CLOSE on Isabel, clocking his discomfort and taking notes.
EXT. AMHERST CONFERENCE - ANOTHER DAY
Isabel sits on a bench on campus with Suraj.
SURAJ
It was the people in the room.
Their last names. Names have little
meaning in America, but they
signify rank in India. And the last
names in that room? Some of the
most revered back home.
Isabel nods, trying to understand.
SURAJ (CONT'D)
(confiding)
I can't look them in the eye. In
India, they would not speak to me.
ISABEL
I guess I assumed the caste system
in India didn't follow people here.
In the modern day. Naive of me.
He looks at her with kind eyes, wrestling with how to
explain. Then, he points down to his leather sneakers, bends
and presses the toe area to make an indentation.
SURAJ
These shoes I bought back home are
not my size. They're too big for
me. I did not have the confidence
to ask for my size. I bought them
because I could not trouble the
salesman. I bought what he gave me.
ISABEL
What would he have done if you
asked for your size?
SURAJ
Thrown me out. Called the police.
Worse. You must stay in your place.
My place isn't freely buying things
I want from their stores.
Her surprise pushes him to elaborate. He leans in.
72.
SURAJ (CONT'D)
We have a feeling of danger with
them. Even in that room that day.
Getting an award. To them, I'm not
where I should be. They don't like
that, no matter what they say. I
have been here in the States for
three years. On a university
campus, where we all have the same
degrees. Still, they are a danger
to me. That's how I feel. Alone.
A moment of understanding between them.
ISABEL
I've read your work on Dr.
Ambedkar. I'm embarrassed to say
I'd never heard of him until that
day at the airport. It seems
unbelievable to me now. His work is
central to my thoughts these days.
SURAJ
We call him Babasaheb. It means
`Respected Father.' He wrote and
spoke extensively about people in
the so-called upper caste, and it's
the same as what's happening here
to your people.
ISABEL
There's something to that
correlation, don't you think?
Between us. Black people and
Dalits. And others?
SURAJ
Indigenous. Palestinian. Yes.
That's a part of my work. There's
been some scholarship about this,
but it needs continued analysis.
And amplification. From all sides.
Because those who don't want us to
acknowledge it benefit from it
remaining unexamined, don't they?
INT. MARION'S HOME - DAY
A much thinner Marion sits in her bed covered in a quilt,
working on a family photo album as Isabel looks through
pictures in an album of her own.
73.
Each time, we've seen Marion, we've seen her at a pharmacy or
with a cane. This time there is no doubt. She's not well.
But, her spirit is still lively. The cousins are in mid-
conversation, smiling and laughing.
MARION
How much is it?
ISABEL
All four estimates came in over
10,000 dollars.
MARION
You have a picture of Uncle Irving
at all? I can't find one of him
alone. Only with the cousins.
ISABEL
I'll look.
MARION
Well, you can't sell a roofless
house.
ISABEL
It'll have to wait `til I'm back.
MARION
You leave when again?
ISABEL
Next month. I have so much research
to do here and I have to start a
draft soon.
MARION
Been saying that for six months.
ISABEL
I'm not ready yet.
MARION
And saying that for six months. Do
you even know anyone in India?
ISABEL
That's the point of traveling.
MARION
Traveling to places where you're
warmly welcomed by familiar faces
is underrated.
74.
ISABEL
I've been emailing with a professor
who might help me navigate.
MARION
Might?
Marion reaches for something we hadn't noticed before now:
oxygen. She has a tank nearby and takes relief. Isabel's
worry is apparent as she watches Marion struggle.
ISABEL
You know, I could stay for a bit.
MARION
Go, so when you get home, you can
finally start writing this thing.
Folks should know about it.
Isabel takes that in. High praise from Marion.
MARION (CONT'D)
I don't have my arms all the way
around it, but I was thinking about
those containers, with the labels.
Like, Uncle Dennis...
She holds up a picture of a young Black man playing dice with
friends and smiling circa 1940.
MARION (CONT'D)
Most people would look at him and
never know what was inside. He
loved Beethoven and the Beatles
made the best peach cheesecake you
ever tasted and loved Twilight
Zone. Knew the titles of every
single damn episode. Unlikely.
(beat)
Maybe... Maybe not.
Marion places the picture carefully back into her album as
Isabel watches.
INT. ISABEL'S HOUSE - DAY
Isabel nuzzles her dogs and goes to grab her purse. Then, she
looks to the hook marked KEYS and they aren't there.
She freezes as she looks at the empty hook.
75.
QUICK FLASHBACKS: Brett finding keys in the laundry room,
Ruby finding keys behind the blender another day, Brett
finding keys still in the ignition, Ruby finding keys still
in the door. When they hand them to Isabel, they laugh at
her, or kiss her, or scold her, or toss them without fanfare.
She begins to look for the keys, retracing her steps. Behind
cushions. On top of the fridge. In the bathroom. She finally
finds them on her desk.
Isabel stares at the keys in her hand. Then, in an aggressive
move that we've not seen from her, she THROWS THEM HARD
across the room, knocking a plant over.
She stands alone in the house, trembling.
EXT/INT. DELHI AIRPORT - NIGHT
Out of immigration, Isabel searches. Becoming anxious as she
looks closely at each driver with a sign. Her name isn't on
any of them. She goes outside. Searching. Checking her cell
phone. No service.
Finally, she spies an OLD INDIAN MAN with deeply lined, dark
brown skin standing far away from the crowd. He holds a small
sign. She walks closer with high hopes and, alas, sees her
name. She waves. He waves sweetly.
EXT. DELHI STREETS - CONTINUOUS
She sits in the back seat of the TUK-TUK, a open air three-
wheel motorized cart. He skillfully drives within a crush of
cars, mopeds, pedestrians and other vehicles on the road,
speeding into the unmarked lanes like the rest.
She sends an email with the subject header "Marion" on her
Blackberry to Marion's partner, Teddy. "Hi Teddy: I've just
landed in India. How is she?"
Isabel watches this new world passing by. Scenes of life in
Delhi. People shopping. People cooking on the street. A DELHI
MOTHER cleaning the face of her YOUNG SON. MEN huddled near a
food stall awaiting a courtesy meal. Teenagers holding hands.
All the while, her heart heavy.
EXT. DELHI BOUTIQUE INN - LATER THAT NIGHT
Throngs of people, even in the middle of the night. The Tuk-
Tuk pulls up to one of many boutique hotels.
76.
Isabel exits with her roller bag. She pays the driver, asking
him if it's enough. He nods and actually gives her a couple
of coins back. She hands them back to him.
Neither speaks each other's language, but they communicate
through the kindness in both their eyes.
INT. BOUTIQUE INN - NIGHT
The INNKEEPER opens the door and Isabel walks into a clean
stark room. The overhead fan causes the CLOSED BRIGHT GOLD
CURTAINS to dance on the far wall.
She turns to thank the woman, who closes the door with a nod.
Her email pings. There's a reply from Teddy. It reads: "She's
comfortable. Not able to talk now, but hanging in."
Isabel sets down her suitcase and takes off her jacket and
blouse in the heat, heads to the window, drenched.
She opens the curtains to reveal a STUNNING VIEW of the city,
the energy of lights rushing into the dim room. Both the
poverty and the majesty of all this humanity overwhelm her,
especially so far from Marion. She closes her eyes and
breathes deeply.
EXT. DELHI STREETS - DAY
Isabel stands on the edge of the roadside. With a fanny pack
strapped around her waist, she considers how to cross the
busiest street she's ever seen.
No lanes. No speed limits. No rules. Just a wide open stretch
of asphalt with cars, mopeds, bikes and vans hurtling in
every direction. She'll never make it across.
A tall, distinguished Indian man, waves as he comes toward
her. It is Suraj. He's accompanied by a colleague, RAM. They
embrace warmly.
SURAJ ISABEL
Isabel! Suraj!
SURAJ
Allow me to introduce my colleague,
Professor Rawat.
ISABEL
Hello, Professor. It's a pleasure.
77.
RAM
Please call me Ram. And the
pleasure is mine.
CUT TO:
The trio race across the intersection and down the road,
passing sidewalk shrines to Hindu deities, adorned with
garlands. The men point out various people and places.
Isabel stops to browse a cart with brightly colored handmade
scarves. She selects one proudly.
ISABEL
For my cousin.
They pass a STATUE in a cage. The figure is of a stocky man,
in a western suit, tie and glasses. There's a pen in his
front pocket and he holds the Indian constitution.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Why is the statue caged?
RAM
Ah. Observant. Babasaheb. Leader of
the Dalits.
SURAJ
Isabel. It's Dr. Ambedkar.
ISABEL
Oh wow. He looks different here.
SURAJ
This is an image from when he
converted to Buddhism.
ISABEL
Ah, I see.
(drawn in)
He looks hopeful here. Beautiful.
SURAJ
He is those things to many of us.
All over the country, you'll see
his statues. Parks, road crossings,
railway stations, in villages and
cities both. To us, he's revered.
To others, they revile him. The
cage is to keep the vandals away.
They walk on. We linger with Ambedkar.
78.
99A EXT/INT. AMBEDKAR NATIONAL MEMORIAL - DAY 99A
Walking towards the memorial building, Isabel is transfixed.
SURAJ
The site of Dr. Ambedkar's original
home is now a museum. Quite
magnificent. The building is shaped
like an open book to commemorate
the Indian Constitution that he
helped draft.
They enter the building. Inside an INDIAN WOMAN DOCENT, shows
the trio around. There is a beautiful statue of Ambedkar,
life-sized. Dynamic.
ISABEL
Hello, Sir.
(beat)
No cages here.
She sits on a small bench near a schoolhouse exhibit. The
docent begins to tell a story.
INDIAN WOMAN DOCENT
As a boy, Dr. Ambedkar walked to
the schoolhouse carrying a gunny.
EXT./INT. INDIA SCHOOLHOUSE - 1900 - DAY
Dozens of little legs run up steps to a classroom. One boy
lags behind, waiting his turn to enter after the others. This
is YOUNG AMBEDKAR, 9. He carries a mat, rolled under his arm.
Inside the class, his small, brown hands smooth the edges of
the jute mat that he places on the floor in the corner of the
room. CLASSMATES go to great lengths to avoid passing him.
INDIAN WOMAN DOCENT (V.O.)
He was separated from kids of high
caste, so as not to pollute them.
Watching instruction by the TEACHER from across the room,
Young Ambedkar is not upset. He's not emotional. The sweet
boy counts on his fingers to solve a math problem with the
rest of the students. But his big brown eyes take in a view
of the blackboard through the little legs of his classmates
at their desks because Young Ambedkar is seated on the floor.
79.
INDIAN WOMAN DOCENT (V.O.)
He was not allowed to touch things
his classmates would touch. Desk
included. He was not allowed to
even touch the school's water.
Students dunk a wooden cup in a large water vessel to refresh
themselves. Young Ambedkar waits alone at a separate pump
until a GARDENER approaches and opens the tap.
The boy twists his head upside down as water rushes straight
into his mouth and all over his face. He is trying to drink,
unable to touch anything. Struggling to breath and swallow.
Once the tap is closed, he wipes his little hands on his
shorts and his sweet face with the sleeve of his shirt. As if
this is perfectly normal. Because for him, it is.
EXT. CAMPUS COURTYARD - LATER
Isabel records Suraj, Ram and Dalit intellectuals on an L-
shaped sofa, including JAJULA, a Dalit woman scholar.
SURAJ
Are you a vegetarian or a pure
vegetarian? Not a question you
would expect on an application for
a new flat in 2023. But, it is a
legal way to determine if we are
Dalits. Brahmins are mostly
vegetarians. Most Dalits aren't
pure vegetarian. So landlords will
ask that. And our answer is a basis
for denial of an apartment without
them technically breaking anti-
caste laws.
Isabel takes it all in, her eyes opening to what they share.
JAJULA
My thesis centered on Dr. King's
visit to India. He saw many of
these things first-hand while he
and Mrs. King toured the country.
ISABEL
Wow. What was the specific focus on
your work?
JAJULA
I explored his own analysis of his
visit.
(MORE)
80.
JAJULA (CONT'D)
I found the way in which he wrote
about India to be fascinating as
someone afflicted by caste in his
own country. I used his essay in a
magazine in the United States as
the core of the research. Do you
know Ebony Magazine?
ISABEL
He wrote about India in Ebony?
JAJULA
Yes! July 1959. It is quite
extraordinary. He goes into great
detail about the five weeks that
they visited. They toured the whole
country. Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta.
Dr. King wrote specifically about
caste in that article.
ISABEL
He used the word `caste'?
JAJULA
Several times. He's explaining it
to the readers of `Ebony.' Those
are African-American readers,
correct?
ISABEL
Yes! Yes, they are.
(beat)
Did Dr. Ambedkar ever offer a
solution on how to fight caste?
They respond enthusiastically in the affirmative. Isabel
holds her recorder closer to them, capturing it all.
JAJULA
He believed that the custom of only
marrying within one's social group
and barring marriages between
different types of people was the
culprit.
ISABEL
Endogamy. Preventing intermarriage.
SURAJ
Yes. He called caste the artificial
chopping up of the population into
fixed and definite units. For
Americans, the units are Black,
Brown, Asian, white, etc.
(MORE)
81.
SURAJ (CONT'D)
Here it is Brahmins and Dalits and
others in between. That is one of
the tenets of arranged marriages
here. He believed keeping people of
different kinds from marrying each
other was the origin of caste.
Isabel takes notes as the group continues to chatter. Her
mind is spinning.
INT. SHUTTLE - DAY
Her kind Indian driver commandeers the van through the hectic
city streets. Isabel, her luggage by her side, is in the
backseat. The urban landscape of Delhi zips past the window.
We hear Dr. King's voice from the referenced Ebony article.
DR. KING (V.O.)
In contrast to those in poverty,
there are Indians who are rich,
have luxurious estates, land, fine
clothes. And then there is the
problem of segregation. We call it
race in America. They call it caste
in India. In both places, it means
that some are considered inferior,
treated as though they deserve
less. The bourgeoisie behaves the
same the world over.
As she says goodbye to India, Isabel receives a TEXT ALERT.
It's from Teddy. It simply reads: "I think it will be today."
Her face falls. She starts to dial while gesturing to the
driver to please pull over somewhere.
Her eyes begin to glisten. He tries to find a place to stop.
He pulls up to SAFDARJANG'S TOMB, a marble and red sandstone
structure with several courtyards and octagonal towers.
EXT. SAFDARJANG'S TOMB - A FEW MOMENTS LATER
Isabel holds the phone close to her ear, not clocking where
she is as she walks through a long shadowed TUNNEL.
82.
INT. MARION'S HOUSE - SAME TIME
Teddy stands at the window on the phone with Isabel. Then,
walks to the bed revealing Marion.
Her state is alarming. Completely still, eyes closed, on a
breathing machine.
INTERCUT ISABEL IN INDIA and MARION'S HOME.
TEDDY
(into the phone)
I'll hold up the phone.
He touches Marion's shoulder gently.
TEDDY (CONT'D)
(to Marion)
Baby.
She doesn't rouse. Just labored breathing through the
machine. He puts the phone on SPEAKER.
TEDDY (CONT'D)
You're on speaker. She's... she's
not responding to folks.
ISABEL
I understand.
CLOSE on Isabel. Trying to get her bearings. Control her
emotions, which are overflowing. She emerges from the tunnel
into the stunning architectural surroundings.
But she looks to the sky. To the clouds over this majestic
place. She focuses on ONE CLOUD.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
(then, softly)
Marion. It's Isabel. I believe that
you can hear me. I'm calling you
now to say goodbye.
Teddy drops his head, covers his mouth with one hand and
holds the phone with the other.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
I want you to know that you have
meant so much to me. I will never
forget our talks. I've remembered
everything you said. Everything.
From when we were kids to the last
time I heard your voice. I promise
you...
(MORE)
83.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
I'll never forget you for as long
as I'm still here. You will walk
and live in me. I'll never forget
you.
Teddy takes Marion's hand, overcome. Isabel continues.
Focusing on the cloud that is taking shape.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
My father and your father were so
close. They loved each other so
much, didn't they? They passed it
on to us. We were so lucky. Watch
out for me please. Cover me, okay?
You'll have that power soon. I
won't see you. But you'll see me.
There's more to life than what we
can see. You're going to experience
it all.
Marion's face relaxes in a way that feels like peace. Her
head moves ever so slightly. Teddy kisses her cheek.
WIDE on Isabel. She drops to her knees.
INT. ISABEL'S HOUSE - DAY
The door opens to reveal Isabel with her luggage. She steps
inside, sets down her bags.
Then, she stands there. Still. There will be no hug from
Brett. There will be no visit to Ruby. There will be no call
from Marion. We feel their absence as we watch her.
But something has changed, she has a resolve. Something
internal, intimate. A light within her guides her forward.
She removes her coat. Underneath, she wears the scarf she
bought for Marion. She loops it around her neck.
She's ready to WRITE THIS BOOK. She steps PAST THE CAMERA.
INT. ISABEL'S OFFICE - MULTIPLE DAYS
Isabel rolls a suitcase into the room and kneels to open it.
She unzips the suitcase to reveal a BEVY of BOOKS. She
removes them like treasures, stopping at one by Ambedkar.
Over a montage, we hear her voice in her head. Writing.
Isabel reaches for a marker and makes notes on a LARGE
WHITEBOARD near her desk entitled "The Pillars of Caste."
84.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Dr. Ambedkar wrote: Caste is an
artificial chopping up of the
population into fixed units.
She writes the words: Pillar #1: "Endogamy: Control of
Marriage and Mating."
ISABEL (V.O.)
Each unit is prevented from fusing
into another through the custom
called endogamy. In showing how
endogamy is maintained, we can
prove the genesis and mechanism of
caste.
FRAMED PHOTOGRAPHS. We jump across images of HER PARENTS in a
loving embrace and of her and Brett, hugging and smiling.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Endogamy is defined as restricting
marriage to people within the same
caste.
She sits at her desk, with great focus. Sets down a piping
hot cup of tea.
ISABEL (V.O.)
This is an ironclad foundation of
any caste system - from ancient
India, to the Nazi regime to the
American colonizers.
Isabel opens her laptop with purpose. She punches keys to
bring up a fresh document.
CLOSE on her face. Ready. Typing: CASTE. By Isabel Wilkerson
INT. GERMANY/DENMARK BORDER 1937 - NIGHT
August and Irma drive down a dusty road in a truck through
the grasslands, holding hands. Worried, but determined.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Endogamy enforces caste boundaries
by forbidding marriage, sexual
relations or even the appearance of
romantic interest across caste
lines. It builds a firewall between
certain people.
Then, the couple's expressions become wrought with fear. Up
ahead, is a BLOCKADE of law enforcement.
85.
IRMA
(whispers)
August.
AUGUST
No.
IRMA
Oh my God.
He looks to her and kisses her hand. It's all he can do.
ISABEL (V.O.)
By closing off legal family
connection, endogamy purposely
blocks a sense of empathy and
shared destiny between people.
They exit the car at GUNPOINT, eyes locked on each other over
the hood. And then their worst fear -- the officials lift the
canvas in the back of the truck.
CLOSE on what they find: A FIVE YEAR OLD GIRL huddled in the
corner with a teddy bear in her arms. Irma screams. August
wrestles with the officers.
Their daughter is lifted from the truck by uniformed men as
August and Irma are arrested, taken in different directions.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE - PRESENT DAY
A CABINET REFURBISHER walks through with a drill one minute.
Passing back with cabinets doors and hinges the next.
In the dining room, Isabel is buried in a book.
ISABEL (V.O.)
One of the foremost scholars of
caste in America once wrote: `Tied
to what one looked like, membership
in either the upper or the lowest
caste is immutable, primordial,
fixed from birth to death,
inescapable. One may neither earn
nor wed their way out.'
She writes on a WHITEBOARD in Ruby's dining room: Pillar #5:
"Occupational Hierarchy."
86.
EXT. MISSISSIPPI DELTA COTTON FIELD - DAY
The scene depicted on the cover of a book that she took from
her home office shelf long ago: Three Black people in a 1930s
pick-up truck.
The TRUCK zooms by as the three people in the truck watch a
conversation happening on the side of the dirt road.
Those having the conversation seem uneasy with being watched.
A WHITE MAN, Burleigh Gardner and a WHITE WOMAN, Mary Gardner
are clearly uncomfortable with the passersby. From behind, a
BLACK MAN tips his straw hat to the people in the truck.
ISABEL (V.O.)
That scholar was Dr. Allison Davis.
(beat)
And he did the majority of his
ground-breaking work undercover.
The CAMERA PANS from Burleigh and Mary to reveal Allison
Davis, standing next to his wife, Elizabeth. The couple we
followed in Berlin during the Nazi book burning.
They look very different from the dapper pair we saw in
Germany. Allison is in overalls while Elizabeth wears a
simple handmade sundress.
ALLISON
(to Burleigh and Mary)
They're okay.
MARY
You sure? There's no telling what
this town'll do if they find out.
ELIZABETH
We all know what they'd do.
A beat of trepidation, then...
ALLISON
Let's stay on topic. There's
nothing we can do about it now. And
we have quite a bit to review.
They nod and listen to him intently. He's clearly the boss.
ELIZABETH
Well, we finally got proof that
that one land owner, Bailey, has
been whipping sharecroppers.
(MORE)
87.
ELIZABETH (CONT'D)
A tenant farmer named Bo told me
Bailey said if he didn't stop
`acting so big,' the next time it'd
be "a bullet or a rope."
Mary shakes her head in disgust.
MARY
Bailey's wife told me...
(reading from her notes)
`That's the way to manage `em when
they get too uppity.'
Allison nods with encouragement.
BURLEIGH
We heard about a tenant farmer next
county over who was beaten so badly
by a store merchant, he can't bring
in a crop. We're heading over there
tomorrow to the store.
ALLISON
Do we know what sparked that?
MARY
The Negro MAN asked for a receipt.
BURLEIGH
Beat him right there in the store.
The quartet stands in a field far from the town. As they
speak, they look up and down the road, constantly monitoring
their surroundings with an air of apprehension.
ISABEL (V.O.)
In the fall of 1933, Alison Davis
and his wife Elizabeth cut short
their advanced studies at the
University of Berlin and fled
Germany when Hitler took power.
They'd seen the Nazis burn books
and jail teachers, and this gave
Dr. Davis new insight into the
nature of hate. It inspired him to
study the process of injustice.
The team finish their meeting and head to their cars.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Davis was a young anthropologist
with two degrees from Harvard
University and a wealth of
experience abroad.
(MORE)
88.
ISABEL (V.O.) (CONT'D)
But, once in Mississippi, he had to
conceal all of that to survive. One
slip-up, one breach of the social
order, could cost them all their
lives.
Inside the car, Allison adjusts the GUN tucked into the back
of his belt. Elizabeth glances down at it for a moment as he
adjusts it to drive, satisfied that they have it.
ISABEL (V.O.)
And this was exactly what they were
doing in Natchez, Mississippi:
breaching the social order to study
the social hierarchy of the South.
A mission that would render them
undercover investigators in order
to fit into the community. The
other half of their team was...
Burleigh and Mary Gardner start their car and make a U-turn.
ISABEL (V.O.)
... a white couple named Burleigh
and Mary Gardner, also Harvard
anthropologists. Less experienced,
but passionate about the topic. The
mission was quietly revolutionary.
Together, all four would embed
themselves in an isolated southern
town from both sides of the caste
divide. This would be one of the
first studies of its kind.
Both cars take off in different directions.
ISABEL (V.O.)
But coming from the North, neither
couple fully knew what they were
getting themselves into.
EXT/INT. NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI - VARIOUS LOCATIONS
The elaborate process taken to conduct the landmark research.
QUICK CUT: Elizabeth Davis pushing her cart in the GROCERY
STORE. She stops to inspect the canned goods, when Mary
passes her without acknowledgement. A BLACK MAID pushes her
cart for her. Elizabeth makes eye contact with the maid, nods
out of respect. While Elizabeth distracts the Black woman,
Mary retrieves a SMALL NOTEBOOK from near the canned goods.
89.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Out in public, they had to remain
in character at all times, with the
Davises required to show deference
to the Gardners and never give the
appearance that they were, in fact,
colleagues in the trenches.
QUICK CUT: Allison Davis tips his hat and steps aside to
allow Burleigh to pass as he and a RED-HAIRED MAN cross paths
ON THE STREET. Burleigh doesn't acknowledge him as he passes.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Davis was the leader of the team,
but they couldn't let the locals
know that. They had to keep to
their own caste performance.
Everyone had to play the part
expected of them. It was imperative
that the white man appear to be the
leader. That the Black people be
subservient to the whites. It was
perilous to step out of character.
QUICK CUT: Red Hair looks back at Allison, scornfully.
RED-HAIRED
That monkey's too big for his
britches. Might have to train him.
Burleigh nods and plays along.
QUICK CUT: A thicket of trees obscure TWO CARS parking side
by side. The passenger and back doors of one side are open
facing the same profile of the opposite car. The four discuss
and share information as if they are in a true office.
MARY
I don't see how we stay much
longer. Our neighbor practically
invited us to a lynching yesterday.
We can't skirt that kind of thing
too many more times without it
becoming obvious we're avoiding.
BURLEIGH
And Allison, there've been some
unkind things said about you. I
can't be sure some of these folks
don't get a mind to do something.
90.
ELIZABETH
(rattled)
We're seeing similar suspicion. We
should consider...
ALLISON
(rallying)
Not yet. If they're inviting you
places and talking freely around
you, you're getting into the white
inner circle of this town and that
is what we need to observe. Liz and
I made our way into the Black inner
circle, day by day, hard fought.
This is the core of our research.
(beat)
You can't smash the system, if you
don't understand how it works.
(beat)
We show people how it works. That's
our job. Right here. We're close.
They listen and agree.
QUICK CUT: The Gardners on the porch of their quaint home in
the white side of town, reading, researching, debating,
typing. The street is alive with warmth and family bonds.
ISABEL (V.O.)
The two couples kept on the move.
Constantly changing clandestine
locations for safety. They couldn't
go to each other's homes. Mixing of
races was not allowed publicly, in
any form except subservience.
Kids ride shiny bikes with tassels as a POLICE CRUISER rolls
by. The children bicycle after the car, waving admiringly.
QUICK CUT: The Davises on the porch of a ramshackled house in
the Black part of town, reading, researching, debating,
typing. The community is alive with warmth and family bonds.
ELIZABETH
The most striking tenant of their
embrace of supremacy is deference.
That has to be the core of the
chapter, don't you think?
91.
ALLISON
Maybe you're right. Deference goes
beyond mere observance of certain
formalities - we call them "sir"
and they call us "boy" and "gal."
It extends to what the Negro is
allowed to express and how.
ELIZABETH
Exactly. Never contradicting
whites. Never correcting them.
Always agreeing with them.
ALLISON
Yes, Lizzy. Good. Not only having
to observe rules of deferential
speech and conduct, but also...
(writing, thinking)
... Negroes better believe them
wholeheartedly and act accordingly.
No reservations.
ELIZABETH
It's not enough to conform
reluctantly.
ALLISON
Right. Conform willingly.
Cheerfully even. Or else.
Then, they notice Essie, the maid Elizabeth saw in the store.
She observes them a few yards away with raised eyebrows.
ESSIE
Evenin'. Ya'll eat? Been out he'
readin' and writin' fah hours.
Ya'll ain't wont nothin'? Greens
wit' fatback. Gone git cold.
They immediately CODE SWITCH, changing their language and
intonation from academic exploration to colloquial greeting.
ALLISON
Hey nah! Ain't gotta tell me twice!
ELIZABETH
We comin'. We ready. Thank ya.
They put away their books and follow their neighbor inside
while exchanging looks to each other. Did she hear them?
Kids play with homemade baseball sticks as a POLICE CRUISER
slowly rolls by. The kids stop and watch - on guard.
92.
Allison nods and casts his eyes down deferentially as the
SHERIFF eyes him with a sneer of disdain. Then drives on.
ELIZABETH (CONT'D)
We barely made it out of Germany,
Allison. Let's not wait for the
same thing to happen here.
CLOSE on Allison. It might be time to go.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE - DAY
It's RAINING. WORKMEN carry plaster and hoses to the back of
the house, leaving muddy footprints on the hardwood floors.
Isabel clocks it, but goes back to reading a book. It's the
same one that she took off of her shelf long ago when she
attempted to write about Trayvon Martin. The same one she
held dearly at the gala event in the stacks alone.
Now, for the first time, we see that the back cover shows THE
PORTRAIT OF TWO COUPLES: the Davises and The Gardners.
INT. EAST COAST PORTRAIT STUDIO - DAY
Both couples pose for a picture being taken in a portrait
studio. They fuss over their ties and smooth their hair,
patting their skirts, raising their posture.
ISABEL (V.O.)
In 1941, the Davis and Gardner team
emerged with perhaps the most
comprehensive study, to this day,
of the American caste system. Their
ethnographic fieldwork was a choice
to risk their lives to document the
structure of human division. The
Davises and The Gardners remained
lifelong friends.
They look quite serious. Then, at the photographer's urging,
they all smile as the FLASH bursts.
EXT. RUBY'S HOUSE - ANOTHER DAY
The Arborist from before is working in the yard as Isabel
writes on her laptop on the porch. A POSTAL WORKER approaches
with mail and a warm greeting.
93.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Their book "Deep South" is a
quietly revolutionary, landmark
experiment in interracial
scholarship. A brilliant,
compassionate, rigorous testimony
of a long ago era.
Isabel puts down the computer to receive the package.
ISABEL (V.O.)
With each passing year, it becomes
an even more valuable gift to those
who seek to understand the
divisions of caste.
She opens it with care. Then, removes a sheet of stamps.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Dr. Allison Davis became the first
Black tenured professor at a major
white American university. His work
would go on to inspire Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr, Stokely Carmichael
and countless others who want to
understand the origin of our
discontent.
CLOSE on the face of the stamp. An older Allison Davis gazes
back, proudly enshrined on the postage. Silver-haired. Regal.
INT. NEW YORK PUBLISHING OFFICE - DAY
A swanky Manhattan office with chic decor. Isabel is escorted
past the open work spaces into the office of her editor,
Kate, who greets her with genuine warmth.
CUT TO:
Both women sit in Swedish designer chairs with their laptops.
KATE
The pillars are working. They give
it shape. How many do you think
there'll be?
ISABEL
Six or seven, I think. I'm close to
finalizing it.
KATE
You're going to make this deadline.
94.
ISABEL
I am going to make this deadline.
KATE
This self-imposed deadline.
ISABEL
There's no one to push me anymore.
I have to push myself.
This stops Kate, finally understanding.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
(pivoting)
Pillar five. Heritability.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
This one is fascinating. Horrifying
and fascinating.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
In India, generally one's social
rank is passed down by the father.
What he is, you are. In America
though, colonial Virginia, children
inherited the caste of their mother
by law.
KATE
Right. But why?
ISABEL
(a twinkle in her eye)
Caste.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
White men put it into a law so they
could claim the children that came
from their rapes of Black women as
property.
KATE
(dawning on her)
The more Black women they
impregnated, the richer they got.
ISABEL
They protected their "property" and
their profit. But they also
protected so-called "whiteness."
Which leads to the key pillar. One
that's central to all of this.
(MORE)
95.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
The destruction of relationship
between people of different kinds.
Often through violence.
INT. MONTGOMERY AIRPORT - DAY
Isabel walks through the small terminal, passing historical
exhibits that highlight the city's civil rights movement. Dr.
King, Rosa Parks, the Montgomery bus boycott.
INT/EXT. THE LEGACY MUSEUM - DAY
She enters the dazzling museum dedicated to tracing American
history from enslavement to mass incarceration. The exhibits
are dynamic and emotional. She browses, notebook in use.
Isabel comes to a double height wall with laws written on
squared panels to illustrate the injustice of the American
legal system. One reads: "Marriage or cohabitation with
knowledge of the difference in race between a person of
Caucasian or white race and a person of the colored or negro
race shall result in imprisonment, with or without hard
labor, for not more than five years." The law is attributed
to the Louisiana Criminal Code.
There are others outlining harsh laws to regulate matters of
the heart. We JUMPCUT through the policies of several states.
ISABEL (V.O.)
It was the caste system - through
the practice of endogamy which
essentially regulated people's
romantic choices over the course of
centuries -- that created and
reinforced the idea of "races," by
permitting only those with similar
physical traits to legally mate.
Endogamy laws written and enforced
by white men designed the
population of the United States.
This social engineering maintained
the superficial differences that
the American hierarchy is based on.
The idea of your "race" was the
result of who was officially
allowed to procreate with whom.
And, if you were not a white man,
and you violated that...
96.
EXT. NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE - DAY
Isabel stands amidst a majestic memorial which outlines the
crimes for which Black people were lynched.
Arthur St. Clair, a minister, was lynched in Hernando County,
Florida, in 1877 for performing the wedding of a black man
and white woman.
David Walker, his wife, and their four children were lynched
in Hickman, Kentucky, in 1908 after Mr. Walker was accused of
using inappropriate language with a white woman.
Lacy Mitchell was lynched in Thomasville, Georgia, in 1930
for testifying against a white man accused of raping a black
woman.
Isabel walks within a pavilion of more than 800 6-foot-tall
steel beams suspended from above. Each is inscribed with the
name of a state and a county where an African-American was
lynched. As she walks through, the beams hang high and
higher, conjuring the sensational of a body being strung up,
rising from the ground by rope.
ISABEL (V.O.)
An unknowable number of lives were
lost due to endogamy, the defining
pillar of caste. It triggered the
most publicized cases of lynchings
in America. A protocol strictly
enforced against Black men and
white women. While white men kept
full and flagrant access to Black
women, whatever their age or
marital status. In this way, the
dominant gender of the dominant
caste, in addition to controlling
the livelihood and lives of
everyone "beneath" them, also
eliminated the competition for its
own women and controlled who had
access to whom for romantic
relationships and reproduction.
Isabel touches Brett's watch as she stands beneath the
ascending steel structures.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE - ANOTHER DAY
Books and files are scattered across the dining room table. A
white board with various pillars of caste listed, crossed
through and circled, commands the middle of the living room.
Isabel is typing intensely when there is a KNOCK at the door.
97.
She opens it to find a PLUMBER in uniform. A plumber with a
Trump hat on. He's surprised to see her. She's shocked by the
hat. But of course, she covers.
INT. RUBY'S BASEMENT - CONTINUOUS
They descend the stairs to the basement. She leads.
They both step into about two inches of water. She goes to
move things and make room for him to inspect the problem. Her
mother's portable wheelchair. A lampshade. Stacks of her
father's engineering books. An old bucket.
ISABEL
(to the plumber)
There had been three or four inches
of water, but the HVAC guy helped
get the sump pump restarted to
drain most of the water out.
(off his silence)
This has never happened before.
She begins sweeping water as he looks down at the wet floor.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
I hardly ever come into the
basement. We had that drought, so I
didn't think about water in the
basement. My husband was the one
who came down here. He was the one
who checked the filter on the
furnace, checked the fuse box. He
died last year.
He just nods with disinterest, then digs into his tool bag.
PLUMBER
Uh-huh.
He steps over a few boxes, knocking a wreath to the wet floor
and not bothering to pick it up. Isabel observes this with
frustration, but keeps sweeping - as is her way.
He finally points to the sink.
PLUMBER (CONT'D)
That's where the water's coming in.
ISABEL
(with subtle disagreement)
But the sink's never overflowed
before. Maybe there's a drain
somewhere. Maybe it's clogged.
98.
She begins to move boxes, feeling alone and upset. At his
inaction. At his lack of empathy. At his hat. At everything.
PLUMBER
Probably the pump needs clearing
out. I'll write an estimate.
Why was he not looking to fix it? Wasn't that what he was
here for? She's not upset. She's sad. As if humanity has
failed her. We watch her watching him write an estimate. And
then, almost involuntarily...
ISABEL
My mother just died a few months
ago. Is your mother still alive?
PLUMBER
(caught off-guard)
No, no, she's not. Died in 1991.
Fifty-two years old.
ISABEL
Goodness. That's not old at all.
PLUMBER
(with regret)
Sure ain't. I'm about that age now.
Father's still alive though. He's
seventy-eight.
ISABEL
You're lucky to still have him.
PLUMBER
Well, he's mean as they come.
She takes this in, imagining what it's meant in his life.
ISABEL
You miss them when they're gone no
matter what they were like.
PLUMBER
(nods)
Got an aunt in her eighties who
still smokes and'll ask for a swig
of beer if you got a can nearby. On
my daddy's side.
ISABEL
Your father's side is long-lived.
99.
PLUMBER
(a small smile to himself)
Yeah. I guess they are.
He goes to the pump, bends down and starts to clear it out.
ISABEL (V.O.)
It is harder to dehumanize a single
person standing in front of you.
Harder to dehumanize an individual
you've gotten the chance to know.
He takes off his Trump hat to get a better look.
PLUMBER
If you get one end, we can move
this and see if there's a drain.
Together, they move the table and find the drain. He trains
his flashlight along the floor, inspecting the perimeter,
along the base of the furnace, every corner up and down.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Which is why people and groups who
seek power and division don't
bother with dehumanizing an
individual. Better to attach a
stigma, a taint of pollution, to an
entire group. Dehumanize the group
and you've successfully dehumanized
every individual person within it.
PLUMBER
I found it. Found the problem.
ISABEL
What was it?
PLUMBER
Water heater's gone bad.
EXT. RUBY'S PORCH - A SHORT TIME LATER
The plumber completes her receipt on his clipboard and hands
it to her. His hat is in his hand. Not on his head. He nods,
then heads to his pickup.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Nazi Germany, the United States and
India all reduced Jews, African-
Americans and Dalits to an
undifferentiated mass of nameless,
faceless scapegoats.
100.
She's relieved he's gone and that she got what she needed. No
sentimentality. Just stark recognition of what just occurred.
INT. RUBY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
She immediately goes to the whiteboard and writes furiously,
sparked by a new idea. She writes: Pillar #7: Dehumanization.
QUICK CUTS: DALIT WOMEN knee deep in HUMAN EXCREMENT,
cleaning a large latrine BY HAND.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Millennia ago, Dalits were called
the Untouchables of India and
forced into the degrading work of
manual scavenging, the practice of
cleaning excrement from toilets and
open drains by hand in exchange for
leftover food. This persists to
this day. To refuse is to invite
severe punishment or death.
QUICK CUTS: Close of the women loading the waste with their
hands into cane baskets and carrying it on their heads for
disposal. This isn't feudal India. It is now. A CAR passes.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Indian activists explain that the
manual scavenger is not a form of
employment, but an injustice akin
to slavery. It is one of the most
prominent forms of discrimination
against Dalits, and it is central
to the violation of their human
rights. To their dehumanization.
QUICK CUTS: Black people stacked horizontally, naked, gasping
for air, chained together, starving.
ISABEL (V.O.)
More than sixty million human
beings were tortured to death and
thrown overboard on slave ships
during the Middle Passage. Sixty
million. Sixty. Million. Souls. The
trade and sale of African people
demolished communities, obliterated
families and tore flesh from
spirit.
(MORE)
101.
ISABEL (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Through violent storms at sea,
starvation, mutilation and rape,
Black people were stacked and
squeezed into the hulls of ships to
be sold into further unfathomable
terror.
QUICK CUTS: Closer now. Among them, some are dead. A horror.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Their bodies did not belong to
them, but to the dominating caste
to do with however it wished.
QUICK CUTS: Close on their faces now. An unspeakable anguish.
ISABEL (V.O.)
A piece of property to be possessed
with complete disregard for human
dignity. To be worked until dead.
No longer daughter of a fisherman
or a nephew of the midwife. Now, a
soul-less animal. Not human.
QUICK CUTS: Jewish people being stripped, their heads shaved.
Then they are lined up, all in the same striped uniforms.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Upon their arrival at the
concentration camps, Jews were
stripped of the clothing of their
former lives. Their heads were
shaved, distinguishing features,
like sideburns or red hair, were
deleted from them. They were no
longer personalities to engage
with. They became a single mass,
purposely easier for SS officers to
distance themselves from.
QUICK CUTS: Close on their faces now.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Loving mothers, headstrong nephews,
dedicated bakers and watchmakers
all merged into a single mass of
undifferentiated bodies. No longer
seen as humans deserving empathy,
but as objects over whom control
could be exerted. They were no
longer people, they were numbers.
Dehumanized.
102.
CLOSE on one face at the camp in particular. It is Irma.
August's love. Once vibrant and full of life. Now, with her
hair gone. Her smile gone. The light in her eyes gone.
INT. VARIOUS PLACES - DAY
We see FLASHES of IMAGES toppling onto one another, the
culmination of Isabel's research now cascading into words
that will be the foundation of her book.
- Isabel reads passages in the office to Kate.
- Isabel researches in a LIBRARY.
- She writes "Terror and Cruelty" on the whiteboard at home.
- QUICK CUTS of a rope roughly looped around the neck of the
battered, BARELY CONSCIOUS BLACK MAN, circa 1933. A LITTLE
WHITE GIRL points in awe from her father's shoulders. We
recognize him as the Red Haired Man from Natchez. They are
among dozens of WHITE ONLOOKERS who revel in the carnival-
like atmosphere of murder.
- QUICK CUTS of a WHITE MAN IN A SUIT, circa 1933, grabbing
his mail after a long day. He rifles through envelopes to
find a POSTCARD. The front has a PHOTOGRAPH of the lynching.
He flips it over to read the inscription on the back: "Token
of a great day. This is the barbecue that we had."
- Isabel writes at a patio table in front of the bakery when
Amari, the editor who wanted her to write an essay, happens
by. They greet each other warmly. He sits and they chat.
- She writes the words: "Inherent Superiority vs. Inherent
Inferiority" on the whiteboard.
- We see ASHES falling from the sky during the second world
war. Germans go about their daily lives, trying to normalize
the human remains that blanket their cars and bikes.
- Isabel sits on her mother's bed. We've seen her here
before. Packing begrudgingly. This time, she works with
purpose. She opens the bottom drawer of Ruby's dresser and
removes the whole thing, bringing it to the bed. She rummages
through and finds loose newspaper clippings - of sports
events, wedding announcements and local stories. One catches
her eye. The headline: "Little League Baseball Team Rewarded
With Swim Day At Local Pool." CLOSE on Isabel, remembering
her mom's story in the clouds.
- In her home, she writes "Purity vs. Pollution" on the
whiteboard. Then the name "Al Bright."
103.
EXT. LITTLE LEAGUE GAME - YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO - 1951
A chubby-cheeked sweetheart of an 8-year-old boy, AL BRIGHT,
is on second base of a Little League baseball field. He
watches wide-eyed as his white teammate slams the bat,
sending the ball far into the outfield.
As the opposing side scrambles to recover, Al yelps in
excitement and takes off to the next plate. His teammates,
all white except for Al, do the same. Four boys hurdle over
home base one after the other in ECSTATIC TRIUMPH as the kids
in the dugout GO BANANAS. Al is euphoric as are his mother
and father in the stands, and all the parents and spectators.
The team starts to chant.
TEAM MEMBERS
City! Champs! City! Champs!
INT. SCHOOL BUS - NEXT DAY
Al is on the school bus with his teammates. All the boys are
happy and eagerly anticipating their destination. As the bus
pulls in front of the municipal pool, the COACH, a sturdy
white man in a baseball cap, makes a few announcements.
COACH
(stern)
Boys. I want you to behave
yourselves in here.
The boys nod solemnly. No intention of getting out of line.
COACH (CONT'D)
But the biggest thing I want...
(switches to joyful)
I want you to enjoy! You earned it!
The boys hoop and holler.
COACH (CONT'D)
We'll have the championship picnic
on the lawn right after we swim a
little. How's that sound?!
Sounds perfect! The champs are here!
EXT. MUNICIPAL PARK - PRESENT DAY
Isabel walks into the park to meet an ELDERLY WHITE MAN. She
shakes his hand as he rises from the picnic table to shake
hers. He begins to tell a story as she records and writes.
104.
EXT. MUNICIPAL PARK - 1951
The boys eagerly stream through the gates of the park with
coaches and some parents. Al happily enters with his friends
when a WHITE PARK WORKER approaches.
WHITE PARK WORKER
Hey, boy.
All the boys turn, but they know immediately which one is
being spoken to. And Al does too. The tone made it clear.
Al steps forward tentatively.
AL BRIGHT
Yessir?
PARK WORKER
You can't be in here right now. You
know better.
Al is confused. He looks at his teammates and then to the
COACH who is approaching the WHITE PARK WORKER.
COACH
Everything okay here?
PARK WORKER
This boy with your team?
COACH
Yes. He's one of my players.
The Park Worker steps away from the boys with the Coach. We
stay with Al's little face as he watches, wondering what's
happening. His friends do too. The boys watch an animated
conversation between the men. Wisps of the conversation: "The
maintenance crew won't have time to disinfect it."
ISABEL (V.O.)
The coach hadn't calculated for Al
in that setting as the only Black
player. He tried to bargain.
We see a couple of WHITE MALE PARENTS approach the huddle
with the coach. "Most of these boys' parents are at work. His
too. He has to stay with us."
ISABEL (V.O.)
They tried to persuade the pool
officials to let Al in, but the
park people weren't budging.
(MORE)
105.
ISABEL (V.O.) (CONT'D)
They agreed to one thing to lessen
the coach's embarrassment and not
spoil the day for the others.
CUT TO:
A pool full of energetic boys DIVING AND SPLASHING. Picnic
tables overflow with hot dogs, chips, punch and cookies.
And outside the CHAIN LINK FENCE in a small sliver of grass
near the cement sidewalk, Al sits alone on a blanket.
Watching from afar, he's not crying. He's not emotional.
Sadly, he's watching as if its a scene on a television show
or a movie. A spectator.
His big brown eyes track friends from picnic table to diving
board. His little hands holding a hot dog that's been brought
to him. He takes a small bite. Then looks back to the boys.
Chewing slowly. Observing the fun. Even smiling at something
he sees here or there.
ISABEL (V.O.)
From time to time, one or another
of the players or adults came out
and sat with him before returning
to join the others.
QUICK CUTS: A WHITE MOTHER bringing a paper bowl of potato
salad. TWO TEAMMATES wandering over to talk with him through
the fence. Al rises to talk with them, then sits down again
when they head back.
Coaches and parents in a group with park officials again.
ISABEL (V.O.)
It took an hour or so to finally
convince the lifeguards that they
should at least allow Al into the
pool for just a few minutes. The
supervisor agreed to let him in,
but only...
Boys and others scurry out of the pool.
ISABEL (V.O.)
...if everyone - teammates,
parents, all the white people in
the pool - got out of the water.
And only if Al followed the rules
they set for him.
106.
EXT. POOL - MOMENTS LATER
Al walks past his friends and classmates led by a LIFEGUARD
who places a SMALL BRIGHT YELLOW RUBBER RAFT in the pool and
waits for him to climb in. He struggles to do it alone, with
no one touching or helping him and with the mandate that...
LIFEGUARD
You cannot touch that water, boy.
Hear me?
AL BRIGHT
(quietly)
Yessir.
Once Al is in, the Lifeguard gets into the pool and begins to
PUSH THE RAFT with Al on top for a single turn around the
pool.
Dozens of teammates, coaches and parents watch from the side.
Some satisfied, some ashamed, all letting it happen.
LIFEGUARD
(to Al)
Don't touch that water. Keep your
balance.
Al holds his small body completely still, except for his eyes
which dart away from his teammates and onto the untouchable
water lapping against the shiny white tiles of the pool.
ISABEL (V.O.)
After the few minutes that it took
to complete the lap, Al was taken
back to his assigned spot on the
other side of the fence.
EXT. MUNICIPAL PARK - MOMENTS LATER
The little boy lays on his blanket alone again. This time,
not watching the poolside activity. But playing with a blade
of grass in his beautiful, brown hands.
ISABEL (V.O.)
The lifeguard had managed to keep
the water pure, untainted by Black
skin, for all the white patrons.
PRESENT DAY ISABEL approaches Al. He looks up at her.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Al Bright went on to become an
artist and educator.
(MORE)
107.
ISABEL (V.O.) (CONT'D)
He was the first full-time Black
faculty member at his alma mater,
Youngstown State University.
She reclines next to him on the grass, side by side. When he
turns his head to her, we see that he's been crying. A tear
falls down his cheek.
ISABEL (V.O.)
I missed talking to him for the
book by a matter of months. He
passed away at age 82. But a part
of him died that afternoon in 1951.
I'm told he was never the same.
She looks at him with tears in her eyes too. And for the
first time, she allows them to fall freely. No restraint.
ISABEL
(to Al)
You're gonna be okay. All is well.
She smiles at him. And he smiles back.
She reaches to wipe his tears. Then, her own.
END MONTAGE
INT. ISABEL'S BEDROOM - DAWN
The first rays of the day stream into her bedroom. Isabel
sits on the floor at the foot of her bed.
She's clearly been up all night, but she's in the zone. Her
energy is serene and powerful.
She strokes Sophie's fur, deep in thought. Deep in gratitude.
Then, takes a deep breath and types with great satisfaction.
Then, closes her laptop, quietly triumphant.
EXT. ISABEL'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
She walks onto the lawn, every inch covered by leaves. And
with a rake in hand, begins to move them into tidy piles.
INT/EXT. RUBY'S HOUSE - DAY
A completely refurbished house. The home is empty, clear and
pristine. The doorknobs are polished. The paint is fresh and
new. Isabel takes stock as she says goodbye.
108.
She moves down the hallway, taking a last look in each room.
ISABEL
When you live in an old house, you
may not want to go into the
basement after a storm to see what
the rains have brought. But, choose
not to look at your own peril.
She enters the living room and takes stock.
ISABEL (V.O.)
We're all like homeowners who've
inherited a house on a piece of
land that's beautiful on the
outside, but the soil is unstable.
People say, `I had nothing to do
with how this all started. I never
owned slaves. I didn't mistreat
Untouchables. I didn't gas Jews.'
And, yes. Not one of us was around
when this house was built. But here
we are, the current occupants of a
property with stress cracks built
into the foundation and a roof that
must be replaced.
Still and satisfied, she relishes the achievement.
ISABEL (V.O.)
We are the heirs to whatever is
right or wrong with it. We didn't
erect the uneven pillars, but they
are ours to deal with now. The
cracks won't fix themselves. Any
more deterioration is on our watch.
She closes the curtains and makes her way to the door, then
looks back at the home one last time.
EXT. RUBY'S HOUSE - CONTINUOUS
WIDE on the house from the street as Isabel closes the door.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Caste is not hatred. It is the worn
grooves of routine and expectation.
Patterns of a social order that
have been in place so long it looks
natural - when it isn't.
109.
She starts down the path to the curb. As she walks away from
the home, there are PEOPLE ON THE LAWN. She doesn't see them,
but they see her.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Caste is everywhere, yet invisible.
No one avoids exposure to its
message. And the message is simple:
one kind of person is more
deserving of freedom than another
kind.
On the lawn, she passes Trayvon Martin, the teenager who
bought Skittles, who watches her calmly in his black hoodie.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Freedom to go wherever you want to
go.
She passes August and Irma, the lovely couple from Germany.
ISABEL
Freedom to love whoever you want to
love.
She passes Allison and Elizabeth, the couple who traveled
from Berlin to Natchez.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Freedom to express yourself however
you want to express yourself.
And then she passes Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, who tips his hat.
ISABEL (V.O.)
Freedom to resist and fight for
your human right to do so.
Isabel passes the camera to reveal Ruby, Marion and Brett on
the front porch. They watch her go with pride.
INT. AUDITORIUM - DAY
Isabel speaks with confidence and candor to a standing room
only crowd. She speaks without notecards.
The cover of her new book CASTE is projected behind her.
ISABEL
The tragedy of caste is that we are
judged on the very things we cannot
change: the signposts on our body
of gender and ancestry.
(MORE)
110.
ISABEL (CONT'D)
Superficial differences that have
nothing to do with who we are
inside.
(beat)
The goal of this work has not been
to resolve all of the problems of a
millennia old phenomenon. But to
bear witness to it's presence in
our everyday lives and to shine
light on its history - despite
those who try to deny it and
withhold it. Despite those try to
convince us that we don't need to
know. We need to know.
(beat)
We don't escape trauma by ignoring
it. We escape trauma by confronting
it.
(beat)
You can be born to the dominant
caste, but choose not to dominate.
You can be born to a subordinated
caste and choose to take this
information -- and fight.
(beat)
My mother once told me: "All you
control is you." So, now that you
know what caste is and how it
works, how will you be brave?
(beat)
I'll leave you with that. And I
thank you very much for having me.
FADE TO BLACK.
END CARD:
CASTE, written by Isabel Wilkerson, debuted at Number Two on
the New York Times Best Seller List in August 2020, two and a
half months after the murder of George Floyd.
The critically-acclaimed book remained among the top in the
nation for 57 weeks, rising to number one on the week of
Donald Trump's defeat in the U.S. Presidential Election.
Wilkerson book's dedication reads:
"To the memory of Brett who defied caste and to the memory of
my mother, father and family who survived it."
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