no, thank you.
no, nothing.
absolutely.
i'm going through a period of my life where i just can't be around people. i didn't want to wind up abusing anyone.
lee.  you are the only person i can be with. who i really look forward to being with.
isn't it enough that i can love you?
hmm?
well, there was a time when you were very happy to be only with me. you wanted to learn everything about poetry, about music.
have i really taught you everything i have to give? i don't think so.
i'm sure all those morons he handles have a deep feeling for art.
because he likes you.
yeah.
elliot lusts after you.
based on. whenever you see him, you always come home full of books he's recommended.
or films you must see or.
he's a glorified accountant, and he's after you. and i prefer to sell my work to people who appreciate it, not to rock stars. you understand?
do you appreciate drawings?
they're in the basement.
i don't sell my work by the yard!
please forget it! i don't have any interest in selling anything!
i'm not interested in what your interior decorator would think, okay?!
this is degrading! you don't buy paintings to blend in with the sofa!
hello? hello? hello?
you're late.
you missed a very dull tv show about auschwitz. more gruesome film clips. and more puzzled intellectuals declaring their mystification over the systematic murder of millions.
the reason why they could never answer the question "how could it possibly happen?" is that it's the wrong question. given what people are, the question is "why doesn't it happen more often?" of course it does, in subtler forms.
it's been ages since i sat in front of the tv.  just changing channels to find something.
you see the whole culture. nazis, deodorant salesman, wrestlers. beauty contests, the talk show.  can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling? hmm? but the worst are the fundamentalist preachers. third- rate con men, telling the poor suckers that watch them that they speak for jesus. and to please send in money. money, money, money! if jesus came back, and saw what's going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up.
you know, you've been very nervous lately.
i'm just trying to complete an education i started on you five years ago.
when you leave the nest, i just want you to be ready to face the real world.
like what?
oh! are we going to have this conversation again?
why?
what are you going to use for money?!
tch, oh. i always told you you would leave me. but. does it have to be now?
oh. lee, you are my whole world. good god! have you been kissed tonight?!
oh, yes, you have!
you've been with someone!
i'm too smart, lee! you can't fool me! you're turning all red!
oh, christ! what's wrong with you?!
oh, couldn't you say something? you have to slither around behind my back!
so you met somebody else?
who is it?
but who? where did you meet him?
you are, you are my only connection to the world!
jesus. jesus!
oh.
please, don't patronize me!
god! i should have married you years ago when you wanted to! i should have agreed.
i told you, one day you would leave me.  for a younger man. i--