This is a short screenplay I wrote several years ago from a dream I had. The newsreel format was part of the dream, and pretty much everything in it is taken from the dream, though I expanded it a bit. A greatly truncated version of this will be published in Skive. Since I'm not likely to really do anything with this, I thought I'd post it. Blogger messed up the formatting, but it should be readable.
Man's Best Friend
TITLE CARD
RIP 1994 - 2104
NARRATOR (VO)
Today the world mourns the death of Charles Cotton, famed geneticist –
FADE IN
INT. LABORATORY – DAY
The feel is that of grainy, old fashioned WW2 era newsreel footage. CHARLES COTTON, a balding, kindly seeming man stands with a group of scientists in white lab coats in a laboratory setting. Cotton holds a strange, dog-like animal with humanoid features and mannerisms curled in his arms like a pet. This is a MAN'S BEST FRIEND(MBF). It looks like a cross between a small child and a hound dog, with droopy skin, long limbs and huge, exaggerated eyes. The other scientists hold stethoscopes and various monitoring equipment, and are eagerly examining the creature. They seem impressed and congratulatory of Cotton, as though he has just made a break through.
NARRATOR (VO)
Generous philanthropist –
CUT TO:
EXT. PARK – DAY
The same, grainy feel. Cotton stands with giant scissors poised to cut the ribbon for the opening of a new park. Gathered around him are many more MBFs. These look more advanced than the earlier one, more humanoid, but still with dog features. They still have huge eyes and droopy skin, but these stand upright and carry themselves more confidently. They all stand with mouths open, panting and excited. A light flashes and Cotton cuts the ribbon.
NARRATOR (VO)
A true American hero.
CUT TO:
INT. WHITE HOUSE – DAY
The same grainy newsreel feel. Cotton shakes hands with the president. Instead of secret service men, MBFs surround the men. They sniff Cotton, making sure he is a friend.
CUT TO:
EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE - DAY
The feel is that of low quality, sixties era home movies. A young Cotton plays in water sprinklers with his dog in front of their house.
NARRATOR (VO)
Charles Cotton was born of humble beginnings in the ending days of the twenty first century. But even then his best friend was a canine.
CUT TO:
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
Home movie feel once more. An older Cotton sits in class, being lectured to by a teacher. Cotton is obviously bored and surrounded by bored kids.
NARRATOR (VO)
A mediocre student, Cotton said of school, that his favorite part was leaving.
CUT TO:
INT. KITCHEN – EARLY MORNING
Home movie feel again. Cotton sits at the kitchen table, eating. His mother and father sit with him. Cotton feeds scraps to the dog under the table.
NARRATOR (VO)
But tragedy struck this idyllic life—
CUT TO:
EXT. GRAVE SITE - EARLY MORNING
The feel is that of a black and white 16 mm film. A young Cotton, slightly older than previous, stands beside a grave as two coffins are lowered into the ground. His dog is with him.
NARRATOR (VO)
Cotton's life was forever to change in the years that followed. He was sent to live with his Aunt, a loving woman who would always remain unable to break through to the boy.
CUT TO:
INT. STUDIO – DAY
AUNT ROSE sits in a chair. She is impossibly old and withered. She speaks with a weak voice that once would have been shrill.
AUNT ROSE
Charles was always an intelligent boy. But he didn't do well in school. He was too smart. Smarter than the teachers. He had trouble making friends, but he was very loyal. He was hard to get close to, but once you did, he'd never leave your side. I always thought the other children were missing out, not being his friend. But he never let it bother him. He spent all of his time with his dog, Toby. Making up adventures. I knew, from the first moment he came to live with us, that there was something about him. I always made sure to encourage him in his studies, and try to instill in him a sense that there were more possibilities in the world.
INT. STUDIO - DAY
Cotton, older, sits in a chair. A similar dog to the one shown earlier, perhaps a descendant, is sitting in his lap.
COTTON
Uncle Jim and Aunt Rose were always good to me. If it wasn't for Aunt Rose, I wouldn't have done well enough in school to even get into college.
CUT TO:
INT. GYMNASIUM – DAY
The feel is that of grainy, old fashioned WW2 era newsreel footage. Cotton stands on a stage at graduation, dressed in a gown, at the head of a line of other students. He takes his diploma and shakes the man's hand, then turns and waves.
COTTON (VO)
I had a real breakthrough in college. It was a whole new world full of opportunity. You have to remember, this was back in the teens. There was an air of change and prosperity. People dreamed big back then.
INT. STUDIO - DAY
Cotton with his dog, again.
COTTON
I had been working with Dr. Stromburger, in genetics at Cal Tech. It was a pretty unpopular field at the time. But a scientist can't read the headlines. We can only focus on the work. And one day, it hit me.
INT. LABORATORY – DAY
A group of scientists stand around a small robot, taking notes.
COTTON (VO)
Robotics was the big field at the time, that and nanotechnology, and I thought why not do what they were trying to do, but with genetics?
CUT TO:
EXT SUBURBAN HOUSE – DAY
A young boy, similar to the young Cotton, is playing in front of a similar house. But instead of his parents, he is playing with an MBF. The boy throws a stick, the MBF retrieves it, and throws it for the boy, who retrieves it, etc.
NARRATOR (VO)
And so, Man's Best Friends were born.
EXT. PARK—DAY
A group of children play in the park, watched over by several Man's Best Friends.
COTTON (VO)
They were smarter than canis lupus familiaris, stronger than homo sapiens. They were loyal, dependable.
EXT. CITY STREET – DAY
An MBF, dressed as a cop, writes a ticket.
COTTON (VO)
They could do the tedious things that no one else wanted to do, and never complain.
EXT. LAWN – DAY
An MBF mows the lawn.
NARRATOR (VO)
But as with all new things, uncertainty marred this incredible creation.
INT. STUDIO – DAY
An EXPERT sits. S/he is nondescript, giving the appearance of credibility.
EXPERT
They seemed like a good idea, if you didn't think about it too much. What you had with these MBF's, was a cheap
labor force, okay? But taking into account the already skyrocketing unemployment rates, well, it was like pouring gasoline into a powder keg.
EXT. CITY STREETS– DAY
A mob of people rioting, breaking store windows, and generally being violent.
EXT. PARK – DAY
A mob is gathered around two MBF's who hang limply from a tree, lynched. The mob cheers.
COTTON (VO)
People got pretty crazy over them. The religious groups especially. These are the same people who shot abortion doctors.
INT. CHURCH – DAY
A PREACHER rants vehemently.
PREACHER
Charles Cotton is an abomination before God. He has taken the gift of life, the gift of knowledge, and perverted the will of God.
COTTON (VO)
The most unexpected thing that happened—
CUT TO:
INT. CHURCH – DAY
A wedding. The groom, smiling, lifts the bride's veil, revealing her to be an MBF.
COTTON (VO)
-was when this guy, I believe it was in Minnesota, tried to marry an MBF. Good thing we made them sterile.
INT. STUDIO - DAY
Back to Cotton being interviewed with his dog.
COTTON
(laughs)
I have to admit, that one never occurred to me before.
EXT. ARMY BASE – DAY
Squads of MBF's march in formation.
COTTON (VO)
The most disturbing thing to me about it all, was when the government stepped in and took over control of the MBF's. If there were one thing I could change, it would be that.
INT. STUDIO – DAY
An EXPERT is being interviewed. S/he is also nondescript but gives the appearance of authority.
EXPERT
One thing that the government did do, that a lot of people didn't agree with, well, it was a choice between two evils. They took these creatures, who were basically slaves, and made them literally slaves. So you saw soldiers, cops, all sorts of jobs disappearing. At very least when they were still in the private sector, okay? They weren't serving a really useful purpose. They were baby sitters, or playmates for children, or basically smart pets. But when the government came in, we had some real problems. And this is where a lot of the resentment that's been directed at the MBF's is really coming from. You know, it's just like the steam engine, or the car, or the computer; when any new technology comes onto the scene and revolutionizes
things, there's going to be a period of adjustment. That's what we're seeing now.
INT. STUDIO – DAY
Cotton sits and pets his dog.
COTTON
It wasn't so much a question of equal rights, as there being no rights at all. I never meant for them to be slaves, or to be used for war, or anything like that. I just wanted people to have friends.
INT. LABORATORY – DAY
Return to first shot. The feel is that of grainy, old fashioned WW2 era newsreel footage. Cotton stands once more with a group of scientists in white lab coats, in a laboratory setting. Cotton holds the prototype MBF curled in his arms like a baby. The shot freezes on the MBF.
NARRATOR (VO)
Charles Cotton labored to the end of his life to bring about equal rights for his creations. He battled public opinion, governmental resistance, and health problems to make huge strides for equality. But whatever your feelings about Man's Best Friends, Charles Cotton truly left this world a different place.
FADE OUT.
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