For
their third date, Derek took Mena to a very bad movie. Tommy Wiseau's
infamous opus, The
Room, was
playing at the art theater downtown. Derek had seen it a dozen times
before, but only at home. Mena had only heard about it.
And
they had a blast. People came dressed as the characters, tossed
footballs around, threw plastic spoons at the screen, and shouted
along with every "Oh hi," right on cue.
Derek
and Mena were still laughing on their way out.
"You
were right, that was so awful," Mena said. "It
made Pumaman look
like genius. Please tell me guys don't spend all their
time in tuxedos throwing footballs."
"I
always preferred board games, myself." Derek put his arm around
her shoulder. "But yeah, it's like Wiseau's trying so hard to
make a good movie that it goes bad, but then it gets so bad it's fun.
You know he's said it's supposed to be like Tennessee Williams?"
"No
way. You've got to be kidding me. I've done Tennessee Williams, and
that was no Tennessee Williams."
"Really?
When was that?"
"Back
in college, Glass
Menagerie."
They
opened the door into the dark, misty night. "You mentioned
acting before," Derek said. "Did you like it?" The
closest he'd come to acting was in skits he'd shot with his friends
in high school.
"It
was all right, but I haven't tried it since then. I've just been
focusing on photography since I moved. On the other hand, lately I've
been thinking... They're auditioning for Streetcar
Named Desire over
at the theater center."
"Sounds
like a good idea."
"I
don't know if I'm that good. It's been a long time."
"As
long as you're better than Tommy Wiseau." Derek unlocked his
car.
Mena
said nothing as they dipped inside.
Derek
started the engine. It roared like a chainsaw, but it was good enough
for his salary.
When
they pulled out of the parking space, Mena said, "You know, he
reminded me of somebody."
"Tommy
Wiseau did?" Derek waited for some people to walk by.
"Yeah.
Actually, I shouldn't bring it up. It's an old boyfriend."
"Oh."
"Forget
about it—I had a great time. It was just like those Rocky Horror
shows I went to back in California."
"You
know, they're showing that next week."
"I
saw the poster. Derek, we should go! I've still got my old Magenta
costume. We can dress up and everything."
"Let's
do it," Derek said. "Though I'm not sure how I feel about
going out in my underwear."
"You
can borrow some of mine."
Derek
blushed. This was almost going too fast for him. Almost.
He
continued to muse about The
Room on
the way back to Mena's apartment.
"It's
just remarkable, you know?" Derek said. "You have to wonder
what the hell was going through his mind when he made it. Every shot
took a deliberate decision, and every single one was wrong."
"I
can believe it," Mena said. "I knew a few film majors back
in school. So full of themselves! You could tell them everything they
did wrong, and they'd just say, 'Quit trying to stifle my artistic
freedom.'"
Derek
could picture them, noses pointed at the ceiling. "What was
their stuff like?"
"Well,
one of them..." She groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose,
as if preparing to unclog a toilet. "His name was Danny. Thought
he was the next Scorcese, or Tarantino, or something. He made this
big crime drama he thought he was going to take to Cannes, or
Sundance. But he had no idea how to frame a shot, or build a story,
or deal with actors. He'd give these stupid lines and throw a fit
when we ad-libbed something better. He couldn't even decide if it a
comedy or not."
"Sounds
pretty bad." Derek thought of what Harrison Ford once told
George Lucas: George,
you can write this shit, but you can't make us say it.
He
asked, "Were you involved?"
She
froze. "With him or the movie?"
"Um."
Derek wasn't sure, so he gave the honest answer. "Both, I
guess."
She
twisted her hair around. "Okay. Yeah. Danny's the boyfriend I
was talking about."
Derek
wasn't sure whether to keep asking. He was blowing it, he could tell.
But he had to know. "So what did you do?"
Mena's
arms were crossed, and her eyes seemed to watch the unpleasant
baggage roll up. Derek knew he should have shut up.
She
sighed. "I was in it."
***
FADE
IN
INT.
Head-on shot of Garth Preconn, who walks out of his apartment with
massive determination. He is a street-smart badass with a heart of
gold, ready to take on the world. His mom yells from inside.
MOM
(offscreen)
Garth, remember to buy me some
foot cream while you're out!
(offscreen)
Garth, remember to buy me some
foot cream while you're out!
Close
up of Garth as he looks over his shoulder, giving the camera a good
look at his chiseled face and determined stare. It's a determination
from years of living on the street, where life is hard, so hard you
need a chainsaw to cut through it.
GARTH
Okay, Ma.
Okay, Ma.
Wide
shot. He walks to the elevator at the end of the hall. His determined
stare is not hindered by his duties. He farts, really loud, like he's
laying waste to the world behind him. He waves his hand in front of
his nose.
GARTH
Damn pancakes.
Damn pancakes.
The
elevator door opens up and he walks in there. In there with him is
Betany, a smoking hot babe he's had eyes on for a while. Close up to
Garth, then Betany, who smiles, then Garth, who longs to tell her how
he really feels. Then back to the medium shot of both of them.
GARTH
Hey, what's up, girl? You know, I've
had my eye on you for a while.
Hey, what's up, girl? You know, I've
had my eye on you for a while.
BETANY
I'll bet that's not the
only thing you want on you.
I'll bet that's not the
only thing you want on you.
They
make out. They get out of the elevator together and go outside.
Betany points up.
BETANY
Look, a rainbow.
Look, a rainbow.
There's
a rainbow.
GARTH
You know how they say a
leprechaun keeps his gold
at the end of a rainbow?
You know how they say a
leprechaun keeps his gold
at the end of a rainbow?
BETANY
Of course, I've heard the legends.
Of course, I've heard the legends.
GARTH
Just you wait, baby. I'm
gonna get to the end
of the rainbow, and grab
that gold.
Just you wait, baby. I'm
gonna get to the end
of the rainbow, and grab
that gold.
BETANY
Wow, really?
Wow, really?
GARTH
Naw, bitch. I'm just using a metaphor. You'll see. I'm gonna make us rich.
Naw, bitch. I'm just using a metaphor. You'll see. I'm gonna make us rich.
***
Derek
gripped the steering wheel, and stared straight ahead. He kept his
eyes on the road, away from Mena. "You were in it, huh?"
"It
was a small part," Mena said. "Danny offered me the main
love interest, but I didn't want to do any nude scenes."
"But
you were in
it."
"It's
not important. My scene didn't even affect the plot—not that
anything did."
Derek
nearly laughed. He thought better of it. "How bad was it?"
"Bad.
Very bad. Room bad.
MST bad. I'm just glad we never released it. You can't even find it
on YouTube."
"You're
kidding. What's it called?"
"The
End of the Rainbow.
Remember, it's a crime movie."
A
huge laugh jumped out. "'End of the--' No way. That is not real.
I have to see that."
"Good
luck. You're not going to find it anywhere."
"You
sure? There's gotta be a copy somewhere."
She
said nothing. Now Derek knew he'd screwed up. "That's okay,"
he said. "If you don't want me to see it, I don't have to. Lord
knows I wouldn't want anybody to see the embarrassing stuff I did in
college."
Mena
turned and looked out the window. "Don't worry about it."
They
arrived at Mena's apartment. When they got to the door, Mena told
Derek to wait outside, and darted in. In a few minutes, she came back
out and handed him a DVD in an envelope. "Here it is. The
End of the Rainbow.
Tell me what you think." Her head stayed turned to the side.
The
label was a plain-white envelope sticker with the title scrawled in
Sharpie. "What if I like it?"
"That's
a big if." She sighed, and thought a moment. "Just be
honest, okay?"
"Okay,"
Derek said. "I had a good time."
"Me
too," Mena said.
Derek
went home, and went to bed.
First
thing in the morning, he put on the movie.
It
made The
Room look
competent. At least that let you see the characters. The lighting in
this movie left everybody in silhouette. Every frame was a jumbled,
off-balance mess, as if it were shot in a cramped bar with a bad cell
phone. Derek didn't rule out that possibility. The most intense
scenes came off as goofy; the goofiest ones were just moronic.
It
starred writer, director, and producer, Danny Ellis, as the hero,
Garth Preconn. He was a tough and intense gangster who pouted like a
rejected Twilight vampire and recited all his lines in a dry
monotone. Derek decided Garth must have been a Vulcan.
The
story, if you could call it that, was Garth's epic rise and fall. He
starts out in a dull apartment with a cranky mother, gets into drug
dealing, makes thousands of dollars, blows it on more drugs, and
finally dies in a police shootout. No conflict or tension; it just
happened, as if on autopilot. Garth does things until the cops show
up. Shots are fired. The end.
The
random, misplaced fart jokes did not help.
There
was an awful lot of nudity, as well. Derek kept count of how many
female characters went topless, slept with Garth, or made out with
him. There were thirteen, in total.
Then
there was Mena.
***
EXT.
Derek arrives at the Pussy Whip, the most popular club on the West
End.
INT.
Derek walks in, and there are some smoking hot babes dancing and
jiggling their titties and everybody's having a good time. Garth is
holding a duffel bag full of coke. A stripper greets him and leads
him to the dressing room, where four more strippers are waiting. All
of them are topless except for Dena. They're doing their hair or
something. They stop whatever they're doing and go up to him perkily.
DENA
Hey, you got the stuff?
Hey, you got the stuff?
GARTH
Right here, babe.
Right here, babe.
Garth
lays the bag on the table and opens it and pulls out a smaller bag of
coke. The bitches are all over him and stuff, but he holds them back.
GARTH
Easy, ladies. One at a time.
Easy, ladies. One at a time.
He
hands the first bag to Dena.
GARTH
Here you go, girl.
Here you go, girl.
DENA
Thanks, Garth. You're so
hot when you bring me my blow.
Thanks, Garth. You're so
hot when you bring me my blow.
He
passes a bag to each stripper. Dena lines her stuff up and snorts it.
DENA
Wooooooooooooooo!
Wooooooooooooooo!
She
goes up to Garth and starts tongue kissing him and licking his face.
The other strippers join in. It's totally hot. He totally does all of
them. Yeah.
***
Well,
at least she got out of it without getting naked. But that was her,
playing the stripper Dena. How humiliating. Now Derek could see what
made her so ashamed. Or made her break up with Danny. Or move out of
California.
He
thought, oddly enough, of Ed
Wood,
the Tim Burton movie. Ed, played by Johnny Depp, shows his girlfriend
Dolores, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, his script for Glen
or Glenda.
The film is basically Ed's confession to the world—and her—that
he cross-dresses. Their relationship only crumbles from there.
This
movie wasn't quite on the same level as Glen
or Glenda,
but he could imagine Mena dreading the same outcome. Not only was her
part degrading, but she said her lines like a kid reading Shakespeare
aloud in class. The only actor worse was the lead. And Derek laughed.
The movie was hilarious, and he felt terrible for it. Here was a girl
he truly liked, and he was laughing at her.
But
he thought about it over lunch, and wondered, why let him see it at
all? Why put him—or herself—through this? If she was so worried,
did that mean she thought this was going somewhere? That this might
work out?
He
called her. "I watched it."
Silence,
for a moment. "What'd you think?" Mena said.
"Pretty
god-awful."
"Told
you so. How was I?"
"Well..."
"You
can say it."
"I..."
"Tell
you what, you want to get coffee later? I'll pay. Will that make up
for your suffering?"
"Sure."
He definitely wanted to see her. "Five o'clock?"
"Sounds
good."
They
said goodbye, and Derek hung up with so much more to talk about. He
stored it up and charged it while going through his day, visiting his
dad, buying some screws and nails, and going to the library for their
internet. Just as Mena said, he couldn't find anything on The
End of the Rainbow.
The closest he pulled up on YouTube were either "double rainbow"
parodies, Lucky Charms commercials, or Sesame Street songs.
He
drove up to Mena's apartment at ten till five, and knocked on her
door holding the DVD. When she answered, he handed it to her. They
stared at each other, each waiting for the other to speak first.
"Well,
come in," Mena said.
Derek
went in.
Her
apartment was cramped, but she kept it pretty neat. A worn-looking
laptop sat on the desk, and a small HDTV hung on the wall next to it.
Black and white photos surrounded the TV. Trees, parks, desert roads,
LAN parties, beaches. Derek had seen some of it before, and he found
it hauntingly beautiful. Hiring her as cinematographer would have
improved End
of the Rainbow a
great deal.
"Okay,"
Mena said, still holding the DVD. "What'd you think?"
"Honestly?"
Derek said. "I had a good time watching it. It was one of the
best bad movies I've ever seen."
"And
what about me?" Mena said. "You can say it. I sucked."
"Well...
yeah. You weren't very good. But I don't know if anybody could save
that material. Just look what George Lucas did with Natalie Portman.
I refuse to believe that's how you did in Glass
Menagerie."
She
stared at him. "Wow. Thank you."
"You
should audition. I'd love to see you in a real part."
"Thanks.
I actually gave them a call earlier." She set the disc on the
table. "So where does this leave us?"
"Actually..."
Derek scratched the back of the neck. "This is a longshot, but
I'd kind of like to watch it with you. We can riff it together."
"Riff
it? Like, make fun of it?"
"It's
just a suggestion. Honestly, it's kinda cool that I'm going out with
someone from a bad movie."
Mena
chuckled, and brushed her hair aside. "You sure about that? You
might not live through my performance next time."
Derek
shrugged. "If you're embarrassed, we can skip it. Not like it
affected the plot, right?"
"Not
like anything did."
Derek
laughed, and then Mena laughed, and pondered over the TV. Then she
opened up the DVD player. "Want anything to drink?"
***
INT.
Garth's hideout. Garth's hiding away from the cops. He's got stubble
and some Jack Daniel's and some last few ounces of drugs. He's almost
lost everything. He's drunk. Piss drunk. I mean, really drunk.
Totally hammered. Someone knocks at the door.
GARTH
What?
What?
Betany
comes in.
BETANY
It's time, Garth.
It's time, Garth.
GARTH
For what?
For what?
BETANY
I think you know.
I think you know.
GARTH
Maybe I don't.
Maybe I don't.
BETANY
And I think you do, Garth.
The cops are on the way.
And I think you do, Garth.
The cops are on the way.
GARTH
Wha? Shit, girl, I'm glad
you told me.
Wha? Shit, girl, I'm glad
you told me.
BETANY
No, you see, I'm the one
who told them. I told
them everything.
No, you see, I'm the one
who told them. I told
them everything.
GARTH
You did what?
You did what?
BETANY
I squealed. I tattled.
I played canary. I gave 'em
the whole story. They're gonna
put you away, away for a
long time.
I squealed. I tattled.
I played canary. I gave 'em
the whole story. They're gonna
put you away, away for a
long time.
GARTH
How could you do this?
How could you do this?
BETANY
You played me. You cheated
on me, made out with all
those chicks, left me high
and dry. You remember what
you promised, don't you?
You played me. You cheated
on me, made out with all
those chicks, left me high
and dry. You remember what
you promised, don't you?
GARTH
Refresh my memory.
Refresh my memory.
BETANY
The end of the rainbow. I'm
still looking, Garth. Where is it?
The end of the rainbow. I'm
still looking, Garth. Where is it?
GARTH
You want the end of the
rainbow? Here it is, skank!
You want the end of the
rainbow? Here it is, skank!
He
gets up and shoots her five, maybe six times. She staggers back and
slides down the wall. There's another knock at the door.
POLICE
(Offscreen)
It's the police. We're here
to arrest you for the drugs.
(Offscreen)
It's the police. We're here
to arrest you for the drugs.
GARTH
You'll never take me alive, coppers.
You'll never take me alive, coppers.
POLICE
Don't resist arrest, Garth.
Don't resist arrest, Garth.
GARTH
You want me, come and get me.
You want me, come and get me.
POLICE
All right, you asked for
it. This is the end of the
rainbow, and I'm your pot of gold.
All right, you asked for
it. This is the end of the
rainbow, and I'm your pot of gold.
GARTH
Show me what you got!
Show me what you got!
He
pulls out his gun as the door opens. Fade to black as we hear
gunshots in the background.
POLICE
(still offscreen)
We told you not to resist,
Garth. Now you're dead.
(still offscreen)
We told you not to resist,
Garth. Now you're dead.
Credits
roll, and the audience pauses to take in how awesome that was. Right?
FADE
OUT
***
Derek
and Mena never went out for coffee. By the time either one remembered
the original plan, they were halfway through the movie, so they
ordered pizza instead.
And
they riffed up a storm. They even watched Mina's scene, and Mena
herself was the first to crack jokes at it. When the movie was over,
Mena exhaled slowly. "How long have I been holding that back?"
"You
needed it," Derek said. They tapped their beers in a toast. Mena
chugged the rest of her can and crushed it in her fist.
"I
did need that." She pulled her hair aside. "Know why I
really broke up with Danny? Turned out he was sleeping with Betany."
"What
a shock."
"Yeah.
And a few months later, she found out he was sleeping with someone
else behind her back."
"He
triple-timed you."
"That
he did. Last I heard he was working tech support for some video game
company. That's a much better use of his talents, don't you think?"
"Oh,
definitely," Derek said. "I mean, that was—it was like he
tried to remake Scarface based
only on what Iknow
about Scarface.
And I haven't even seen Scarface.
Can you believe that last scene? What'd he use for blood, house
paint? And the dialogue! What was he—"
Mena
kissed him. "I had a great time, Derek."
"Me
too, Mena."
They
left the TV on, but that was the last they said of The
End of the Rainbow for
the rest of the night.
Previously published in Drinkers for Writers, 2012.
<<>>
I almost wonder if this even needs an introduction. It wears its influences on its sleeve. The entire story is my love letter to Mystery Science Theater 3000 and bad movies in general. I got the idea when I ran across Emma Donoghue's Room at a bookstore, and thought of Tommy Wiseau's The Room.
For the record, I have yet to read Donoghue's Room. I have, however, read Greg Sestero's The Disaster Artist, which is an entertaining memoir about his experience starring in Wiseau's The Room. I wish I could say I drew on it for this story, but this was locked in long before Sestero's book came out. It doesn't look like I was too far off the mark, though. Pun not intended.
Amazingly, in the original draft, it was just the story of Derek and Mena, with only quick references to the movie itself. It was my then-extant writing group that encouraged me to write out scenes from the movie itself. The screenplay segments you see in this story are almost exactly what I originally wrote, with only minor changes for clarity. I'm honestly a little too proud of how awful they are.
Speaking of that writing group, in 2012 we put together a zine collecting stories and poetry from our members. My contribution (other than editing) was this very story. You can still read that version here. This version on this page, however, is a more up-to-date edit. I'd strongly prefer that you read this one.
Making the screenplay segments look decent in an ebook was a nightmare.