Black Hat Brigade: Episode 11
Aug. 12th, 2015 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastSetting: Hill Valley Drive in Theatre, evening, just past sunset.
At the left side of the parking lot stand Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Biff Tannen, and Griff Tannen.
At the right side of the parking lot stand George McFly, Lorain McFly, Seamus McFly.
In the center stand Susan Pevensie in black dress and wide-brimmed black hat standing face to face with Marty McFly.
Susan Pevensie: Thank you for coming.
Marty: You know, Biff works with my dad in the 80s. There could have been some kind of one-on-one meeting. This franchise has never been about these tense standoffs or epic things.
Susan: True enough. But, so much has to be epic these days. And, I'm afraid we cannot, morally, afford to let anything have too little on the line.
Susan: We needed the entire McFly family present. We have an offer to present the lot of you.
Marty: What's that?
Susan: You can be heroes.
Marty: But, we're already heroes.
Susan: You are protagonists, not heroes. All of your efforts were, primarily, selfish in motive.
Marty: We still did big things, in the stories, and we beat the Tannens, the most obvious bad guys that could fit into a PG rating.
Susan sniffs: You think that makes you heroic? Comparing positively to the Tannens?
Susan: I suppose that might be something, if you actually compared favorably.
Marty: You bet we compare favorably. Biff Tannen is sexually assaulted my mom.
Susan: That's a good place to start. Because, yes, Biff Tannen did sexually assault Lorraine Baines and your father...
Marty: Didn't.
Susan: Because your father is so respectful of Lorraine and her bodily autonomy?
Marty: ... Okay, maybe not.
Susan smirks as she turns to look to the movie screen, which displays Marty McFly noticing young George McFly on a tree branch, spying on Lorraine.
Marty: Okay, but there's a difference between that and sexual assault.
Susan: How much? It makes the target less safe, invades their personal bodily autonomy, it's the result of prioritizing the perpetrator's pleasure over the victim's rights.
Marty: The violence, jeese.
The scene shows George McFly punching Biff.
Marty: That's different. He was protecting, Lorraine.
Susan: Really? That was his motivation?
Marty: Of course, what else could it be?
Susan: To gain the same rewards your plan would grant him.
Susan: Do you know what the phrase "Nice Guy" has come to mean?
Marty: A... guy... that's... nice?
Susan: A man who expects that following the unwritten rules of how to treat a woman will acquire him rewards and blames women when they do not reward him accordingly. You've heard the way people say that women always prefer the men who treat them badly.
Marty: I... uh... I'm just a character in a lighthearted romp.
Susan: I'm well aware. I'm just an example of a morally failed woman. Within our own worlds, we must be people, or there is no story to tell. And, the person of your father must, by the cannon, be-
Marty: Okay, Okay. Part of the joke was me finding out how not-perfect my folks were, that they were teenagers just like me. After all, I found out that mom drank and-
Susan: Was similarly disrespectful of your own consent, in matters of sex.
Marty: Uh... well... she was... listen, I don't like to say this about even my mom in the past before she was my mom. But, yeah, she had a crush on...
The screen shows Marty and Lorraine.
On Screen Marty: Where are my pants?
On Screen Lorraine: Over there... on my hope chest. I've seen purple underwear before, Calvin.
Marty: I had just been hit by a car.
Susan: One would imagine that calling an ambulance would be the proper response, rather than emergency partial nudity.
Marty: Fine, whatever. I learned things about my parents. And, they weren't... well, they were teenagers. It's not an excuse, but people grow out of being teenagers. Maybe they did. We don't see a lot of them to find out, in any time line. But, Biff didn't.
Marty: And, yeah, she kissed me without me saying it was okay, but even if it wasn't like kissing her brother, I wouldn't have had to tell someone else to help me.
Susan: Unless she comically mistook your attempts at pushing her away without violence to be you enjoying the kiss.
Marty: Yeah, things may have come close. But, the wires weren't nearly as crossed with Biff. Mom even told Dad "Help me". It coulda been just a poorly written geek-gets-girl 1980s fantasy outside the story. But, inside the story, it was Biff committing sexual assault.
Marty: Maybe it's not enough to be a hero, and maybe it's not by as much as I first thought, but every McFly is better than every Tannen.
Susan: But, you could be heroes, maybe even all of you.
Marty looks back to the other McFlies... then back to Susan: What're you talking about?
Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen speaks up: You can save a Tannen.
Griff Tannen: You can save all the Tannens.
Biff puts a hand on his son's shoulder and pulls him back.
Biff toward Marty: You ever wonder why I am the way I am?
Marty shrugs: No. I'm too busy trying to survive the Tannens to care much about that.
Biff points to the screen.
On screen old Biff: The information in here is worth millions and I'm giving it to you.
On screen young Biff: Well, that's very nice, thank you very much. Now, why don't you make like a tree and get outta here.
On screen old Biff smacks young Biff upside the head.
On screen old Biff: It's "leave" you idiot. "Make like a tree and leave." You sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong.
On screen young Biff: Alright then, leave. And, take your damn book with you.
On screen old Biff: Don't you get it? You could make a fortune with this book. Let me show you.
Biff: You think that's surprise on my face. It isn't. That's just because my mouth was always hanging open in that scene. It's all just casual. That kinda violence, so easy to do and so easy to take.
Biff: And, I don't hit him back. Why not?
Marty: Because, he's an old man and he can't really hurt you.
Biff: Like you? Like those kids I stole a ball from? No, what you saw there was me accepting his authority, as much as I accepted anybody's in the whole franchise.
Biff: I didn't hit him back. I didn't resist him. I even did what he told me to, said the saying right. I treated him like I treated other authority figures.
Biff: Think about that. In my youth, I respond to this old man, this stranger who struck me, like an authority. You gotta figure that it's more than just being bad that makes someone think that violence is just what authority does.
Marty: You're telling me that you were abused as a child. I might even sympathize. But, that doesn't make anything you did alright.
Biff: It's never gonna be alright. I'm the bad guy, I know it. But, if I'm also a victim. If being a victim is part of why I became the bad guy, someone else can be saved from becoming me.
Griff: I thought this was for all of-
Buford: Shut it, boy.
Griff continues to look confused, but shuts it.
Marty: So... you want to explain it so that it stops?
Buford: Not just explain it. Explore it. Show that it's more than just people being bad people. And, show people that you can have compassion for someone and still rightfully hate them.
Buford: That moment of compassion, not being just hated, but also shown for the tragedy, for most already canonical Tannens, that's the best we're gonna get.
Marty: All that's stuff for writers and directors to work on. I'm a character. All the McFlies are characters. What do you want us to do?
Buford: We want you to notice. Maybe not you, maybe your son or daughter. Either or both of them can be the new protagonists. They can get caught up in time travel. They can notice.
Biff: Maybe they save my son or maybe they can only save Griff. But, with the right intervention at the right time... maybe... just maybe.
Griff: What's going on here?
Buford: Walk over. Shake hands. You can become a good guy, Griff.
Griff: But, what about you.
Biff: Can't save everybody. Now get walking. *punctuates with a slap upside Griff's head*.
Griff walks forward, his mouth still hanging open as he looks at Susan Pevensie.
Griff: I thought the Black Hat Brigade was about getting justice for people like me.
Susan: It is. In this case, justice is still a conviction and punishment. But, it can also be hope.
Susan looks to Marty.
Susan: And, in this case, it can be achieved with another trilogy.
At the left side of the parking lot stand Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Biff Tannen, and Griff Tannen.
At the right side of the parking lot stand George McFly, Lorain McFly, Seamus McFly.
In the center stand Susan Pevensie in black dress and wide-brimmed black hat standing face to face with Marty McFly.
Susan Pevensie: Thank you for coming.
Marty: You know, Biff works with my dad in the 80s. There could have been some kind of one-on-one meeting. This franchise has never been about these tense standoffs or epic things.
Susan: True enough. But, so much has to be epic these days. And, I'm afraid we cannot, morally, afford to let anything have too little on the line.
Susan: We needed the entire McFly family present. We have an offer to present the lot of you.
Marty: What's that?
Susan: You can be heroes.
Marty: But, we're already heroes.
Susan: You are protagonists, not heroes. All of your efforts were, primarily, selfish in motive.
Marty: We still did big things, in the stories, and we beat the Tannens, the most obvious bad guys that could fit into a PG rating.
Susan sniffs: You think that makes you heroic? Comparing positively to the Tannens?
Susan: I suppose that might be something, if you actually compared favorably.
Marty: You bet we compare favorably. Biff Tannen is sexually assaulted my mom.
Susan: That's a good place to start. Because, yes, Biff Tannen did sexually assault Lorraine Baines and your father...
Marty: Didn't.
Susan: Because your father is so respectful of Lorraine and her bodily autonomy?
Marty: ... Okay, maybe not.
Susan smirks as she turns to look to the movie screen, which displays Marty McFly noticing young George McFly on a tree branch, spying on Lorraine.
Marty: Okay, but there's a difference between that and sexual assault.
Susan: How much? It makes the target less safe, invades their personal bodily autonomy, it's the result of prioritizing the perpetrator's pleasure over the victim's rights.
Marty: The violence, jeese.
The scene shows George McFly punching Biff.
Marty: That's different. He was protecting, Lorraine.
Susan: Really? That was his motivation?
Marty: Of course, what else could it be?
Susan: To gain the same rewards your plan would grant him.
Susan: Do you know what the phrase "Nice Guy" has come to mean?
Marty: A... guy... that's... nice?
Susan: A man who expects that following the unwritten rules of how to treat a woman will acquire him rewards and blames women when they do not reward him accordingly. You've heard the way people say that women always prefer the men who treat them badly.
Marty: I... uh... I'm just a character in a lighthearted romp.
Susan: I'm well aware. I'm just an example of a morally failed woman. Within our own worlds, we must be people, or there is no story to tell. And, the person of your father must, by the cannon, be-
Marty: Okay, Okay. Part of the joke was me finding out how not-perfect my folks were, that they were teenagers just like me. After all, I found out that mom drank and-
Susan: Was similarly disrespectful of your own consent, in matters of sex.
Marty: Uh... well... she was... listen, I don't like to say this about even my mom in the past before she was my mom. But, yeah, she had a crush on...
The screen shows Marty and Lorraine.
On Screen Marty: Where are my pants?
On Screen Lorraine: Over there... on my hope chest. I've seen purple underwear before, Calvin.
Marty: I had just been hit by a car.
Susan: One would imagine that calling an ambulance would be the proper response, rather than emergency partial nudity.
Marty: Fine, whatever. I learned things about my parents. And, they weren't... well, they were teenagers. It's not an excuse, but people grow out of being teenagers. Maybe they did. We don't see a lot of them to find out, in any time line. But, Biff didn't.
Marty: And, yeah, she kissed me without me saying it was okay, but even if it wasn't like kissing her brother, I wouldn't have had to tell someone else to help me.
Susan: Unless she comically mistook your attempts at pushing her away without violence to be you enjoying the kiss.
Marty: Yeah, things may have come close. But, the wires weren't nearly as crossed with Biff. Mom even told Dad "Help me". It coulda been just a poorly written geek-gets-girl 1980s fantasy outside the story. But, inside the story, it was Biff committing sexual assault.
Marty: Maybe it's not enough to be a hero, and maybe it's not by as much as I first thought, but every McFly is better than every Tannen.
Susan: But, you could be heroes, maybe even all of you.
Marty looks back to the other McFlies... then back to Susan: What're you talking about?
Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen speaks up: You can save a Tannen.
Griff Tannen: You can save all the Tannens.
Biff puts a hand on his son's shoulder and pulls him back.
Biff toward Marty: You ever wonder why I am the way I am?
Marty shrugs: No. I'm too busy trying to survive the Tannens to care much about that.
Biff points to the screen.
On screen old Biff: The information in here is worth millions and I'm giving it to you.
On screen young Biff: Well, that's very nice, thank you very much. Now, why don't you make like a tree and get outta here.
On screen old Biff smacks young Biff upside the head.
On screen old Biff: It's "leave" you idiot. "Make like a tree and leave." You sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong.
On screen young Biff: Alright then, leave. And, take your damn book with you.
On screen old Biff: Don't you get it? You could make a fortune with this book. Let me show you.
Biff: You think that's surprise on my face. It isn't. That's just because my mouth was always hanging open in that scene. It's all just casual. That kinda violence, so easy to do and so easy to take.
Biff: And, I don't hit him back. Why not?
Marty: Because, he's an old man and he can't really hurt you.
Biff: Like you? Like those kids I stole a ball from? No, what you saw there was me accepting his authority, as much as I accepted anybody's in the whole franchise.
Biff: I didn't hit him back. I didn't resist him. I even did what he told me to, said the saying right. I treated him like I treated other authority figures.
Biff: Think about that. In my youth, I respond to this old man, this stranger who struck me, like an authority. You gotta figure that it's more than just being bad that makes someone think that violence is just what authority does.
Marty: You're telling me that you were abused as a child. I might even sympathize. But, that doesn't make anything you did alright.
Biff: It's never gonna be alright. I'm the bad guy, I know it. But, if I'm also a victim. If being a victim is part of why I became the bad guy, someone else can be saved from becoming me.
Griff: I thought this was for all of-
Buford: Shut it, boy.
Griff continues to look confused, but shuts it.
Marty: So... you want to explain it so that it stops?
Buford: Not just explain it. Explore it. Show that it's more than just people being bad people. And, show people that you can have compassion for someone and still rightfully hate them.
Buford: That moment of compassion, not being just hated, but also shown for the tragedy, for most already canonical Tannens, that's the best we're gonna get.
Marty: All that's stuff for writers and directors to work on. I'm a character. All the McFlies are characters. What do you want us to do?
Buford: We want you to notice. Maybe not you, maybe your son or daughter. Either or both of them can be the new protagonists. They can get caught up in time travel. They can notice.
Biff: Maybe they save my son or maybe they can only save Griff. But, with the right intervention at the right time... maybe... just maybe.
Griff: What's going on here?
Buford: Walk over. Shake hands. You can become a good guy, Griff.
Griff: But, what about you.
Biff: Can't save everybody. Now get walking. *punctuates with a slap upside Griff's head*.
Griff walks forward, his mouth still hanging open as he looks at Susan Pevensie.
Griff: I thought the Black Hat Brigade was about getting justice for people like me.
Susan: It is. In this case, justice is still a conviction and punishment. But, it can also be hope.
Susan looks to Marty.
Susan: And, in this case, it can be achieved with another trilogy.
