Where Are We? Our Trip Through America (1992) - full transcript
Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, romantic partners from San Francisco, travel primarily to the rural south. They interview folks from gay marines, men in barbershops, plus the down and out about their dreams of the future.
Where are we?
-The town square of Yanceyville.
What's it called?
-Town square of
Yanceyville, North Carolina.
Yanceyville?
-Mm-hm.
Can you tell
me about the town?
-I don't know much about it.
It just-- it's just small.
Where you from?
-I'm from Providence.
Where's that?
Oh, Providence, Rhode Island?
-No.
Providence, North Carolina.
It's about five miles from here.
We set out to take
a trip outside of our world,
the one where we
feel comfortable,
and to make a film about
strangers we met along the way.
-Ah!
I work for Old Dominion.
In Temple Hill.
What's Old Dominion?
It's a
cemetery up in Roanoke,
Virginia.
What's the most important
thing you have to keep in mind
when you're digging a grave?
-Just don't get
hit by the backhoe.
When you're digging it.
We were two gay
men from San Francisco.
We chose to travel
through the South.
It seemed so foreign
to us yet so American.
And then make our way home.
Where are we?
Rocky Mount.
Seems like a
nice neighborhood.
-It's boring up here.
Yeah?
Where would you rather be?
I'd rather be in New York.
It's violent, and
I like violent.
-Mmm.
We're from California.
-Y'all drove all the way out
here to see a real rainbow,
sir?
Yeah?
-Mmmm.
Gosh!
We set out just
after the Persian Gulf War.
We had the money to
wander, with our film crew,
for 18 days.
We had no idea what to expect.
But for me, the best
part of travel is surprise.
So where are we?
-Eh we're at
Rumley's restaurant--
-Morrisville--
-In Morrisville--
At Rumley's--
What happens around here?
Not a whole lot.
-Well, we got
curb service...and,
um, you can go inside
to eat if you want to.
What do you guys
do for fun around here?
-Around Morrisville?
Cruise Collin--
Cruise
around or go to another city
-Cruise Collinsville
or go downtown with it.
That's-- where I
know all the girls are.
-Yeah, where all
the girls are we go.
The race is always
big, Morrisville Speedway.
What kind of races?
NASCAR.
-Uh, NASCAR.
NASCAR.
-NASCAR.
-NASCAR.
Mmm, speedway.
We don't
know what that is.
-You don't know what
NASCAR speedway is?
Oh.
Stock car racing.
-Stock car, racing.
-Go on back?
I gotta-- I gotta
go wait on a car.
-Yeah.
You need a pad?
What's your-- what do
you know about-- what's your
image of people
from San Francisco?
-Well, uh...
I guess...
depends, cause
sometimes it's more that--
the faggish image.
You know, that's
just, the local image.
That's what...a
lot of people think.
You know.
I don't really think that, cause
I don't really know anybody from
San Francisco, so I
can't...rightly say that.
You know.
-All the southerners eat
pinto beans and raw onions.
Sounds delicious.
-Dinner isn't complete, they
have to have their pinto beans
and raw onions.
What about the food here?
-No idea, I was
desperate tonight.
I was hungry.
But we ate at Best Western, and
that used to be the Holiday Inn,
it's 220 North right
outside of Collinsville,
and the food there is good.
Are you from here?
-Not originally, but I
spent-- unfortunately,
spent most of my life here.
-And you folks are going
through the country doing this?
Yep.
-Good.
What do you
think we should ask people?
-Beg your pardon?
-What do you think
we should ask people,
when we're talking to them?
-Oh.
Eh, I don't know what, you
just-- you might not
wanna ask them what I would.
What's that?
-Yeah.
If you tell them
you from California,
you might already ask them
some real nice questions,
you know.
They might run you back-- might
run you back to California.
No, we-- we appreciate
people from other countries.
-I love everybody.
You know.
I have six
daughters and one son,
so might-- I lose my son.
Three years ago.
And so, all the young people
called me Mom around there,
when I was back there
sittin' in the parking lot.
So I got more sons
than I birthed really.
What
happened to your son?
-Well, he drank a lot.
And he got
stabbed twice, in the...
Oh, I'm sorry.
Got stabbed here, and he
was in intensive care,
then they just stabbed
him in the back with a 007,
he never got over with.
So that's kin, you
know that was sad.
Because he lived about two
hours after he left my house,
then he died.
What are you afraid of?
-Nothing.
Well what good, would
it do to be afraid?!
I can't whoop nobody.
And I think a lot of people
like me cause I like everybody.
-Anything can happen.
This world is wicked.
It's crazy out here.
And I'm riding
with my little boy,
uh, we're alone, we're
black, riding around the South,
OK?
And, anything could happen.
But, you know, there's a trust
that I have in God that we're
protected.
So we're
from San Francisco.
Have you ever met anyone
from San Francisco before?
-Naw.
No I haven't.
I've heard it's a
beautiful place,
San Francisco.
What are
your images of it?
- Well as--
- as far as what I hear?
Yeah.
-Um, it's the gay
capital of the world.
That's, you know,
that's basically all you hear
about it, really.
Um, I hear it's a pretty place.
And it's really beautiful--
What do
you think of that?
-About what, being the
gay capital of the world?
Well, I don't have
any desire to go-- to go there.
You know, or to have my
kids around that type of,
um, environment.
You know, because...because
of what I believe.
You know, um.
If I did go there, I'd
go there witnessing,
and trying to help
some-- some people,
who are into that,
to get out of it.
You know.
-When we moved to Tennessee, my
wife moved back to New England.
13 years ago.
And I've just
finished raising my kids,
and I'm, uh, shifting into
second gear and kinda getting on
with life as a solo flier.
She didn't
like it down here?
-Uh...
I wouldn't-- I don't know it's
that she didn't like it down
here, I think we came down
here maybe so that we could get
divorced.
Out of our
families, and, you know,
I think a lot of people
do that kind of thing.
Go somewhere to throw up, or do
the bad things in your life and
get straightened out, and I
think that's what she had to do.
What's your biggest fear?
-My biggest fear?
Well, I been shot at,
to tell you the truth.
Yeah.
I've had that done to me.
And it scared the
daylights out of me.
Uh, I've got--
What happened?
-Uh, I said something
to this person and,
um, something that he done.
And I just mentioned it
and he took his .22 uh--uh--
semi-automatic and kinda like
shot it up above my daughter and
I's head and I kinda like had to
shove her down into my water bed
to keep from getting shot.
That was the biggest fear
in my life and it scared me.
Very, very deeply.
And I never, ever want to go
through that experience ever
again.
What did your parents do?
-My dad, he's deceased,
and he did real good.
Raised three
children, by himself.
My mother, I
don't never see her.
I never seen her
since I was a child.
So...
What do you
remember about your mother?
-I don't remember her.
I don't really uh-- the things
that-- that I do remember,
I don't want to remember.
So I just block it out.
She did some terrible things.
And I, I'll never forget it.
And I just-- I just don't even
want to talk about it either.
Can I have
your attention please?
We have just crossed over
into the Central Time Zone,
please set your
watches back one hour.
Thank you.
I grew up
in New York City.
I've always liked being
surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
It's comforting.
I feel I'm in the midst
of new possibilities.
That's why I like to travel.
When I was a kid I took a train
trip to California to visit my
grandmother.
Back home, everyone
thought I was weird.
I didn't like sports, I
wanted to be an actor.
Jeffrey, I'm
going to turn the water on.
-OK!
Things got so bad, one
day my entire 5th-grade class
chased me home after school.
But for three days on
the train, all by myself,
alone among
strangers, I had no history.
No identity.
I could be
whatever I wanted to be.
-You just--
is this what you want?
-Just-- just right around here.
-Just some new lines,
right around the bottom edge.
-Yeah.
-OK!
-Thanks.
-Well what is the price of
haircuts where you-- in your
hometown?
Various, I supposed.
-What are the prices?
-Yeah, Mm-hm.
-I think you can still get a
regular men's haircut for $12.
-Uh huh.
Uh huh.
-But, you know,
you go to a salon,
or something it's--
-15 or more?
-Oh, 25 at least.
-Said you want to leave
it long enough to comb,
didn't he?
-Well yeah, but there
wasn't much there to begin with.
-I can make it shorter.
-No.
You already got
two strikes on you,
I'm not gonna give you
another chance at it.
What grade are you in?
-Seventh.
What do you want to do
when you get out of school?
-I dunno.
-I'm, uh, retired
from the US Navy,
and you were asking my boy
what he hoped to be one day,
but, uh, he hopes to be a
fighter pilot one of his days.
Wants to go to Academy.
Is that what
you want him to do?
-Yeah, well, he's
showing interest in that,
and uh-- and uh...
I wouldn't mind
him being a fighter pilot.
What do you think the
biggest problem in this country
is today?
-Too many goddamn
liberal news reporters.
-Want to take the guns
away from everybody,
think that's gonna solve crime.
Stupid ideas like that and
the dumb politicians we got in
Warshington, that
go along with it.
Got
some very crooked,
though, don't they?
-Yeah, both.
Dumb and crooked.
They used to have
statesmen to run this country,
when they started.
Wrote our Constitution.
Now all we got's bureaucrats and
politic-- politicians that don't
amount to nothing.
They couldn't get an honest
job, so they run for government.
They
may be bought off.
So tell me
what you think,
um, the solution is.
-Oh, I doubt if it-- if
anybody can really solve things,
but they could start by doing
away with a lot of the crap they
show young kids on TV.
They could make a good start by
taking a lot of these bad guys,
drug runners, and all people
that's guilty of murder and rape
and things out, and execute 'em.
Quit babying them like they
was sending them through Yale
University.
Be a lot of good starts if
they just wanted to get with it.
Turn-- turn America
back to an honest,
God-fearing place.
See any hope
of that happening?
Not
without a revolution.
-This house here, Tom, has got
your hardboard siding on it,
it's what we call
Masonite siding.
And it's also got
your shingled roof.
What's really nice
about this house here,
is you got the Venetian blinds
over here which is real nice.
You've got the metal
doorknobs instead of plastic.
And then on all your
doors you have these,
door stoppers.
Where your doors won't
slam back into your panel.
Usually
when I get a customer come in,
they'll come straight into
this bay window because it's a
attention-drawer.
If you have a hutch,
or a microwave stand,
or something like that,
you can set it right here.
What I did with this home
here is I cathedral'd it,
all the way through.
And that way you can put a
ceiling fan in any room.
Your pictures, and
your little whatnots,
and your flower arrangements,
and your mail and all that,
all that comes with the
house when you buy it.
Everything goes with the house.
That's good.
I'd sure like
to have your business and
everything.
If you like, I'd be glad
to take you in the office,
set down, figure up your monthly
payments and everything for you.
But you'd need about
1800 down on this house.
-1800 down?
I'd say your payment
would probably run you right
around 215 a month.
215?
-I appreciate ya coming in.
Appreciate you.
Any time.
OK.
Have a good evening.
-You too.
When you were a kid, what
did you want to be when you grew
up?
-Professional baseball player.
- Did you ever--
- did you try to be one?
-I-- I was one.
Really?
Tell him, where'd you play?
-I-- I went with
Detroit Tigers Farm Club.
Which this was back in '57.
But I been selling
mobile homes since '68.
So, why'd you get out of
baseball and into mobile homes?
-Back then it just
didn't pay that kinda money,
I mean you either went big
or you didn't go big at all.
So I got married
and...gave it up.
What was your
greatest moment in baseball?
-When uh-- my sophomore year,
when I pitched the high school
team to the state championship.
What do you do?
For work?
-I work at, uh, Lurcher Mall at
the leather shop in the Record
Mart.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
I like it.
Easy stuff.
Do you work?
-No.
Want to have a family?
-Yes!
Very soon.
You're pretty
young to be parents.
What do you think about that?
-I think it's gonna
be great, myself.
I love children.
I think it's gonna
be really great.
What about you?
-I'm just nervous.
I'm excited, but
nervous in a way.
I think I can do it.
How old are you?
-15.
Growing
up in New Jersey,
I felt I was in a
1950s TV family.
Mom, Dad, three kids, a
beautiful house in the suburbs.
I thought everyone
lived the way we did,
and I thought it
would last forever.
Then suddenly the family
business went bankrupt,
my parents got a divorce,
we had to sell the house.
Home was no longer what
I had thought it was.
That's when I realized "home"
was something I'd have to figure
out for myself.
This is Division
Headquarters we're coming up on
here.
Those guys in the
orange right there?
They're-- they're, uh,
prisoners in the brig.
They have them walking
up and down through here,
police-calling the Rabbit.
Just picking up trash
and cans and stuff.
So, what did
you do in the Gulf?
-We didn't really see that much.
Just mainly surrendering.
I don't know how
many prisoners we took,
but it was a lot of them.
I don't if you'd
really call them prisoners,
they-- "prisoner" kinda lends
to the attitude that you had to
take somebody and
make 'em give up.
You know, and these guys were
just rushing out to give up.
They're more like guests
than they were like prisoners.
So what was it like
having a lover back here,
being over there?
-It was kinda
difficult at times,
cause, you know, everybody--
everybody misses their lover,
be it male or female,
when you're overseas,
and, you know, everyone can
sit around and talk about,
you know, "Oh yeah, I miss
so-and-so" and all that.
And it's kinda
difficult to-- you know,
you can't really talk
to anybody about it.
You just gotta miss
them and live with it.
How'd you
find about this bar?
-The base advertises for
it, because it's off-limits,
and they hang up little flyers
all over the place saying "Don't
go here."
And what-- what is it
saying-- how does it describe
the bar?
-It doesn't
describe the bar at all,
it just lists it as being an
off-limits establishment and
gives an address
of where it's at.
You know, saying
"Don't go there."
How to find it?
-Yeah, it tells
you how to find it.
But it doesn't say why it's
off-limits or anything like
that.
It just says Friends
Lounge, off-limits.
But everybody on base knows that
Friends Lounge is a local gay
bar.
-It's a part of theater.
Like, I do it because it's
a way to express myself.
I don't want to be a woman.
I love being a man.
Uh, but I enjoy the theater, and
I enjoy portraying it and acting
and being something different
than what-- what Danny can do.
Danny can't get the attention
of the people that Brandi can.
Uh, Danny hasn't been able to
stand up in front of the people
and-- and raised
almost $150.000 for AIDS,
but Brandi can.
And that's something
I'm glad I can do.
Or that she can do.
Or he can do.
Or it can do.
-The boys used to
come through the woods,
crawl on their hands and knee
sometimes when it was raining,
with changes of clothes in
plastic bags just to get inside
here.
And, it was really
heart-wrenching because you
think "These boys are
dying for your country,
and they're old enough
to-- to die for your country,
and old enough to
get married and vote,
but they're not old
enough to walk into a bar,
and be with-- with
who they want to be,
regardless of whether
they're straight or gay.
I don't understand it.
Of course I never have.
You seem like
protective of your boys.
-I am.
If you had seen
what they've gone through,
you'd be protective too.
-We're getting married!
I'm in love with this dyke!
And she loves this faggot!
Yeah, we're getting
married for A) money,
B) support, um,
psychologically and mentally,
um, and C) just cause--
to get them people off our
backs.
You are the Marines.
-Yes.
Who's the most
macho person at the table?
-Her.
You guys have to
butch it up at the--?
-Ohhhhh.
-Butch is not the word.
You're constantly
thinking, you know,
"hey, should I do that?
Should I do that?
Or will it look too feminine?"
Do you
have to femme it up?
I asked them if they
had to butch it up?
-No.
I can be tough.
An-- an-- and it's acceptable.
But yet on the other hand, if I
don't go along with the males
in-- in-- in a-- just a--
playing their little games,
they-- they tend to say "Oh,
well she don't like guys."
You served in the Gulf?
-Yes I did, I was there
for the entire eight months.
I left on my birthday,
and didn't get back until,
um, mid-April.
15th.
-April 15th.
Thank you, dear.
I deserve my rights.
I'm fighting for my country, and
I don't want to be treated like
a-- some little, you
know-- a piece of road trash.
-We asked, you know,
Jeff why he was letting,
for an interview,
taping, you know,
his face and having us
cloaked and everything,
and the more and more
we thought about it,
the more pissed we were
at ourselves for asking to
be...closed off like that.
Because--
-Hidden when we're trying
to fight not to be hidden.
-We're trying to
fight not to be hidden,
here we are hiding.
It's like, "I'm
out of the closet!
Wait a minute, I'm back in.
No, wait!
Hold on."
I ain't gonna do it no more.
I'm out.
Fuck it.
-Sorry, you can't come in here!
Can we get a
shot of Graceland?
-You can't come in here.
We're
filming a documentary for--
-Huh?
Television--
We need a
shot of Graceland!
-I don't have a
clearance on you.
You have to get a
clearance next door.
Where do we go?
-Next office over.
Next drive over.
OK.
-In 1935, Elvis
Presley was born in Tupelo,
Mississippi, in a
two-room house,
to Gladys and Vernon Presley.
One day when he
was a little boy,
his mama worked so
hard that he said,
"Some day, Mama, I will buy you
a house that has six bathrooms."
And that's what Graceland has.
Hmm.
-What that must have felt like
for Elvis to go from a two-room
home to a mansion.
If you'll look with
me, in the concert hall,
you will see that some
of the audience here,
like the lady on the
left with the blonde hair,
that is me.
I'm standing.
I'm gonna get a scarf.
Kim, when did-- when
did the Elvis thing start?
-When I was a teenager.
And there was a whole lot
of girls on our block and,
uh, after I saw him, you
know, I was madly in love.
And it just lasted
all through the years.
So, you
know, it's like,
um, uh, my husband is not
jealous of Elvis at all,
but, you know, when I say
"I love Elvis" it's-- I do.
But I'm in love with my husband.
There's two
different kinds of love.
Anything in your
life that you regret?
Me?
Yeah.
Not really.
Living one day at a time.
Kim?
-Yeah, I do.
I regret, um...
-Well through all the years
he let me go to Memphis and he
stayed home, with
the kids, and, uh,
and now he has MS,
and he'll never be able to go.
And that upsets me.
-Well, it's a long
trip down there and,
um, you uh-- making a trip like
that with this is kinda a rough
deal, I tell you.
-Look what he's missed.
Even though he built
Miniature Graceland,
for me, you know,
he can, um, uh,
maybe kinda pretend?
You know, a little
bit or something.
When I was a
kid we moved around a lot,
different
apartments in Manhattan.
I've never felt tied to
any particular place.
When I've gotten tired of living
somewhere it's never occurred to
me to stay there, I've
always just moved on.
I don't know what it
would be like to have roots.
To know deep down that
here is where I belong.
This is where I come from.
This is where my
life will unfold.
This is where I'll die.
I just want
to give you a welcome,
to Blue & White
Restaurant here in Tunica,
Mississippi.
What happens here?
-A lot of things--
-Everything.
Everything wonderful.
-Do both of us talk or just one?
You can both talk.
-OK.
We do lots of things
here, eat at Blue & White...
-Go fishing.
-Yeah.
-Go to church!
-Yeah.
-That's about all it is here.
-People stop in here to
eat, come here to eat,
because they like our catfish
and our french-fried onion
rings.
- What--
- what's this town like?
What's life in this
town like for you?
-Well, OK I guess.
I been here all my life and I
guess it's...have to be all
right.
Nothing special.
How long
did you work here?
-18 years.
Is it a good job?
-Well, make an easy
living, that's all I can say.
Could be better, but,
there's always soup!
It could
be better with...
-More money.
That's what could be better.
Mind if I ask
how much you make?
-Well, 3.45 an hour.
What with the
work you have to do,
it should be more.
-But we're getting
some, uh, boats in.
What are they
called-- gambling boats--
-Gambling boats on
the Mississippi,
that's just a
little piece out--
-And that's to be a big, big
diversion for everything else.
We'll draw people from all over.
What was the most
exciting moment of your life?
-Oh, my goodness!
When I went to
Europe last September.
Of 1990.
For 17 days.
Had the most wonderful trip.
What was it like there?
-Oh it was great.
We liked all the coun-- I
believe I liked Holland and
Germany and Switzerland
better-- London was real good.
We liked England, too.
-I'm not in favor of the boat.
-I am.
-It might bring in
something undesirable.
-I doubt it.
-I don't.
-Bring in money!
-That's what gambling does.
-Bring in money.
So, what's the most
important thing in your life?
-Working.
Working and my family.
That's the most important thing.
OK, y'all out here now.
-Real nice
talking to you, though,
sugar.
-Y'all come back to see us.
We really enjoyed having you.
Bye!
-Buh-bye!
-Man, there ain't nothing
here but farmland in this town.
That's all they
got here, farming.
Long as they got
their cotton-growing,
their bean, their rice,
and their wheat they OK.
Long as-- long as, you know
they keep people-- You know,
peoples here, they--
they want good jobs,
but you know most of them ain't
got time to go to nowhere else
to get a good job.
And before everything you
know, some of them stay on their
creeping land, and then all for
them to stay on that land they
gotta work that land.
And if they ain't gonna work
that land they gotta get off
that land.
And then if they put
them off that land,
they got nowhere to stay.
And then so they've
got to work for them,
for the little
bit they pay them.
Did you grow up here?
-Yeah.
What was it
like growing up?
-Hard, man.
Real hard.
Why?
-People here, the
way they dogging,
round here, these
people dogging, man.
What does that mean?
-What's that mean?
Yeah.
-Dogging?
Well, like, the way
you-- if I'm-- OK,
like if there's a background, if
you've been in a lot of trouble,
if you can't get no good job and
your peoples they don't-- they
don't-- they don't teach
you how to get a good job,
you can't get no good job here.
They ain't paying you
nothing here to work here.
I'm not finna be
driving no tractor.
I ain't driving no tractor.
They ain't paying
nothing to drive no tractor.
I ain't no slave.
Those slavery
days've been over with.
Who's inspired you?
-My mom?
They're the ones I look for.
My mom.
I don't look for nobody else.
Whatever the world
brings tomorrow,
I don't know.
I just live for
today, today only.
That's it.
E is for everything
that you have done for your
children while
they was growing up,
even though the
time has become hard,
the mother will
always be there for you.
So you look around,
you see your mother,
tell your mother
thanks for everything.
So I give you an E.
R, R is held by Shaquana White.
R is for the remarkable things
that a mother has done for her
child during their
years of growing up.
If you understand remarkable,
you understand what a remarkable
mother is.
A mother would be there for you
no matter what the situation is.
So ladies and
gentlemen, I give you an R.
So all together,
M-O-T-H-E-R is for "mother."
So if you's a mother, stand
up and give yourself a hand.
-My mom is very independent.
She is loving, caring,
kind, and very tender.
And I love her very much.
-You know, we're
just like friends.
Which we are friends.
You know.
She's a mother.
She's a friend.
She's everything.
-I love her a lot, and I believe
that I can tell her anything
that I want her to know.
And I-- she
teaches me what's wrong,
what's not wrong, and
what's right to do?
And I love her for that.
I think she's mean, sometimes.
Well she'll
be in the right,
when she'll be mean.
-She'll be right, cause she
tells us what's right cause she
love us.
-Spank you, too.
-My mother was the
mother of this church.
She passed about five years ago.
But that still
don't stop me from coming to
church.
When they had the program,
it remind me so much about my
mother.
I thought about her dearly.
I still think of her dearly.
As far as I'm
concerned she's not dead,
she's alive in me.
Yeah, she
passed about five years ago.
I miss her.
I met my husband, he
was in the automobile business.
And he was a great
dancer, loved Latin dancing,
and we'd go out
dancing every night.
And then Walter Winchell had
written there'll be someone
dancing at El
Morocco in New York,
and it just took off from there.
-And they're coaches and Saints
football players and the Mod
Squad.
-That's the Mod Squad--
-The original Mod Squad?
-Uh-huh, Cesar
Romero, a very good friend,
I just loved that man.
Do you have any regrets?
-Uh, yeah.
I had the biggest and the
bestest that came into see the
show, we had John
Wayne, Robert Mitchum,
Deborah Kerr, and,
um-- God another one,
I'm trying to think.
It's one of the big ones.
The silent one that
played uh-- uh-- very quiet,
that played a lot
of Western roles.
Um-- gosh I can't
think of his name offhand.
He died back in the 60s.
But, you know some of the
biggest stars have been in to
see me, and I did get
pictures with them.
-I'm Ann Milling, I volunteer
at Project Lazarus here in New
Orleans, Louisiana, and we are
delighted that you are visiting
our residential
facility for, um,
AIDS patients, and we
welcome you to our community.
Are
you confused about Oprah?
I'm not surprised--
-They think they were
good for your health.
While it says "No Cholesterol,"
it doesn't say that this cooking
oil is--
All right, Henry--
-I was tired!
Anybody
tired?--
-Smokey Bear?
Smokey the Bear!
-That's a lot.
-Due process, my foot!
It's one poor lone man
against the company,
what can he do?
-Well, what do you think?
Isn't that a
traditional look to you?
-More than 60 comedies
raised almost 5.9...
-I have AIDS.
I, um, live here at
the Lazarus House,
I volunteer two days a
week at the food bank,
I, um, have good
days and bad days.
I'm in a lot of
pain, from neuropathy.
It's the virus is
attacking the nervous system.
So I have to, uh, take a
lot of stuff for pain.
You ever been afraid?
-I'm afraid now.
Yeah.
I'd be lying if I said
that I wasn't scared.
But I guess it's the unknown.
So I, um-- yeah I'm scared.
How do you
get through it?
-I cry.
I try to help other people.
I try to see what they're
going through and how they feel,
just before death.
I wonder what, you know, if
anything has really happened
after, um, they're gone.
I wonder about,
um...soul, spirit,
or an afterlife of any
kind, or if it hurts,
right at that point, really bad.
Some people I've
seen really fight it,
and other people seem to
just, go very peacefully.
-I stand in the window
and I be looking at,
uh, the church down the street.
It's a old
parish, quality church.
And the cars and the trains and
at the trees and the buildings
around it.
And the fresh
air is so good to breathe.
And we're right by the river,
so everything is-- the window's
just beautiful in the morning
time and the air is-- but ain't
got nothing to do, this is where
you come and think about a lot
of things.
So James,
when you were younger,
did you think about
what you wanted to do?
What you wanted to be?
-Yeah.
And it just didn't work.
What'd you think about?
-Oh I used to want to
be all kind of things.
Wanted to be a doctor.
I wanted to be an embalmer.
Never a police.
Uh, a truck driver, cause
they travel all over the states.
Then my mother passed
and I moved to California.
To Los Angeles.
Stayed there a while,
then I returned back home.
I didn't like California.
What's been
important to you,
in your life?
-Keep on living.
Some days you get
depressed with it,
but you have to hang it on up.
Cause, um, if you get depressed,
it will help to break you down.
So, I just keep
finding something to do.
Every day I find
something different to do.
I go play ball.
Ride my bike, play with my dog.
Play with everybody here.
Fool with the employees
and watch the bus come!
Ooh there's one coming
down the street now.
Every- and I'll be in
this window every day.
It's my favorite spot.
The window.
That's it.
I'll be watching the bus.
Attention!
-Downward right!
-Step!
What are your
hopes for the future?
-To put my kid
through school and college.
-I want to be a lawyer.
-I want to be a
medical engineer.
-A nurse.
What about you?
-I want to be aaaa-- I
want to be a-- a...nurse.
-Hope for the future.
I guess world
peace, and prosperity.
-To become very
successful, hopefully wealthy!
-Clean environment for
my kid to grow up in,
um, no more war.
-Well one big hope is that,
people will receive the Lord
Jesus Christ as their
savior in their life.
-Uh, marry a be-- a good wife.
-Man, I ain't got
the slightest idea.
What do you
hope for the future?
-Get my children back.
Get them back?
-Yeah, uh-huhn.
Where are they?
-The state took them away.
What happened?
-Cause I was homeless.
-My hope for the future?
My future's already here, buddy.
It's already here.
I used to
hate traveling on my own.
Then I reached the point where
I realized I had no idea what I
wanted to do with my life.
So I left college, and took
the bus to San Francisco.
I was 19.
I had no idea what
lay ahead for me.
It was the first time I
understood how vast America is.
I've lived in
California ever since.
I wonder why some people have
to move thousands of miles from
where they grew up before
they feel like they're home.
-Look how beautiful that is.
Isn't that beauti-- you've got
to see the beauty of Las Vegas.
Now it's beautiful.
It really is.
No place in the
world can you get a prime-rib
steak for $3!
Get a shrimp cocktail
for 50 cents up here!
-What's going on?
-Come on, man.
I've got some goodies!
And we've got sandwiches,
hot coffee and kool-aid,
and razors!
It's all free.
-Thank you very much, buddy.
-Have a good day now.
Thank you.
-You too.
-I hope you get a job.
Le-- le-- just let
me say, Lord, please,
bless them with a job.
Do this, we ask in
his precious name.
Amen.
Amen.
What'd you used to do?
-I'm a blackjack 21
dealer, a roulette dealer,
I do a little bit of
everything, you know.
But, uh, I've been
out here since '76,
you know, so...
What happened?
-What happened?
That brought me out here?
Yeah.
-Internal Revenue.
-This corner's
been here since 1966.
What is it?
What is this corner?
-It's just a corner that people
would come by and pick up people
that want to work--
-Contractors to come by
and pick you up to work.
-Pick you up to work.
-They want you to work.
But see, they have a sign up
there that says "No standing,
no walking, no nothing, huh."
OK.
Hey, how can they take and
violate my civil rights, huh?
OK.
This is a right to stay-- this
state here have a-- a-- a right
to a-- work state law.
-I'm not downtown
trying to steal nothing.
Why are they coming
up to mess with me--
-Might as well put a gun
in my hand and tell you,
"Hey, go in there
and get naked!"
I'll tell you to get naked, man.
And I am most
serious about that, too.
Cause I gotta have me some money
just like you've gotta have some
money to live on, right?
-That's what I'm saying.
-If I go in the elevator
and tell you to get naked?
You gonna get naked, my friend.
And that's uh--
that's a true thing.
-Cause it's hard out here.
-That's a beautiful
painting that you see a man,
that he's got the shakes and
he's-- he needs a haircut and he
hasn't been out of his
clothes in four to five weeks,
and you get him cleaned up,
and get him scrubbed up in that
divine detergent
and motivate him!
He looks good!
Build his self-confidence up!
Buddy that's a painting
that Rembrandt couldn't paint.
-How'd I get in this mess?
OK, um, let's see.
Husband walked out
last year, last summer.
I came to Las
Vegas to go to work.
I had a beautiful liquor store.
And one guy decided to
attack me one night,
and I quit work because they
wouldn't give me a daytime job.
So I screwed myself.
Went to Reno.
Really.
Went three months without work.
Came back here, and
have gone another,
almost nine weeks without work.
So all together it's been about
six months living like this.
-I came out here on a
bus trip with some money,
hoped to win money
here, gamble, Las Vegas,
you know.
And, you know, you
come out here with hopes,
and it's not what it
really seems to be.
You know, there's a lot of--
lot of hurting people out here,
you know.
What kind
of work do you do?
-Construction work.
Fix cars.
Whatever.
Whatever gets that
dollar in your hand.
How do you
see your future?
-Eh.
It'll come up and it'll go down.
So will yours, so will his.
-Give me your job
and take my job.
Go with me one week.
Leave your billfold and your
numbers at home and try with me
one week and see how
long you would last.
How you going to
get out of this situation?
By myself my own way.
Some day my luck's
going to change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
We have a winner!
-Yeah.
Yeah.
How did
this become yours?
-What?!
This didn't become
mine, this was created,
by me.
From dirt!
From nothing!
From air!
That's how it became mine.
One little bit at a time.
Let's put it this way, it
took me 20 years to become an
overnight success.
Eh?
This is our own
invention, it's a,
uh, carousel of flippers.
Uh, I don't know
how to explain that.
This is what we call
our victory machines.
Victory carousel, we put this in
celebration of the victory over
there in the Middle East.
But, as you'll see, when the
jackpot goes off the flags wave,
the lights light.
You have to look at the flags
waving while they're waving.
See?
It's an achievement.
It's a marvel.
Do you think some people
are lucky and some people are
unlucky?
-Some days I have a lot of luck.
But it was all bad.
See sometimes
people are very lucky,
they lose all their money
and they're very lucky.
It was just unlucky, that's all.
They just didn't realize it.
This is another restaurant when
people want peace and quiet.
They want some place quiet.
And the lights are-- why are
the lights so bright, Peter?
Isn't that better?
We need atmosphere.
One of my better pictures,
right over there.
Who are your role models?
-We should name Les Polizzi,
secondly Nelson Mandela,
you know super guy, and
thirdly Mother Teresa.
So are there
principles to gambling?
-I don't quite
understand the question.
Are there any basics
that one needs to know to be--
-All you need-- all you need to
know when you're a gambler is
one simple rule.
And it's the same advice for
everybody: You bet more when
you're winning and
less when you're losing.
It's as simple as that.
When you're
winning you bet more.
When you're losing you bet less.
Everybody follows that rule
they'll do a lot better than
they're doing.
Did ya get the flags waving?!
How much do think where
we are in our lives is within
our control and--
-I told you about luck.
Which luck are
you talking about,
the good luck or the bad luck?
Are you just talking
about luck in general?
How much are we
responsible and how much is due
to luck in general?
-88% we're responsible for it.
12%, goes with the territory.
You know, somebody from
above makes up that bit.
But we make up most of it.
Aha.
1600 car-space parking garage.
The largest in town.
How do you
like your uniform?
-I like it.
It's nice.
I like the theme idea.
I like the whole idea of
dressing up like that in a
costume.
It's not really a uniform.
Every place else, you
gotta wear black and white,
it's-- it's a
stuffier atmosphere.
Where here, it's
lighter cause we dress up,
we're part of a
theme-type thing,
you know, it's a
little bit of culture.
I like culture!
You know, I like
that-- that whole idea,
you know, like that...
So I feel like I'm going to a
Shakespearian festival every
morning.
Hear ye,
hear ye, you know.
-Where y'all from?
Where you from?
San Francisco.
-San Francisco?
Where you from?
-New Orleans.
Where you going?
-Going to LA.
What for?
-What for?
I'm an NA counselor.
Uh huh?
-Uh huh.
Gotta help the
world stay clean, man.
I was a drug user for 11 years.
Not-- not, 11 off and
on years, 11 years,
you know?
And, um, it's not
something, like I say,
I can just walk away from.
If I could, I really,
really would have been healthy.
You know.
It's not easy, I
cried many nights,
you know.
And, um, every day
I count the days,
you know.
I can't express to you enough,
I can't express to my family
enough, I can't
express to my co-friends,
co-workers.
It's a-- it's a-- it's a
wonderful thing to wake up in
the morning and know that I
still have the $20 that I went
to sleep with last night.
You know?
Where you going?
-LA.
What for?
Become a superstar.
Why else?
- What do--
- what do you you?
-Um, act.
Music.
Anything.
Where you from?
-Texas.
My dream is to be in a band.
Be a bass player.
You now, or be in
the movies, man.
Yeah.
So how are
you going to do that?
What are you going to
do when you get there?
-I got an uncle
that lives there,
and...um...he-- he knows people.
And, if it happens for
me it happens for me,
if it don't, no big deal.
And I'm happy.
I'm clean.
I'm-- I'm off drugs.
I don't do drugs anymore.
Um...I had a problem with drugs.
But I'm clean, for now.
Today.
How did you, uh,
how did you get out of it?
-Oh, I've got a baby.
A daughter and a girl
that I'm in love with,
back in Texas.
So, that-- that's
helped me out a lot.
I know I can't
ever have them back.
Keep, you know, keep
going the route I was going,
so I gotta do
something different,
man.
Can you take
your glasses off?
-Yeah.
What happened with, uh,
with your girl and the baby?
-Uh, we-- we went through a lot
of problems because of drugs and
alcohol, constant fighting.
Couldn't get along.
Just...she said I was a monster.
Were you?
Yeah.
I was.
Like how?
-Drugs, and alcohol.
Makes me violent.
But, as long as
I'm not fucked up,
I'm OK.
I'm a good person.
-We're moving.
We're moving to Eugene, Oregon.
How come?
-Because we don't like it
in Mississippi anymore.
Why?
-There's no hope there.
There's no hope.
It's just...
-The South, it's pfft, drink
beer and go to the beach and--
-Yeah.
- fry your brain--
- You know,
the heat?
-Yeah.
-The attitude,
the prejudice, the,
um, the ignorance.
-Yeah.
-The apathy in
Mississippi, and the South,
too, you know.
The-- the down home, go
to-- go to high school,
quit, get a job in a restaurant,
and live in a trailer.
You know?
And I just can't see
myself doing that,
and it's really easy
to get caught up in it.
It's real easy, and I'm not
saying Oregon is the place,
but I-- I've gotta try
elsewhere and do something.
You know, I've got a
few years left to do it,
to have the freedom.
So...
tha--
How old are you?
-19.
How old are you?
-19.
19.
What do you do for fun?
-I don't think you wanna know.
Um, we-- we-- we
do, um, mushrooms.
We, uh, I mean we
smoke marijuana.
-We go...out to the
golf course at night,
you know, and walk around--
-Walk around at night--
-We don't do the club scene.
We don't, you know, drink.
We don't do any of that.
You know, we go out
and we live, you know,
like in the city.
But we go out and
find nature, you know.
We just go
outside, in the woods.
We were
born 20 years too late.
Right on.
-I don't know, that's the
best way I can describe it.
We totally missed out--
Yeah, we missed out.
What are-- do you have
no love for your generation?
-Oh.
No that--
Generation of swines.
-Generation of swine.
That's what they are.
Yes.
In a neon world.
-Yeah.
Plastic.
Plastic.
-Hi girls!
Wooooooooh!
If I do say so.
-At 10:30 the whole parade
is going to come to a stop.
-Just south of us, uh--
-OK.
-I don't see them making--
-Well hello, young man!
-Everybody, do a split.
You're selling agents.
Oh my god!
-All right!
Big smiles!!
-I think they're
fantastic, aren't they?
-Aren't they darling?
-Yes.
-Just love them.
They're daaaarling.
-Look at those-- did you
see the one on the end?
-Yeah.
Yeah, she's
a doll, isn't she?
-How do they all get
such beautiful hair?!
Look at their hair!
I know!
It's just gorgeous!
It is gorgeous.
The curls!
Does
that look like the Apaches to
you?
Or the...?
It looks like the,
uh, the Cobras.
Cobras?
And the-- and the Hueys.
Uh, I just can't
help to thinking,
uhn, I'm glad to
see this as, uh,
as a civilian and not as a
member of the military of the
opposite force.
So, sitting on the
ground, seeing these,
uh, United States military
aircraft coming toward you.
And they really look do look,
lots of--
Very impressive.
And now
we can hear them moving on,
coming overhead, now
these are the helicopters.
-Great day for America.
It's time that we
feel good about America,
we're excited about
America, we honor our troops,
and indeed honor
the whole country.
Uncle Sam is proud of us all.
-USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
Woo!
After 18 days,
we return to San Francisco.
It's where we've made our home.
But I guess it
depends on where you think home
is, really.
Out there somewhere,
or inside yourself.
What are your
hopes for the future?
-That I have one.
To at least stay healthy, and
that taxes don't go up too much
higher.
And that
we stay out of wars.
And that the Lord will come.
Before I go.
That would be nice.
That would be neat.
-Well, living a very happy life.
That's all I'm
looking for, in the future,
is a happy life.
I guess everybody would
look-- would look for that,
cause I do.
-Well, I hope to have a very
nice family and a very healthy
baby.
And just to be good to
myself, that's about it.
Yeah.
Are you happy?
-Am I happy?
I'm-- I'm happy,
yet-- yet I'm sad.
When I'm happy
because I'm clean,
and I'm trying, you
know, and I'm fighting it,
but I'm sad because of
the time that I has wasted,
the money that I has wasted.
You know.
-How do I know I'm gonna
wake up in the morning?
I can-- I can look
at those people,
that's not in the
condition that I am,
mi-- might not have legs and
wheelchairs and stuff like that,
you know.
I'm fortunate.
Very, very fortunate.
-I'm fine where
I'm at, you know,
I like it.
It's really nice.
You know, what I do and all.
So I'd say I'd probably
be out risking my life.
Any regrets in your life?
-No, none.
Lotta-- lotta bad times,
well not a lotta bad times,
but a number of times
that you just think,
"Man, this is too much."
But I don't regret them at all,
cause they sure made me be a
better person
further down the line.
-I've had both
of my lungs taken out,
I got a pacemaker that
in that don't work right,
to keep me going.
Lotta problems, and still go
fishing and hunting rabbits and
things.
-Something I regret?
There's nope-- there's
nothing to regret in my life.
I mean, regretting
ain't gonna help you now.
So, that's it.
It's a quiet evening,
and the sun's going down,
so the kids will be riding
their bike backward and forward.
That's it.
-Um...marrying Corina?
I want to have my baby.
And I want to make money.
A lot of money.
Yeah, I figure LA is
the place to do it.
It's the place to be.
That's where dreams come
true, and I'm a dreamer.
I've always been a dreamer.
I'll always be a dreamer.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
-The town square of Yanceyville.
What's it called?
-Town square of
Yanceyville, North Carolina.
Yanceyville?
-Mm-hm.
Can you tell
me about the town?
-I don't know much about it.
It just-- it's just small.
Where you from?
-I'm from Providence.
Where's that?
Oh, Providence, Rhode Island?
-No.
Providence, North Carolina.
It's about five miles from here.
We set out to take
a trip outside of our world,
the one where we
feel comfortable,
and to make a film about
strangers we met along the way.
-Ah!
I work for Old Dominion.
In Temple Hill.
What's Old Dominion?
It's a
cemetery up in Roanoke,
Virginia.
What's the most important
thing you have to keep in mind
when you're digging a grave?
-Just don't get
hit by the backhoe.
When you're digging it.
We were two gay
men from San Francisco.
We chose to travel
through the South.
It seemed so foreign
to us yet so American.
And then make our way home.
Where are we?
Rocky Mount.
Seems like a
nice neighborhood.
-It's boring up here.
Yeah?
Where would you rather be?
I'd rather be in New York.
It's violent, and
I like violent.
-Mmm.
We're from California.
-Y'all drove all the way out
here to see a real rainbow,
sir?
Yeah?
-Mmmm.
Gosh!
We set out just
after the Persian Gulf War.
We had the money to
wander, with our film crew,
for 18 days.
We had no idea what to expect.
But for me, the best
part of travel is surprise.
So where are we?
-Eh we're at
Rumley's restaurant--
-Morrisville--
-In Morrisville--
At Rumley's--
What happens around here?
Not a whole lot.
-Well, we got
curb service...and,
um, you can go inside
to eat if you want to.
What do you guys
do for fun around here?
-Around Morrisville?
Cruise Collin--
Cruise
around or go to another city
-Cruise Collinsville
or go downtown with it.
That's-- where I
know all the girls are.
-Yeah, where all
the girls are we go.
The race is always
big, Morrisville Speedway.
What kind of races?
NASCAR.
-Uh, NASCAR.
NASCAR.
-NASCAR.
-NASCAR.
Mmm, speedway.
We don't
know what that is.
-You don't know what
NASCAR speedway is?
Oh.
Stock car racing.
-Stock car, racing.
-Go on back?
I gotta-- I gotta
go wait on a car.
-Yeah.
You need a pad?
What's your-- what do
you know about-- what's your
image of people
from San Francisco?
-Well, uh...
I guess...
depends, cause
sometimes it's more that--
the faggish image.
You know, that's
just, the local image.
That's what...a
lot of people think.
You know.
I don't really think that, cause
I don't really know anybody from
San Francisco, so I
can't...rightly say that.
You know.
-All the southerners eat
pinto beans and raw onions.
Sounds delicious.
-Dinner isn't complete, they
have to have their pinto beans
and raw onions.
What about the food here?
-No idea, I was
desperate tonight.
I was hungry.
But we ate at Best Western, and
that used to be the Holiday Inn,
it's 220 North right
outside of Collinsville,
and the food there is good.
Are you from here?
-Not originally, but I
spent-- unfortunately,
spent most of my life here.
-And you folks are going
through the country doing this?
Yep.
-Good.
What do you
think we should ask people?
-Beg your pardon?
-What do you think
we should ask people,
when we're talking to them?
-Oh.
Eh, I don't know what, you
just-- you might not
wanna ask them what I would.
What's that?
-Yeah.
If you tell them
you from California,
you might already ask them
some real nice questions,
you know.
They might run you back-- might
run you back to California.
No, we-- we appreciate
people from other countries.
-I love everybody.
You know.
I have six
daughters and one son,
so might-- I lose my son.
Three years ago.
And so, all the young people
called me Mom around there,
when I was back there
sittin' in the parking lot.
So I got more sons
than I birthed really.
What
happened to your son?
-Well, he drank a lot.
And he got
stabbed twice, in the...
Oh, I'm sorry.
Got stabbed here, and he
was in intensive care,
then they just stabbed
him in the back with a 007,
he never got over with.
So that's kin, you
know that was sad.
Because he lived about two
hours after he left my house,
then he died.
What are you afraid of?
-Nothing.
Well what good, would
it do to be afraid?!
I can't whoop nobody.
And I think a lot of people
like me cause I like everybody.
-Anything can happen.
This world is wicked.
It's crazy out here.
And I'm riding
with my little boy,
uh, we're alone, we're
black, riding around the South,
OK?
And, anything could happen.
But, you know, there's a trust
that I have in God that we're
protected.
So we're
from San Francisco.
Have you ever met anyone
from San Francisco before?
-Naw.
No I haven't.
I've heard it's a
beautiful place,
San Francisco.
What are
your images of it?
- Well as--
- as far as what I hear?
Yeah.
-Um, it's the gay
capital of the world.
That's, you know,
that's basically all you hear
about it, really.
Um, I hear it's a pretty place.
And it's really beautiful--
What do
you think of that?
-About what, being the
gay capital of the world?
Well, I don't have
any desire to go-- to go there.
You know, or to have my
kids around that type of,
um, environment.
You know, because...because
of what I believe.
You know, um.
If I did go there, I'd
go there witnessing,
and trying to help
some-- some people,
who are into that,
to get out of it.
You know.
-When we moved to Tennessee, my
wife moved back to New England.
13 years ago.
And I've just
finished raising my kids,
and I'm, uh, shifting into
second gear and kinda getting on
with life as a solo flier.
She didn't
like it down here?
-Uh...
I wouldn't-- I don't know it's
that she didn't like it down
here, I think we came down
here maybe so that we could get
divorced.
Out of our
families, and, you know,
I think a lot of people
do that kind of thing.
Go somewhere to throw up, or do
the bad things in your life and
get straightened out, and I
think that's what she had to do.
What's your biggest fear?
-My biggest fear?
Well, I been shot at,
to tell you the truth.
Yeah.
I've had that done to me.
And it scared the
daylights out of me.
Uh, I've got--
What happened?
-Uh, I said something
to this person and,
um, something that he done.
And I just mentioned it
and he took his .22 uh--uh--
semi-automatic and kinda like
shot it up above my daughter and
I's head and I kinda like had to
shove her down into my water bed
to keep from getting shot.
That was the biggest fear
in my life and it scared me.
Very, very deeply.
And I never, ever want to go
through that experience ever
again.
What did your parents do?
-My dad, he's deceased,
and he did real good.
Raised three
children, by himself.
My mother, I
don't never see her.
I never seen her
since I was a child.
So...
What do you
remember about your mother?
-I don't remember her.
I don't really uh-- the things
that-- that I do remember,
I don't want to remember.
So I just block it out.
She did some terrible things.
And I, I'll never forget it.
And I just-- I just don't even
want to talk about it either.
Can I have
your attention please?
We have just crossed over
into the Central Time Zone,
please set your
watches back one hour.
Thank you.
I grew up
in New York City.
I've always liked being
surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
It's comforting.
I feel I'm in the midst
of new possibilities.
That's why I like to travel.
When I was a kid I took a train
trip to California to visit my
grandmother.
Back home, everyone
thought I was weird.
I didn't like sports, I
wanted to be an actor.
Jeffrey, I'm
going to turn the water on.
-OK!
Things got so bad, one
day my entire 5th-grade class
chased me home after school.
But for three days on
the train, all by myself,
alone among
strangers, I had no history.
No identity.
I could be
whatever I wanted to be.
-You just--
is this what you want?
-Just-- just right around here.
-Just some new lines,
right around the bottom edge.
-Yeah.
-OK!
-Thanks.
-Well what is the price of
haircuts where you-- in your
hometown?
Various, I supposed.
-What are the prices?
-Yeah, Mm-hm.
-I think you can still get a
regular men's haircut for $12.
-Uh huh.
Uh huh.
-But, you know,
you go to a salon,
or something it's--
-15 or more?
-Oh, 25 at least.
-Said you want to leave
it long enough to comb,
didn't he?
-Well yeah, but there
wasn't much there to begin with.
-I can make it shorter.
-No.
You already got
two strikes on you,
I'm not gonna give you
another chance at it.
What grade are you in?
-Seventh.
What do you want to do
when you get out of school?
-I dunno.
-I'm, uh, retired
from the US Navy,
and you were asking my boy
what he hoped to be one day,
but, uh, he hopes to be a
fighter pilot one of his days.
Wants to go to Academy.
Is that what
you want him to do?
-Yeah, well, he's
showing interest in that,
and uh-- and uh...
I wouldn't mind
him being a fighter pilot.
What do you think the
biggest problem in this country
is today?
-Too many goddamn
liberal news reporters.
-Want to take the guns
away from everybody,
think that's gonna solve crime.
Stupid ideas like that and
the dumb politicians we got in
Warshington, that
go along with it.
Got
some very crooked,
though, don't they?
-Yeah, both.
Dumb and crooked.
They used to have
statesmen to run this country,
when they started.
Wrote our Constitution.
Now all we got's bureaucrats and
politic-- politicians that don't
amount to nothing.
They couldn't get an honest
job, so they run for government.
They
may be bought off.
So tell me
what you think,
um, the solution is.
-Oh, I doubt if it-- if
anybody can really solve things,
but they could start by doing
away with a lot of the crap they
show young kids on TV.
They could make a good start by
taking a lot of these bad guys,
drug runners, and all people
that's guilty of murder and rape
and things out, and execute 'em.
Quit babying them like they
was sending them through Yale
University.
Be a lot of good starts if
they just wanted to get with it.
Turn-- turn America
back to an honest,
God-fearing place.
See any hope
of that happening?
Not
without a revolution.
-This house here, Tom, has got
your hardboard siding on it,
it's what we call
Masonite siding.
And it's also got
your shingled roof.
What's really nice
about this house here,
is you got the Venetian blinds
over here which is real nice.
You've got the metal
doorknobs instead of plastic.
And then on all your
doors you have these,
door stoppers.
Where your doors won't
slam back into your panel.
Usually
when I get a customer come in,
they'll come straight into
this bay window because it's a
attention-drawer.
If you have a hutch,
or a microwave stand,
or something like that,
you can set it right here.
What I did with this home
here is I cathedral'd it,
all the way through.
And that way you can put a
ceiling fan in any room.
Your pictures, and
your little whatnots,
and your flower arrangements,
and your mail and all that,
all that comes with the
house when you buy it.
Everything goes with the house.
That's good.
I'd sure like
to have your business and
everything.
If you like, I'd be glad
to take you in the office,
set down, figure up your monthly
payments and everything for you.
But you'd need about
1800 down on this house.
-1800 down?
I'd say your payment
would probably run you right
around 215 a month.
215?
-I appreciate ya coming in.
Appreciate you.
Any time.
OK.
Have a good evening.
-You too.
When you were a kid, what
did you want to be when you grew
up?
-Professional baseball player.
- Did you ever--
- did you try to be one?
-I-- I was one.
Really?
Tell him, where'd you play?
-I-- I went with
Detroit Tigers Farm Club.
Which this was back in '57.
But I been selling
mobile homes since '68.
So, why'd you get out of
baseball and into mobile homes?
-Back then it just
didn't pay that kinda money,
I mean you either went big
or you didn't go big at all.
So I got married
and...gave it up.
What was your
greatest moment in baseball?
-When uh-- my sophomore year,
when I pitched the high school
team to the state championship.
What do you do?
For work?
-I work at, uh, Lurcher Mall at
the leather shop in the Record
Mart.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
I like it.
Easy stuff.
Do you work?
-No.
Want to have a family?
-Yes!
Very soon.
You're pretty
young to be parents.
What do you think about that?
-I think it's gonna
be great, myself.
I love children.
I think it's gonna
be really great.
What about you?
-I'm just nervous.
I'm excited, but
nervous in a way.
I think I can do it.
How old are you?
-15.
Growing
up in New Jersey,
I felt I was in a
1950s TV family.
Mom, Dad, three kids, a
beautiful house in the suburbs.
I thought everyone
lived the way we did,
and I thought it
would last forever.
Then suddenly the family
business went bankrupt,
my parents got a divorce,
we had to sell the house.
Home was no longer what
I had thought it was.
That's when I realized "home"
was something I'd have to figure
out for myself.
This is Division
Headquarters we're coming up on
here.
Those guys in the
orange right there?
They're-- they're, uh,
prisoners in the brig.
They have them walking
up and down through here,
police-calling the Rabbit.
Just picking up trash
and cans and stuff.
So, what did
you do in the Gulf?
-We didn't really see that much.
Just mainly surrendering.
I don't know how
many prisoners we took,
but it was a lot of them.
I don't if you'd
really call them prisoners,
they-- "prisoner" kinda lends
to the attitude that you had to
take somebody and
make 'em give up.
You know, and these guys were
just rushing out to give up.
They're more like guests
than they were like prisoners.
So what was it like
having a lover back here,
being over there?
-It was kinda
difficult at times,
cause, you know, everybody--
everybody misses their lover,
be it male or female,
when you're overseas,
and, you know, everyone can
sit around and talk about,
you know, "Oh yeah, I miss
so-and-so" and all that.
And it's kinda
difficult to-- you know,
you can't really talk
to anybody about it.
You just gotta miss
them and live with it.
How'd you
find about this bar?
-The base advertises for
it, because it's off-limits,
and they hang up little flyers
all over the place saying "Don't
go here."
And what-- what is it
saying-- how does it describe
the bar?
-It doesn't
describe the bar at all,
it just lists it as being an
off-limits establishment and
gives an address
of where it's at.
You know, saying
"Don't go there."
How to find it?
-Yeah, it tells
you how to find it.
But it doesn't say why it's
off-limits or anything like
that.
It just says Friends
Lounge, off-limits.
But everybody on base knows that
Friends Lounge is a local gay
bar.
-It's a part of theater.
Like, I do it because it's
a way to express myself.
I don't want to be a woman.
I love being a man.
Uh, but I enjoy the theater, and
I enjoy portraying it and acting
and being something different
than what-- what Danny can do.
Danny can't get the attention
of the people that Brandi can.
Uh, Danny hasn't been able to
stand up in front of the people
and-- and raised
almost $150.000 for AIDS,
but Brandi can.
And that's something
I'm glad I can do.
Or that she can do.
Or he can do.
Or it can do.
-The boys used to
come through the woods,
crawl on their hands and knee
sometimes when it was raining,
with changes of clothes in
plastic bags just to get inside
here.
And, it was really
heart-wrenching because you
think "These boys are
dying for your country,
and they're old enough
to-- to die for your country,
and old enough to
get married and vote,
but they're not old
enough to walk into a bar,
and be with-- with
who they want to be,
regardless of whether
they're straight or gay.
I don't understand it.
Of course I never have.
You seem like
protective of your boys.
-I am.
If you had seen
what they've gone through,
you'd be protective too.
-We're getting married!
I'm in love with this dyke!
And she loves this faggot!
Yeah, we're getting
married for A) money,
B) support, um,
psychologically and mentally,
um, and C) just cause--
to get them people off our
backs.
You are the Marines.
-Yes.
Who's the most
macho person at the table?
-Her.
You guys have to
butch it up at the--?
-Ohhhhh.
-Butch is not the word.
You're constantly
thinking, you know,
"hey, should I do that?
Should I do that?
Or will it look too feminine?"
Do you
have to femme it up?
I asked them if they
had to butch it up?
-No.
I can be tough.
An-- an-- and it's acceptable.
But yet on the other hand, if I
don't go along with the males
in-- in-- in a-- just a--
playing their little games,
they-- they tend to say "Oh,
well she don't like guys."
You served in the Gulf?
-Yes I did, I was there
for the entire eight months.
I left on my birthday,
and didn't get back until,
um, mid-April.
15th.
-April 15th.
Thank you, dear.
I deserve my rights.
I'm fighting for my country, and
I don't want to be treated like
a-- some little, you
know-- a piece of road trash.
-We asked, you know,
Jeff why he was letting,
for an interview,
taping, you know,
his face and having us
cloaked and everything,
and the more and more
we thought about it,
the more pissed we were
at ourselves for asking to
be...closed off like that.
Because--
-Hidden when we're trying
to fight not to be hidden.
-We're trying to
fight not to be hidden,
here we are hiding.
It's like, "I'm
out of the closet!
Wait a minute, I'm back in.
No, wait!
Hold on."
I ain't gonna do it no more.
I'm out.
Fuck it.
-Sorry, you can't come in here!
Can we get a
shot of Graceland?
-You can't come in here.
We're
filming a documentary for--
-Huh?
Television--
We need a
shot of Graceland!
-I don't have a
clearance on you.
You have to get a
clearance next door.
Where do we go?
-Next office over.
Next drive over.
OK.
-In 1935, Elvis
Presley was born in Tupelo,
Mississippi, in a
two-room house,
to Gladys and Vernon Presley.
One day when he
was a little boy,
his mama worked so
hard that he said,
"Some day, Mama, I will buy you
a house that has six bathrooms."
And that's what Graceland has.
Hmm.
-What that must have felt like
for Elvis to go from a two-room
home to a mansion.
If you'll look with
me, in the concert hall,
you will see that some
of the audience here,
like the lady on the
left with the blonde hair,
that is me.
I'm standing.
I'm gonna get a scarf.
Kim, when did-- when
did the Elvis thing start?
-When I was a teenager.
And there was a whole lot
of girls on our block and,
uh, after I saw him, you
know, I was madly in love.
And it just lasted
all through the years.
So, you
know, it's like,
um, uh, my husband is not
jealous of Elvis at all,
but, you know, when I say
"I love Elvis" it's-- I do.
But I'm in love with my husband.
There's two
different kinds of love.
Anything in your
life that you regret?
Me?
Yeah.
Not really.
Living one day at a time.
Kim?
-Yeah, I do.
I regret, um...
-Well through all the years
he let me go to Memphis and he
stayed home, with
the kids, and, uh,
and now he has MS,
and he'll never be able to go.
And that upsets me.
-Well, it's a long
trip down there and,
um, you uh-- making a trip like
that with this is kinda a rough
deal, I tell you.
-Look what he's missed.
Even though he built
Miniature Graceland,
for me, you know,
he can, um, uh,
maybe kinda pretend?
You know, a little
bit or something.
When I was a
kid we moved around a lot,
different
apartments in Manhattan.
I've never felt tied to
any particular place.
When I've gotten tired of living
somewhere it's never occurred to
me to stay there, I've
always just moved on.
I don't know what it
would be like to have roots.
To know deep down that
here is where I belong.
This is where I come from.
This is where my
life will unfold.
This is where I'll die.
I just want
to give you a welcome,
to Blue & White
Restaurant here in Tunica,
Mississippi.
What happens here?
-A lot of things--
-Everything.
Everything wonderful.
-Do both of us talk or just one?
You can both talk.
-OK.
We do lots of things
here, eat at Blue & White...
-Go fishing.
-Yeah.
-Go to church!
-Yeah.
-That's about all it is here.
-People stop in here to
eat, come here to eat,
because they like our catfish
and our french-fried onion
rings.
- What--
- what's this town like?
What's life in this
town like for you?
-Well, OK I guess.
I been here all my life and I
guess it's...have to be all
right.
Nothing special.
How long
did you work here?
-18 years.
Is it a good job?
-Well, make an easy
living, that's all I can say.
Could be better, but,
there's always soup!
It could
be better with...
-More money.
That's what could be better.
Mind if I ask
how much you make?
-Well, 3.45 an hour.
What with the
work you have to do,
it should be more.
-But we're getting
some, uh, boats in.
What are they
called-- gambling boats--
-Gambling boats on
the Mississippi,
that's just a
little piece out--
-And that's to be a big, big
diversion for everything else.
We'll draw people from all over.
What was the most
exciting moment of your life?
-Oh, my goodness!
When I went to
Europe last September.
Of 1990.
For 17 days.
Had the most wonderful trip.
What was it like there?
-Oh it was great.
We liked all the coun-- I
believe I liked Holland and
Germany and Switzerland
better-- London was real good.
We liked England, too.
-I'm not in favor of the boat.
-I am.
-It might bring in
something undesirable.
-I doubt it.
-I don't.
-Bring in money!
-That's what gambling does.
-Bring in money.
So, what's the most
important thing in your life?
-Working.
Working and my family.
That's the most important thing.
OK, y'all out here now.
-Real nice
talking to you, though,
sugar.
-Y'all come back to see us.
We really enjoyed having you.
Bye!
-Buh-bye!
-Man, there ain't nothing
here but farmland in this town.
That's all they
got here, farming.
Long as they got
their cotton-growing,
their bean, their rice,
and their wheat they OK.
Long as-- long as, you know
they keep people-- You know,
peoples here, they--
they want good jobs,
but you know most of them ain't
got time to go to nowhere else
to get a good job.
And before everything you
know, some of them stay on their
creeping land, and then all for
them to stay on that land they
gotta work that land.
And if they ain't gonna work
that land they gotta get off
that land.
And then if they put
them off that land,
they got nowhere to stay.
And then so they've
got to work for them,
for the little
bit they pay them.
Did you grow up here?
-Yeah.
What was it
like growing up?
-Hard, man.
Real hard.
Why?
-People here, the
way they dogging,
round here, these
people dogging, man.
What does that mean?
-What's that mean?
Yeah.
-Dogging?
Well, like, the way
you-- if I'm-- OK,
like if there's a background, if
you've been in a lot of trouble,
if you can't get no good job and
your peoples they don't-- they
don't-- they don't teach
you how to get a good job,
you can't get no good job here.
They ain't paying you
nothing here to work here.
I'm not finna be
driving no tractor.
I ain't driving no tractor.
They ain't paying
nothing to drive no tractor.
I ain't no slave.
Those slavery
days've been over with.
Who's inspired you?
-My mom?
They're the ones I look for.
My mom.
I don't look for nobody else.
Whatever the world
brings tomorrow,
I don't know.
I just live for
today, today only.
That's it.
E is for everything
that you have done for your
children while
they was growing up,
even though the
time has become hard,
the mother will
always be there for you.
So you look around,
you see your mother,
tell your mother
thanks for everything.
So I give you an E.
R, R is held by Shaquana White.
R is for the remarkable things
that a mother has done for her
child during their
years of growing up.
If you understand remarkable,
you understand what a remarkable
mother is.
A mother would be there for you
no matter what the situation is.
So ladies and
gentlemen, I give you an R.
So all together,
M-O-T-H-E-R is for "mother."
So if you's a mother, stand
up and give yourself a hand.
-My mom is very independent.
She is loving, caring,
kind, and very tender.
And I love her very much.
-You know, we're
just like friends.
Which we are friends.
You know.
She's a mother.
She's a friend.
She's everything.
-I love her a lot, and I believe
that I can tell her anything
that I want her to know.
And I-- she
teaches me what's wrong,
what's not wrong, and
what's right to do?
And I love her for that.
I think she's mean, sometimes.
Well she'll
be in the right,
when she'll be mean.
-She'll be right, cause she
tells us what's right cause she
love us.
-Spank you, too.
-My mother was the
mother of this church.
She passed about five years ago.
But that still
don't stop me from coming to
church.
When they had the program,
it remind me so much about my
mother.
I thought about her dearly.
I still think of her dearly.
As far as I'm
concerned she's not dead,
she's alive in me.
Yeah, she
passed about five years ago.
I miss her.
I met my husband, he
was in the automobile business.
And he was a great
dancer, loved Latin dancing,
and we'd go out
dancing every night.
And then Walter Winchell had
written there'll be someone
dancing at El
Morocco in New York,
and it just took off from there.
-And they're coaches and Saints
football players and the Mod
Squad.
-That's the Mod Squad--
-The original Mod Squad?
-Uh-huh, Cesar
Romero, a very good friend,
I just loved that man.
Do you have any regrets?
-Uh, yeah.
I had the biggest and the
bestest that came into see the
show, we had John
Wayne, Robert Mitchum,
Deborah Kerr, and,
um-- God another one,
I'm trying to think.
It's one of the big ones.
The silent one that
played uh-- uh-- very quiet,
that played a lot
of Western roles.
Um-- gosh I can't
think of his name offhand.
He died back in the 60s.
But, you know some of the
biggest stars have been in to
see me, and I did get
pictures with them.
-I'm Ann Milling, I volunteer
at Project Lazarus here in New
Orleans, Louisiana, and we are
delighted that you are visiting
our residential
facility for, um,
AIDS patients, and we
welcome you to our community.
Are
you confused about Oprah?
I'm not surprised--
-They think they were
good for your health.
While it says "No Cholesterol,"
it doesn't say that this cooking
oil is--
All right, Henry--
-I was tired!
Anybody
tired?--
-Smokey Bear?
Smokey the Bear!
-That's a lot.
-Due process, my foot!
It's one poor lone man
against the company,
what can he do?
-Well, what do you think?
Isn't that a
traditional look to you?
-More than 60 comedies
raised almost 5.9...
-I have AIDS.
I, um, live here at
the Lazarus House,
I volunteer two days a
week at the food bank,
I, um, have good
days and bad days.
I'm in a lot of
pain, from neuropathy.
It's the virus is
attacking the nervous system.
So I have to, uh, take a
lot of stuff for pain.
You ever been afraid?
-I'm afraid now.
Yeah.
I'd be lying if I said
that I wasn't scared.
But I guess it's the unknown.
So I, um-- yeah I'm scared.
How do you
get through it?
-I cry.
I try to help other people.
I try to see what they're
going through and how they feel,
just before death.
I wonder what, you know, if
anything has really happened
after, um, they're gone.
I wonder about,
um...soul, spirit,
or an afterlife of any
kind, or if it hurts,
right at that point, really bad.
Some people I've
seen really fight it,
and other people seem to
just, go very peacefully.
-I stand in the window
and I be looking at,
uh, the church down the street.
It's a old
parish, quality church.
And the cars and the trains and
at the trees and the buildings
around it.
And the fresh
air is so good to breathe.
And we're right by the river,
so everything is-- the window's
just beautiful in the morning
time and the air is-- but ain't
got nothing to do, this is where
you come and think about a lot
of things.
So James,
when you were younger,
did you think about
what you wanted to do?
What you wanted to be?
-Yeah.
And it just didn't work.
What'd you think about?
-Oh I used to want to
be all kind of things.
Wanted to be a doctor.
I wanted to be an embalmer.
Never a police.
Uh, a truck driver, cause
they travel all over the states.
Then my mother passed
and I moved to California.
To Los Angeles.
Stayed there a while,
then I returned back home.
I didn't like California.
What's been
important to you,
in your life?
-Keep on living.
Some days you get
depressed with it,
but you have to hang it on up.
Cause, um, if you get depressed,
it will help to break you down.
So, I just keep
finding something to do.
Every day I find
something different to do.
I go play ball.
Ride my bike, play with my dog.
Play with everybody here.
Fool with the employees
and watch the bus come!
Ooh there's one coming
down the street now.
Every- and I'll be in
this window every day.
It's my favorite spot.
The window.
That's it.
I'll be watching the bus.
Attention!
-Downward right!
-Step!
What are your
hopes for the future?
-To put my kid
through school and college.
-I want to be a lawyer.
-I want to be a
medical engineer.
-A nurse.
What about you?
-I want to be aaaa-- I
want to be a-- a...nurse.
-Hope for the future.
I guess world
peace, and prosperity.
-To become very
successful, hopefully wealthy!
-Clean environment for
my kid to grow up in,
um, no more war.
-Well one big hope is that,
people will receive the Lord
Jesus Christ as their
savior in their life.
-Uh, marry a be-- a good wife.
-Man, I ain't got
the slightest idea.
What do you
hope for the future?
-Get my children back.
Get them back?
-Yeah, uh-huhn.
Where are they?
-The state took them away.
What happened?
-Cause I was homeless.
-My hope for the future?
My future's already here, buddy.
It's already here.
I used to
hate traveling on my own.
Then I reached the point where
I realized I had no idea what I
wanted to do with my life.
So I left college, and took
the bus to San Francisco.
I was 19.
I had no idea what
lay ahead for me.
It was the first time I
understood how vast America is.
I've lived in
California ever since.
I wonder why some people have
to move thousands of miles from
where they grew up before
they feel like they're home.
-Look how beautiful that is.
Isn't that beauti-- you've got
to see the beauty of Las Vegas.
Now it's beautiful.
It really is.
No place in the
world can you get a prime-rib
steak for $3!
Get a shrimp cocktail
for 50 cents up here!
-What's going on?
-Come on, man.
I've got some goodies!
And we've got sandwiches,
hot coffee and kool-aid,
and razors!
It's all free.
-Thank you very much, buddy.
-Have a good day now.
Thank you.
-You too.
-I hope you get a job.
Le-- le-- just let
me say, Lord, please,
bless them with a job.
Do this, we ask in
his precious name.
Amen.
Amen.
What'd you used to do?
-I'm a blackjack 21
dealer, a roulette dealer,
I do a little bit of
everything, you know.
But, uh, I've been
out here since '76,
you know, so...
What happened?
-What happened?
That brought me out here?
Yeah.
-Internal Revenue.
-This corner's
been here since 1966.
What is it?
What is this corner?
-It's just a corner that people
would come by and pick up people
that want to work--
-Contractors to come by
and pick you up to work.
-Pick you up to work.
-They want you to work.
But see, they have a sign up
there that says "No standing,
no walking, no nothing, huh."
OK.
Hey, how can they take and
violate my civil rights, huh?
OK.
This is a right to stay-- this
state here have a-- a-- a right
to a-- work state law.
-I'm not downtown
trying to steal nothing.
Why are they coming
up to mess with me--
-Might as well put a gun
in my hand and tell you,
"Hey, go in there
and get naked!"
I'll tell you to get naked, man.
And I am most
serious about that, too.
Cause I gotta have me some money
just like you've gotta have some
money to live on, right?
-That's what I'm saying.
-If I go in the elevator
and tell you to get naked?
You gonna get naked, my friend.
And that's uh--
that's a true thing.
-Cause it's hard out here.
-That's a beautiful
painting that you see a man,
that he's got the shakes and
he's-- he needs a haircut and he
hasn't been out of his
clothes in four to five weeks,
and you get him cleaned up,
and get him scrubbed up in that
divine detergent
and motivate him!
He looks good!
Build his self-confidence up!
Buddy that's a painting
that Rembrandt couldn't paint.
-How'd I get in this mess?
OK, um, let's see.
Husband walked out
last year, last summer.
I came to Las
Vegas to go to work.
I had a beautiful liquor store.
And one guy decided to
attack me one night,
and I quit work because they
wouldn't give me a daytime job.
So I screwed myself.
Went to Reno.
Really.
Went three months without work.
Came back here, and
have gone another,
almost nine weeks without work.
So all together it's been about
six months living like this.
-I came out here on a
bus trip with some money,
hoped to win money
here, gamble, Las Vegas,
you know.
And, you know, you
come out here with hopes,
and it's not what it
really seems to be.
You know, there's a lot of--
lot of hurting people out here,
you know.
What kind
of work do you do?
-Construction work.
Fix cars.
Whatever.
Whatever gets that
dollar in your hand.
How do you
see your future?
-Eh.
It'll come up and it'll go down.
So will yours, so will his.
-Give me your job
and take my job.
Go with me one week.
Leave your billfold and your
numbers at home and try with me
one week and see how
long you would last.
How you going to
get out of this situation?
By myself my own way.
Some day my luck's
going to change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
Change.
We have a winner!
-Yeah.
Yeah.
How did
this become yours?
-What?!
This didn't become
mine, this was created,
by me.
From dirt!
From nothing!
From air!
That's how it became mine.
One little bit at a time.
Let's put it this way, it
took me 20 years to become an
overnight success.
Eh?
This is our own
invention, it's a,
uh, carousel of flippers.
Uh, I don't know
how to explain that.
This is what we call
our victory machines.
Victory carousel, we put this in
celebration of the victory over
there in the Middle East.
But, as you'll see, when the
jackpot goes off the flags wave,
the lights light.
You have to look at the flags
waving while they're waving.
See?
It's an achievement.
It's a marvel.
Do you think some people
are lucky and some people are
unlucky?
-Some days I have a lot of luck.
But it was all bad.
See sometimes
people are very lucky,
they lose all their money
and they're very lucky.
It was just unlucky, that's all.
They just didn't realize it.
This is another restaurant when
people want peace and quiet.
They want some place quiet.
And the lights are-- why are
the lights so bright, Peter?
Isn't that better?
We need atmosphere.
One of my better pictures,
right over there.
Who are your role models?
-We should name Les Polizzi,
secondly Nelson Mandela,
you know super guy, and
thirdly Mother Teresa.
So are there
principles to gambling?
-I don't quite
understand the question.
Are there any basics
that one needs to know to be--
-All you need-- all you need to
know when you're a gambler is
one simple rule.
And it's the same advice for
everybody: You bet more when
you're winning and
less when you're losing.
It's as simple as that.
When you're
winning you bet more.
When you're losing you bet less.
Everybody follows that rule
they'll do a lot better than
they're doing.
Did ya get the flags waving?!
How much do think where
we are in our lives is within
our control and--
-I told you about luck.
Which luck are
you talking about,
the good luck or the bad luck?
Are you just talking
about luck in general?
How much are we
responsible and how much is due
to luck in general?
-88% we're responsible for it.
12%, goes with the territory.
You know, somebody from
above makes up that bit.
But we make up most of it.
Aha.
1600 car-space parking garage.
The largest in town.
How do you
like your uniform?
-I like it.
It's nice.
I like the theme idea.
I like the whole idea of
dressing up like that in a
costume.
It's not really a uniform.
Every place else, you
gotta wear black and white,
it's-- it's a
stuffier atmosphere.
Where here, it's
lighter cause we dress up,
we're part of a
theme-type thing,
you know, it's a
little bit of culture.
I like culture!
You know, I like
that-- that whole idea,
you know, like that...
So I feel like I'm going to a
Shakespearian festival every
morning.
Hear ye,
hear ye, you know.
-Where y'all from?
Where you from?
San Francisco.
-San Francisco?
Where you from?
-New Orleans.
Where you going?
-Going to LA.
What for?
-What for?
I'm an NA counselor.
Uh huh?
-Uh huh.
Gotta help the
world stay clean, man.
I was a drug user for 11 years.
Not-- not, 11 off and
on years, 11 years,
you know?
And, um, it's not
something, like I say,
I can just walk away from.
If I could, I really,
really would have been healthy.
You know.
It's not easy, I
cried many nights,
you know.
And, um, every day
I count the days,
you know.
I can't express to you enough,
I can't express to my family
enough, I can't
express to my co-friends,
co-workers.
It's a-- it's a-- it's a
wonderful thing to wake up in
the morning and know that I
still have the $20 that I went
to sleep with last night.
You know?
Where you going?
-LA.
What for?
Become a superstar.
Why else?
- What do--
- what do you you?
-Um, act.
Music.
Anything.
Where you from?
-Texas.
My dream is to be in a band.
Be a bass player.
You now, or be in
the movies, man.
Yeah.
So how are
you going to do that?
What are you going to
do when you get there?
-I got an uncle
that lives there,
and...um...he-- he knows people.
And, if it happens for
me it happens for me,
if it don't, no big deal.
And I'm happy.
I'm clean.
I'm-- I'm off drugs.
I don't do drugs anymore.
Um...I had a problem with drugs.
But I'm clean, for now.
Today.
How did you, uh,
how did you get out of it?
-Oh, I've got a baby.
A daughter and a girl
that I'm in love with,
back in Texas.
So, that-- that's
helped me out a lot.
I know I can't
ever have them back.
Keep, you know, keep
going the route I was going,
so I gotta do
something different,
man.
Can you take
your glasses off?
-Yeah.
What happened with, uh,
with your girl and the baby?
-Uh, we-- we went through a lot
of problems because of drugs and
alcohol, constant fighting.
Couldn't get along.
Just...she said I was a monster.
Were you?
Yeah.
I was.
Like how?
-Drugs, and alcohol.
Makes me violent.
But, as long as
I'm not fucked up,
I'm OK.
I'm a good person.
-We're moving.
We're moving to Eugene, Oregon.
How come?
-Because we don't like it
in Mississippi anymore.
Why?
-There's no hope there.
There's no hope.
It's just...
-The South, it's pfft, drink
beer and go to the beach and--
-Yeah.
- fry your brain--
- You know,
the heat?
-Yeah.
-The attitude,
the prejudice, the,
um, the ignorance.
-Yeah.
-The apathy in
Mississippi, and the South,
too, you know.
The-- the down home, go
to-- go to high school,
quit, get a job in a restaurant,
and live in a trailer.
You know?
And I just can't see
myself doing that,
and it's really easy
to get caught up in it.
It's real easy, and I'm not
saying Oregon is the place,
but I-- I've gotta try
elsewhere and do something.
You know, I've got a
few years left to do it,
to have the freedom.
So...
tha--
How old are you?
-19.
How old are you?
-19.
19.
What do you do for fun?
-I don't think you wanna know.
Um, we-- we-- we
do, um, mushrooms.
We, uh, I mean we
smoke marijuana.
-We go...out to the
golf course at night,
you know, and walk around--
-Walk around at night--
-We don't do the club scene.
We don't, you know, drink.
We don't do any of that.
You know, we go out
and we live, you know,
like in the city.
But we go out and
find nature, you know.
We just go
outside, in the woods.
We were
born 20 years too late.
Right on.
-I don't know, that's the
best way I can describe it.
We totally missed out--
Yeah, we missed out.
What are-- do you have
no love for your generation?
-Oh.
No that--
Generation of swines.
-Generation of swine.
That's what they are.
Yes.
In a neon world.
-Yeah.
Plastic.
Plastic.
-Hi girls!
Wooooooooh!
If I do say so.
-At 10:30 the whole parade
is going to come to a stop.
-Just south of us, uh--
-OK.
-I don't see them making--
-Well hello, young man!
-Everybody, do a split.
You're selling agents.
Oh my god!
-All right!
Big smiles!!
-I think they're
fantastic, aren't they?
-Aren't they darling?
-Yes.
-Just love them.
They're daaaarling.
-Look at those-- did you
see the one on the end?
-Yeah.
Yeah, she's
a doll, isn't she?
-How do they all get
such beautiful hair?!
Look at their hair!
I know!
It's just gorgeous!
It is gorgeous.
The curls!
Does
that look like the Apaches to
you?
Or the...?
It looks like the,
uh, the Cobras.
Cobras?
And the-- and the Hueys.
Uh, I just can't
help to thinking,
uhn, I'm glad to
see this as, uh,
as a civilian and not as a
member of the military of the
opposite force.
So, sitting on the
ground, seeing these,
uh, United States military
aircraft coming toward you.
And they really look do look,
lots of--
Very impressive.
And now
we can hear them moving on,
coming overhead, now
these are the helicopters.
-Great day for America.
It's time that we
feel good about America,
we're excited about
America, we honor our troops,
and indeed honor
the whole country.
Uncle Sam is proud of us all.
-USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
USA!
Woo!
After 18 days,
we return to San Francisco.
It's where we've made our home.
But I guess it
depends on where you think home
is, really.
Out there somewhere,
or inside yourself.
What are your
hopes for the future?
-That I have one.
To at least stay healthy, and
that taxes don't go up too much
higher.
And that
we stay out of wars.
And that the Lord will come.
Before I go.
That would be nice.
That would be neat.
-Well, living a very happy life.
That's all I'm
looking for, in the future,
is a happy life.
I guess everybody would
look-- would look for that,
cause I do.
-Well, I hope to have a very
nice family and a very healthy
baby.
And just to be good to
myself, that's about it.
Yeah.
Are you happy?
-Am I happy?
I'm-- I'm happy,
yet-- yet I'm sad.
When I'm happy
because I'm clean,
and I'm trying, you
know, and I'm fighting it,
but I'm sad because of
the time that I has wasted,
the money that I has wasted.
You know.
-How do I know I'm gonna
wake up in the morning?
I can-- I can look
at those people,
that's not in the
condition that I am,
mi-- might not have legs and
wheelchairs and stuff like that,
you know.
I'm fortunate.
Very, very fortunate.
-I'm fine where
I'm at, you know,
I like it.
It's really nice.
You know, what I do and all.
So I'd say I'd probably
be out risking my life.
Any regrets in your life?
-No, none.
Lotta-- lotta bad times,
well not a lotta bad times,
but a number of times
that you just think,
"Man, this is too much."
But I don't regret them at all,
cause they sure made me be a
better person
further down the line.
-I've had both
of my lungs taken out,
I got a pacemaker that
in that don't work right,
to keep me going.
Lotta problems, and still go
fishing and hunting rabbits and
things.
-Something I regret?
There's nope-- there's
nothing to regret in my life.
I mean, regretting
ain't gonna help you now.
So, that's it.
It's a quiet evening,
and the sun's going down,
so the kids will be riding
their bike backward and forward.
That's it.
-Um...marrying Corina?
I want to have my baby.
And I want to make money.
A lot of money.
Yeah, I figure LA is
the place to do it.
It's the place to be.
That's where dreams come
true, and I'm a dreamer.
I've always been a dreamer.
I'll always be a dreamer.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.