Saturday, May 13, 2023

The Bates Motel

THE BATES MOTEL

Highway the view from the road from Mary’s viewpoint. It’s getting dark. We see a neon sign of a roadside motel. Mary stops in front of the check in office. She calls her boyfriend to tell him she’s lost. He doesn’t pick up the phone. MARY Jimmy I’m lost, my GPS has gone crazy, I’m parked in front of a roadside called the Bates Motel. Mary is exasperated that she cannot reach her boyfriend. She looks at the surroundings thinking whether she should get out and go into the office to get directions. She enters and walks up to a shabby looking front desk. She taps the bell on the desk for service. WOMAN’S VOICE Go tend to the young pretty woman and leave me alone. You’re always leaving me. I’m tired of it Norman, you’re making very hard on me, I’m starting to lose my patience with you.

NORMAN (Blurting out) You’re a witch, you can’t run my life, I’m fed up taking care of you. Combing your hair, cleaning after you, just Shut up, did you hear me Shut up! Mary hears the shouting match, she’s alarmed. Norman open a screen door, it closes with a startling bang NORMAN (CONT’D) (a composed Norman walk’s in as if nothing happened. Can I help you? MARY I’m looking for the main road back into town can you help me? NORMAN How did you get lost and find us? MARY Just made the wrong turn, my phone is not working  and I just need help.  

NORMAN Are you sure you’re not looking for a one night stand and he hasn’t arrived yet. MARY Why would you say something like that? It told you I’m lost. NORMAN If you’re not looking for a one night stand, what are you looking for, looks to me like you’re running away from something. MARY What gives you that idea? I really want direction on how to get out of here. NORMAN No. I really think you’re running from something. We all have our private hells we run from, what are you running from? MARY I’m not running from anything. NORMAN My mother always said, you never know who’s following you and what bad intentions they have. MARY You’re mother? NORMAN She lives in the house behind (pointing toward the door).  

MARY Is your mother OK? NORMAN She’s not herself today. She get in her moods. MARY If I’ve created a problem I’ll find someone else to give me directions. NORMAN I want to apologize, she’s a needy person. MARY Maybe I should leave, she sounds like she needs your help. NORMAN Are you hungry, mother made some great cookies, can I offer you a cup of coffee, what would you like. MARY I guess a cup of coffee would be fine. Norman invites her the parlor behind the desk. Starts the coffee maker. Keeps looking back at Mary. NORMAN Is it cold in here? Would you like me to turn on the heater? MARY No I’m fine. We hear the coffee maker squirting coffee into a paper cup. NORMAN I haven’t done the dishes yet do you mind a paper cup? MARY )Wondering what she’s gotten herself into.) No a pape cup will be fine.  

NORMAN (reaches for a tray of cookies) Mother made these, they’re her favorites. Mary looks past the parlor back into the office, late afternoon is turning into night. Very dark outside. MARY Hmm..very tasty. She looks around the room suspiciously. Crude paintings are hanging from the wall. NORMAN I see you’re noticing my mothers artwork. The paintings have a dark tone to them. MARY They’re very nice. (Trying not to be insulting) NORMAN You’re very kind. MARY What exactly do you do? NORMAN Beside’s running the office, I change the sheets in the cabins, keep the grounds clean, and I do chores for my mother. MARY Do you have any friends? NORMAN I don’t need friends. My mother is my best friend.  

MARY I admire a man who loves his mother. NORMAN Yes, sometimes we are born to comfort the ones we love. We’re almost trapped and we can’t claw out of it. MARY Your mother did not sound like a pleasant person. My mother would never talk to me like that. NORMAN You have a point. But sometimes we get into these shouting sessions, she curses at me and I threaten to leave her and never come back. But I don’t. I know she needs help and couldn’t live without me. MARY Is she bedridden or in a wheelchair? NORMAN Not really. She’s a very strong woman. My dad left us at a very young age, she inherited this Motel, I adore her for all the things she’s done for me. She tried to run to this place (he looks around the premises) but this was too much for her. So I volunteered so I’ve been stuck in the place, with no hope for a future. MARY She does love you, doesn’t she? NORMAN She’s had some men in her life, they all disappear, I try my best, but she does need a man to complete her life. MARY Looks like you’ve stepped in and filled the void. NORMAN She needs another man, that’s it.  

MARY Why don’t you just leave? NORMAN It’s too late, who would look after her? When you love your mother you just can’t leave her there alone without anybody. MARY How about a rest home? Then you could sell this place and become your own man. NORMAN No way, a rest home for mom. No way. MARY Just trying to help. NORMAN (Aggravated) Put her in a rest home? Norman stares at Mary with a coldness in his eyes. NORMAN (CONT’D) She’s not ready to be put in a nuthouse or whatever you want to call it. MARY I didn’t mean it that way. NORMAN People like you never do. Do you know what those mental institutions are like? Hat’s with electric shock wires hooked to them, people running out of control down halls, putting people like my mother in straightjackets.  

MARY I’m really sorry, you’re taking this the wrong way. Norman appears very irritated, Mary appears to be feeling sorry for Norman. NORMAN I understand. Norman’s emotions subside, he’s now very solemn and appears hurt. Mary is looking at a very disturbed person. MARY It’s getting late, I should be going. NORMAN Look we have 12 empty cabins, you’re welcome to stay in one until the morning, but don’t tell my mother, please. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if she’s a raving maniac, if she finds out she goes off the deep end. MARY Are you offering me a room till the morning? NORMAN Just don’t tell anyone. Especially my mother. MARY (Mary thinks about it)  Thank’s Norman, I'll take you up on your offer. I’m very tired, I’ll be gone very early. NORMAN Where are you headed, MARY I have to meet someone in Bakersfield. NORMAN Bakersfield?  

MARY Yes I’m going to a security meeting. NORMAN Well, I’ll show you to your cabin if you’re ready. MARY Need to get my suitcase. I’ll be back. Mary goes out the front and walks to her car and takes a small suitcase out of the backseat. She turns and Norman is standing directly behind her. Mary is startled. NORMAN I can help you with that. Still recovering from the shock of Norman's presents she is visibly shaken. MARY I can handle that. NORMAN No I insist. Mary follows Norman down a dimly lit walkway past several cabins. He abruptly stops at the last cabin. Unlock the door. MARY I’ll take it from here. NORMAN Let me show you around. Norman turns on the light. A double bed with neatly manicured blankets and sheets. NORMAN (CONT’D) Here’s the closet.  

MARY Thank you, is there a phone? NORMAN Yes it’s in the drawer, here. If you need to make a call, I can connect you from the office at my mother's house behind the motel. MARY Thank you Norman, thanks for your help. Norman sits in a chair inside the room. Mary’s suitcase is on the bed, she looks uncomfortable with Norman sitting in the same room. She looks at him, he’s in deep thought. MARY (CONT’D)  

Norman, (in a loud voice) Norman wakes out of his trance, jumps up and walks to the door and opens (creaking) and walks out. Mary, looks around the room, peeks through the window curtain overlooking the walkway to see if Norman has left. She walks into the bathroom, turns on the shower, walks back into the bedroom and undresses. Walks into the bathroom leaving the door partially open. We see Mary’s back as she removes the towel, partially exposing her upper torso. Her eyes show concern, after she moves into the shower, we see the door slowly close.  

And we see a shadow of a woman standing behind the curtain. Mary senses danger. The room is now filled with the steam from the shower’s hot water. Suddenly we see a hand reach up, grasp the shower curtain, and rip it open. The steam hides the intruder and Mary. A hand appears through the steam holding a glistening large bread knife. The hand comes up to strike Mary in the shower, Mary spins in the steamy shower, and kicks the attacker in the stomach, then grabs the attacker's arm holding the knife and breaks the attacker's arm. The knife falls to the floor, Mary is in full combat mode, we see blurred fighting, Mary puts the attacker in a choke hold. The attacker falls to the floor, unconscious. Mary recovers, we see her in a full body towel walking out of the bathroom with a body laying on the floor. She puts on a robe, Mary walks back into the bathroom, and recognizes her assailant. Lipstick is smeared around his mouth, he’s wearing a tattered dress. She pulls the wig off his head. Norman.

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