Pardon Me.
There.
Oatmeal, Cantaloupe, Toast And Butter
And Peppermint Tea--
Your Mother's Favorites.
Anything We Forgot?
I Like Ice Cream When I'm Sick.
Mom's Not Sick, Rudy. She Has A Pinched Nerve.
Your Mother Will Appreciate
Just Seeing Your Lovely Faces
With Her Tray Of Her Favorite Breakfast.
Let Me Carry It.
It's Very Heavy.
I Won't Drop It.
Take That.
Thank You.
Tell Mom I'll Be Up
Before School.
Son?
Yeah?
What You Doing?
Clearing The Table.
Did I Ask You To?
No.
Why Are You Clearing It?
With Mom Laid Up
We All Need To Pitch In And Do A Little Bit Extra.
Are You Still Doing Your Regular Chores?
Yeah, I'll Still Take Out The Garbage
And Sweep The Front Walk.
I'll Also Take Rudy To Dance Class.
Son?
Yeah?
What?
Sometimes When People Are Feverish
They Say Things They Don't Mean.
Dad, I'm Fine.
Sometimes If You're Feverish
You Hear Things You'd Like To Hear
But You Really Don't Hear Them.
Dad, You're Fine, Too.
(Ring ) I Am?
Well, I Hope So.
Hello?
Yes, Operator, I'll Accept The Charges.
Hi, Daddy.
Hi, Denise. You Need Money?
No.
You're Sure?
Yes.
Denise!
Hey, It's Great To Hear From You.
Are You Still Coming Home For The Weekend?
Yes. I Wouldn't Miss It.
Good.
I'm Picking Up My English Paper
Then I'll Catch A Train.
All Right.
How's Everything Going?
I'm Getting An "A" On This Paper.
How's Biology?
I'm Pulling A Strong "B."
All Right! Huxtable Brains.
Sounds Like You're Burning It Up.
I Am. We'll Talk About It Later.
You're Coming Home For Money?
Dad! No.
I've Got To Go Meet With My Professor.
Okay. I'm Looking Forward To Seeing You.
Give My Love To Everyone.
Bye.
My Son's Doing Chores Nobody Asked Him To Do.
My Daughter's Got A Strong "B."
I Must Have Malaria.
(Knocking )
Come In.
Hi. Dr. Hughes?
Hello, Denise.
You Wanted To See Me?
Yes. Come In.
I Finished Reading Your Last Essay.
Great. I Worked Hard On This One.
You're Getting The Same Grade You Got On The Others.
Those Were "Ds."
I Know.
I Don't Understand.
I Worked Hard On This.
How Much Time Did You Spend Writing That Paper?
Two Weeks-- I Started Working Right Away.
How Much Time Did You Spendwriting?
It's Hard To Say.
I Have This System That Works Really Well.
Oh, You Do, Huh?
When I Have A Paper To Write
I Think About It For A Few Days--
Mull It Over While I'm Doing Other Things.
Other Things?
Yeah, Like Taking A Shower, Or Brushing My Teeth
Or Going For A Walk.
See, I Get Inspired And Then I Stop--
I Stop Whatever I'm Doing And I Just Write.
It's Like This Burst Of Creative Energy.
I Would Rather You Organize Your Bursts.
This Is How I Wrote Papers In High School.
I Always Got "As."
But You're In College Now.
The Difference Between High School And College
Is The Grade On That Paper.
Now, I Suggest You Reread The Comments I Made.
I'll Do That On My Next Paper.
Thisis Your Next Paper.
I Want You To Write It Over.
It's Due A Week From Today.
All Right.
I Appreciate The Second Chance.
Apply The Comments This Time
Or I Won't Be As Generous With Your Grade.
I Understand.
Good.
Sorry I'm Rushing
But I've Got To Get Out Of Town.
How Was Dance Class?
No Good!
Something Wrong With The Ballerina?
Her Teacher Handed Out Dance Recital Parts.
Rudy Wanted The Sun, But They Made Her The Wind.
What's The Matter With The Wind?
I Don't Know
But All The Way Home, Rudy Kept Saying
"I Am The Sun."
Well, Maybe I'd Better Talk To Her.
I Tried To Cheer Her Up.
I Said, "Rudy, It's Only Ballet, It's Not Important.
Nobody Cares About It."
She Didn't Come Around After You Said That?
No.
I Cannot Believe She's So Upset.
You Can't?
I Remember You At That Age.
You Played Baseball.
You Made The Team
You Went Out With Your Glove, Bat And Uniform.
The Man Didn't Put You In.
You Came Back, Threw Your Bat And Glove Down
And Said, "I Won't Play Ball Anymore."
I'll Go Talk To Her, Dad.
No, You've Done Enough.
I'll Say Something To Her.
Hi.
Your Coat's Still On.
I Know.
You'll Get Hot.
I Don't Care.
Now, Come On.
Take Your Coat Off.
Hang It Up.
Theo Tells Me
You Had Some Disappointment In Dance Class.
Daddy, I Am The Sun.
I Don't Want To Be The Wind.
What's So Good About Being The Sun?
The Sun Gets To Set And Rise And Shine On The Flowers--
You Know, Photothimissism?
Photo What?
Make The Flowers Grow?
Photothimissism.
No, No, Honey, It's Photosynthesis.
Oh.
Where Did You Learn About Photosynthesis?
Vanessa Told Me.
She Said The Sun's The Most Important Thing
In The Universe.
You Thinks The Sun's More Important Than Wind?
You Got It.
Would You Do Me A Favor
And Show Me What The Sun Does?
Sure.
Photothimissism.
No, Photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis.
Now, Show Me What The Wind Does.
(Whooshing Noise )
Well, Pardon Me
But As Far As I'm Concerned
The Wind Is Far More Exciting Than The Sun.
Rudy: But The Wind Only Dances
At The Very End.
You're Saying The Sun Stays On Stage Longer!
The Whole Play.
Well, Let Me Tell You This.
I Think That When The People See This Play
They Will Say, "Well, The Sun Was Out There For A While
"Butwow The Wind
Bring Her Back, Man, Bring Her Back!"
Dad, I Can't Come Back.
That's The End Of The Show.
But If You're The Best Wind You Can Be--
Even Though You Don't Want To Be The Wind--
If You're The Best Wind You Can Be
I'll Bet That At The End Of The Play
When The People Are Clapping, They Would Say:
"The Sun Burned, But The Wind Blew Me Away."
You Understand That?
Yes.
All Right, Then.
Good, Good.
But I Am The Sun.
(Knocking )
Yes?
How Come You Didn't Get Up And Open The Door?
Very Funny.
Oh, Be Careful, Be Careful.
How Did You Do This?
It's My Own Fault.
I Was Teaching Rudy Some Ballet Moves.
I Picked Her Up And Discovered That She Is Heavy.
Look At The Good Side, You're Getting Some Rest.
I'm Getting Plenty Of Rest.
I've Had Such Fun These Past Two Days.
I've Watched A Squirrel Climb Up And Down A Tree.
I've Listened To Myself Breathe.
And I've Discovered That I Blink 37 Times A Minute.
Are You Telling Us You're Bored?
Out Of My Mind.
But I'm Really Glad To See You Two.
What Have You Been Doing?
Everything-- Don't Leave Anything Out.
College Is Great.
I'm Getting All "As" This Semester.
That's Wonderful.
Isn't It, Denise?
Yeah.
I Just Finished A Psych Project.
The Professor Loved It So Much
She Wants To Do Research With Me Next Semester.
All Right, Sondra, All Right.
How's Everything With You, Denise?
Good.
Yeah? How's School?
It's Getting Really Cold In Virginia Now.
We Even Had A Frost Last Week.
Princeton Had Great Weather.
I'm Not Surprised.
Tell Me About Your Classes.
Oh, I Will
But I Want To Find Some Sweaters For The Cold.
I'll Be Back.
Don't You Go Away.
I Want To Hear About You, Mom.
You.
I'll Be Here.
(Whooshing Noise )
Good. When I Watch You, I See The Wind.
I'm Only On The Stage For A Minute.
That Doesn't Matter.
That's Not What The Audience Will Remember.
It's Not?
I've Done A Few Dance Recitals.
The Performance Isn't That Important.
What The Audience Remembers Is Your Bow At The End.
Now Let Me See You Bow.
That's Okay, But The Audience Won't Remember It.
They Won't?
No. You Need Something With Flair.
Now Here's What I Recommend.
The First Thing You Do When You Come Out
Is You Act Really Humble
Like You're Surprised They're Even Applauding.
And Then You Point To Yourself, And You Say...
"For Me?"
They Love That!
Then You Walk Toward The Center Of The Stage
Shaking Your Head
Like You Really Don't Deserve Their Love.
"No, No. Please, Stop."
Then You Put One Foot Behind The Other
And You Bow Deeply At The Waist, Exhausted.
(Sigh )
Show Them You've Given Them Everything You Have.
I'll Be In The Front Row
And I'll Yell, "Bravo! Bravo!"
And That Will Start A Standing Ovation.
I Like That!
We're Back. Movie Time.
What Movies?
For Rudy
Mr. Mouse Joins The Circus.
Yay!
And For Everyone Else
Attack Of The Two-Headed Dog.
All Right!
Where's Denise?
She's In The Kitchen.
Set Up The Tape Machine.
And I'll Make The Popcorn.
Denise, We've Got The Movies.
I Don't Feel Like It.
You Wanted A Movie.
Changed My Mind.
Are You All Right?
Yeah. Why?
You're Acting Strange.
Yeah, I Agree.
You Hardly Ate Any Dinner.
I Wasn't Hungry.
Having Problems With Some Guy?
No.
Having Troubles At School?
Did I Mention School?
Why Bring School Into This?
Hmm. Strong Defensive Reaction.
Oh, Yeah.
Fine! I Will Watch The Stupid Movie
With You Guys!
Ah. Avoidance Response.
Without A Doubt.
Cut It Out!
Definite Hostility.
Theo!
Tell Us.
Sooner Or Later We'll Get It Out Of You.
Maybe We Could Help.
It Goes No Further Than This Kitchen, Okay?
We Promise.
I Bet This Is Good!
What Is It?
The Last Three Papers
That I Wrote For Freshman Composition...
I Got "Ds."
Whoa!
You Must Have Been Doing Some Serious Partying.
I Didn't Party At All.
I Worked Really Hard On Those Papers.
You Didn't Party And You Got "Ds"?
What A Waste!
When I Started College, I Had Trouble With A Subject
But I Turned It Around.
I'm Not Just Having Trouble In Freshman Composition.
Right Now I Have A Low "C" In Biology
And A High "D" In Calculus.
Oh, Denise.
Denise!
I'm Doing Really Well In My Cinema Class.
We Have To See One Movie A Week
And I Haven't Missed One Yet.
Are You Going To Flunk Out?
No, Unless I Really Mess Up.
Do Mom And Dad Know?
No.
Tell Them.
I'd Rather Flunk Out.
Cliff: ♪ De De De Doom Doom ♪
♪ De De Boom De Dee Dee ♪
You're Going To Entertain Me.
It's The Hillman College Marching Band!
Ladies And Gentlemen
For Your Half-Time Entertainment
We're Proud To Present
The Hillman College Flying Falcon
Marching Band.
(♪Imitating Marching Band ♪)
Whoo!
Pow! Pow!
(Knocking )
How You Doing?
We Need To Talk.
Sure.
Be Careful Now. Be Careful...
I Know. I Know.
(Groan )
(Sigh )
So...
♪ Je Je Jin Jin ♪
I Wanted To Tell You That I'm Really Enjoying Hillman.
Good. Good.
And I'm Glad You Influenced Me To Go There.
We're Glad That You're Glad.
♪ De De De Dee De Dee ♪
I'm Doing Really Well In My Modern Cinema Class.
♪ De De Doo ♪
Modern Cinema Class?
I Got Into It Late After I Dropped Early American History.
♪ De De Doo... ♪
You Dropped Your History Class?
It Started At 8:00 In The Morning.
I Had Trouble Getting There On Time.
And What Time Is The Modern Cinema Class?
Noon.
♪ De De Dum ♪
Actually, I'm Having Trouble
In A Few Other Of My Classes, Too.
Which Ones?
English, Biology And Calculus.
Yeah, I Haven't Gotten Off To A Real Good Start In Those.
What Kind Of Start Have We Gotten Off To?
Ahem. Two "Ds" And A "C-."
Aw...
Cliff: (Mock Crying )
Now What Happened To Thestrong "B" In Biology?
I'll Get A "B"
If I Get "As" On My Next Tests And An "A" On Lab Work.
What Happened To The "A-" In Calculus?
The Final Exam's 70% Of Our Grade.
I Have To Ace It.
What Is Your Problem, Child?
I Think It's The Teachers.
When They Give An Assignment
They Don't Seem To Care If You Do It Or Not.
In High School, Mr. Shepard Always Checked Our Work.
At Hillman, They Give An Assignment
And Say, "Do It."
And Then You Never Hear About It Again
Until It Has To Be In.
They're Treating You Like An Adult.
They Expect You To Take Care Of Things Yourself.
I Have So Much To Do.
I Have To Do Laundry.
Laundry? Isn't That That Stuff You Brought In A Big Bag Here?
I Have To Buy Supplies
I Have To Clean My Room And Eat And Sleep...
And All The Girls In The Dorm
Come To Me With Their Problems.
I Hardly Have Time For My Club Meetings.
What Club?
"Students For Social Peace Through Poetry."
I Can't Just Study.
Dad, I Want To Be A Well-Rounded Person.
It Sounds Like You're Blaming Everybody But Yourself.
If You'd Organize Yourself
You'd Have Time For All These Things You Want To Do
And Study, Too.
You're In College.
It's A Different World.
I'll Tell You What.
Tomorrow You And I Will Get Together
And I'll Help You Organize Your Schedule.
You Will?
Yes.
Great. I Guess I Can Use It.
Your Mother And I Want You To Get A Wonderful Education
Because... Our Money Is A Terrible Thing To Waste.
I See Why You Got A "D."
You Do?
Mm-Hmm. Listen To This.
"Zora Hurston Was An Important Author
"Because Of What She Meant
To Future Generations Of Women Authors."
What's Wrong?
"She Meant A Lot
To Those Future Generations."
This Is Incomplete.
You Haven't Said Why She Was Important To Them.
Because She Influenced Them.
How?
Her Literary Style.
Which Was..
Unique.
Explain That.
Different.
Why?
You're Asking Things The Teacher Already Knows.
She Read The Book.
You Have To Write This Paper
Like Your Teacher Hasn't Read The Book.
When You Make A Statement Like This
You Have To Back This Up.
Now Tell Me Why You Like Hurston's Writings.
Because The Women She Wrote About Had An Inner Strength.
Would You Please Write That?
Our Teacher Won't Be Interested In That.
If You Support It, She Will.
Well, I Can.
Then Do It.
Remember, When You're In Trouble
I'm Not The Only Person You Can Come To.
Go To Your Professors.
I Will.
Excuse Me. How Would You Like A Study Break?
We're In The Middle Of Something.
This Will Be Worth It.
What Is It?
Ladies And Gentlemen
It Is My Pleasure To Present Miss Rudy Lillian Huxtable
As "The Wind."
Denise: Hey!
(Clapping )
(Whoosh! )
Yay!
Bravo!
Vanessa: Bravo!
Denise: Bravo!
For Me?
Vanessa: Yay!
Oh, No, No. Not For Me. Not For Me.
Yay!