Daily Dialogue — December 27, 2011
Russell stands on the jutting corner of the house rooftop. The unlit, unheated greenish family pool beckons to him below. It’s kicked in.
RUSSELL (bellowing to the heavens) I AM A GOLDEN GOD!!
Russell cackles at the joke of it all. William yells up from down below.
WILLIAM Hey Russell -
RUSSELL I AM A GOLDEN GOD!!
WILLIAM Don’t jump, okay?
RUSSELL And you can tell Rolling Stone Magazine my last words were -
He spreads his arms, and tries to think of last words.
RUSSELL (cont’d) — I’m on drugs!!
The kids cheer. William looks around, remains cool. Yells upward in the cold night air.
WILLIAM I think we should work on those last words.
RUSSELL Critic!!
WILLIAM No, I’m not -
RUSSELL Okay I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. This is better. Last words — (spreads his arms, his greatest realization) I DIG MUSIC!!
It gets a skimpy reaction from the partygoers.
RUSSELL (cont’d) (immediately) I’m on drugs!!
They applaud again.
WILLIAM Just come on down!!
RUSSELL (matter-of-fact) Okay.
He jumps from the roof into the cold, algaed water below. He sinks immediately. One kid jumps in, then another, then more.
Everybody wants to save Russell.
— Russell (Billy Crudup), William (Patrick Fugit), Almost Famous (2000), written by Cameron Crowe
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is parties. Today’s suggestion by pliny the elder.
Trivia: At the party, when he is on acid, Russell Hammond cries out, “I am a golden god!” This is a reference to Robert Plant of the band Led Zeppelin, who is purported to have said the same thing (sober) while looking over Sunset Strip from a hotel balcony.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Great irony here with the line “I AM A GOLDEN GOD” compared to the increasingly fractured state of Russell’s psyche, revealing more and more his humanity.