Daily Dialogue — June 14, 2014
GREENBERG: People don’t call on my birthday anymore. I guess I don’t call people on their birthdays, why should they call me? I didn’t call you. When is yours?
IVAN: In February.
GREENBERG: That’s right. I’ll call you this year.
People at another table erupt into loud laughter. One guy guffaws and claps. Greenberg glances over at them, irritated.
GREENBERG: Laughing already demonstrates appreciation, the applause seems superfluous.
Ivan laughs. The guy at the table stretches out his legs.
GREENBERG: Also, it’s like, just treat the restaurant like it’s your living room, guy… (pause) I’m weirdly on tonight.
IVAN: Should we order?
GREENBERG: I was reading an article in the paper this morning about someone running for office and they gave his age as 41 and my first thought was, that guy’s an adult. Adults run for office.
IVAN: Right.
GREENBERG: But what I’m not thinking is, “I’m 41 too.” If I was in the paper, that would be my age.
IVAN: I know, it’s like when I look at my high school yearbook now, the seniors still look so old.
GREENBERG: Maybe I should’ve invited Florence. Or I should’ve had a party…I don’t know.
IVAN: Birthday’s are hard.
GREENBERG: It’s weird aging, right? It’s like, “What the fuck is going on?”
IVAN: I know. It’s like that Eddie Money song.
GREENBERG: I mean, you know it’s happening. We’re all playing by the same rules and still…somewhere in the back of my head I thought I’d never actually be forty. Let alone…over forty.
IVAN: It’s heavy, forty.
GREENBERG: It’s a chunky word.
IVAN: Youth is wasted on the young.
GREENBERG: I’d go further, I’d go, life is wasted on…people. (sighs) Should I invite her? It doesn’t have to mean anything. I don’t want to set up a series of expectations with her. What do you think?
— Greenberg (2010), screenplay by Noah Baumbach, story by Jennifer Jason Lee and Noah Baumbach
The Daily Dialogue theme for this week: Birthday. Today’s suggestion: Sabina Giado.
Trivia: In the early drafts of the screenplay Greenberg was initially written as a guy in his early 30s. Inspired by the idea of casting Ben Stiller, Noah Baumbach and Jennifer Jason Leigh rewrote the entire script and made Greenberg 40 turning 41.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Sabina: “The birthday scene is a snapshot of everything Greenberg is struggling with up until this point. Uncomfortable with his own life and his age. Uncomfortable with aging. A loathing for humanity, which unfortunately includes himself. Nothing seems right, which leads to the explosive end to this scene. You gotta watch it to believe it. It’s ridiculous.”
If you have a suggestion for this week’s them, please head to comments. Need your help!
Comment Archive