Daily Dialogue — November 18, 2012

John Keating: Close your eyes, close your eyes! Close ‘em! Now, describe what you see.

Todd Anderson: Uh, I-I close my eyes.

John Keating: Yes.

Todd Anderson: Uh, and this image floats beside me.

John Keating: A sweaty-toothed madman.

Todd Anderson: A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain.

John Keating: Oh, that’s *excellent*! Now, give him action — make him do something!

Todd Anderson: H-His hands reach out and choke me.

John Keating: That’s it! Wonderful, wonderful!

Todd Anderson: And all the time he’s mumbling.

John Keating: What’s he mumbling?

Todd Anderson: Mumbling truth.

John Keating: Yeah, yes.

Todd Anderson: Truth like-like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.

[some of the class start to laugh]

John Keating: Forget them, forget them! Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket!

Todd Anderson: Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it’ll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it, it’ll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying t-to the moment we leave dying, it’ll just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream.

[long pause then class applauds]

John Keating: Don’t you forget this.

— John Keating (Robin Williams), Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), Dead Poets Society (1989), written by Tom Schulman

This week’s Daily Dialogue theme is Teacher-Student, suggested by Teddy Pasternak. Today’s suggestion by David Proenza.

Trivia: The draft that writer Tom Schulman sent out to the studios was his first one.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by David: “Dead Poets Society should just be used in its entirety, but I love this scene, when Keaton helps the shy Todd Anderson open up…”

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