Daily Dialogue — October 18, 2011
Richard: Olive, can I tell you something about ice-cream? (she nods) Ice cream is made from cream, which comes from cow’s milk. And cream has a lot of fat in it…
Sheryl: Richard…
Richard: What? “She’s gonna find out anyway.” Right?
Olive: Find out what?
Richard: Well, when you eat lots of ice-cream, you’re gonna become big and fat. But if you don’t, you’ll probably stay nice and skinny.
Sheryl put her head in her hands.
Grandpa: Olive, Richard’s an idiot. I like a woman with meat on her bones.
Olive is confused.
Olive: I don’t… Mom! Why is everyone upset?
Sheryl: I’m not upset, honey. I just want you to understand: It’s okay to be skinny, and it’s okay to be fat, if that’s how you want to be. Whatever you want — it’s okay.
Richard rolls his eyes.
Richard: Okay, but, Olive, let me ask you: the women in Miss America…? Are they skinny or are they fat?
Olive: Well… They’re skinny, I guess.
Richard: Okay! So they probably don’t eat a lot of ice-cream. Do they?
Just then, the waitress arrives with a tray.
Waitress: Okay: Coffee, coffee, grapefruit, chamomile. And here’s your ice-cream. A la mod -ee, right? I’ll have your waffles in a sec!
She departs. Olive stares at the ice-cream. Finally:
Olive: Does anyone want my ice-cream?
Sheryl just closes her eyes. Grandpa jumps in.
Grandpa: Yeah, I’ll have a bite. You mind? Dwayne? Frank? Olive’s giving away her ice-cream here.
Dwayne and Frank quickly snaps to.
Frank: You mind if I have a little?
Olive shakes her head. Frank and Dwayne dig in. Even Sheryl gets in on the act. Richard is not amused.
Grandpa (loudly): Boy, this is good ice-cream! I feel sorry for the people at this table who aren’t enjoying delicious ice-cream early in the morning. Olive, you’re not givin’ away all your ice-cream? What about your waffles? You can’t eat waffles without the ice-cream! You’ll have lonely waffles in your stomach! C’mon, have a bite.
Olive: Wait. Don’t take it all! Stop!
Olive picks up her spoon, fights them off. She takes a bite.
Richard: Olive…
Sheryl: Richard…!
She glares at him, ferocious. Richard shuts up.
— Richard (Greg Kinnear), Sheryl (Toni Collette), Olive (Abigail Breslin), Grandpa (Alan Arkin), Frank (Steve Carell), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), written by Michale Arndt
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is mealtime conversations, suggested by Deaf Ears. Little Miss Sunshine suggested by Teddy Pasternak.
Trivia: Marc Turtletaub and his fellow producers bought the script for $250,000.
Dialogue On Dialogue: How does this reflect Richard’s flawed world view?
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