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SimplyScripts Screenwriting Discussion Board    Screenwriting Discussion    Screenwriting Class  ›  Bathroom Elvis Moderators: George Willson
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KevinLenihan
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 7:38pm Report to Moderator
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Bathroom Elvis is hideous. As a writer, you hope you never see Bathroom Elvis. But in a pinch, he might save your script.

Warning: just my amateur thoughts below.

I finally got to watch the only Tarrantino I had never seen: True Romance.

I liked it a lot. His genius was apparent from the beginning, it seems.

And yet it was he that cast the spell that spawned Bathroom Elvis! Of course, he needed him, though.

I'll relate the set up of the film for those who have not seen it.

Clarence is your central casting lonely guy. He works at a comic book store and on his birthday goes to a kung foo trilogy by himself. A woman shows up, seems to be looking for him...spills popcorn on him...they meet, go out for pie afterward, hook up.

A little while later she confesses in tears. She has been a hooker for 4 days, and was paid by Clarence's boss to hook up with him for his birthday. But it turns out she has fallen in love with him.

Well, they get married. And it actually works: we buy into their love, and we like their characters. Set up over.

Now, we know as writers we are trying to think several moves ahead, like a chess game. Sometimes the challenge is to make sure our sequences link up properly. In this case, Tarrantino needs Clarence to visit his new wife's pimp, kill him, and then accidentally return with a suitcase of valuable cocaine, which he thinks are her belongings. This sets up the rest of the movie, as the big boss has his henchmen chase the couple down.

The problem is this: why does Clarence go visit the pimp? The girl tells him she doesn't care about her belongings, and why would she? And the pimp likely does not care about a whore he has only employed for 4 days. He's got bigger things going on. So why does Clarence feel compelled to go enact revenge on the pimp? And how can Tarrantino establish this goal with the audience?

He can't have the character tell the girl he's going to kill her pimp, she'll never go along with it. And as a lonely guy, it would be inconsistent to have some friend show up and plant the idea in his mind. He could send him out to a bar or something,but that would really lengthen things. This has to be established quickly.

So a strange thing happens: Bathroom Elvis!

It has already been established that Clarence has a special obsession with Elvis. So in the bathroom of his own apartment, he has a conversation with an imaginary Elvis, who tells him he must rid the world of this evil pimp.

It's very strange. Kind of out of nowhere. And kind of ruins the movie. Except that it actually saves it!

With Bathroom Elvis, Tarrantino is able to establish why Clarence feels he has to go challenge the pimp and hopefully kill him. And he only uses half a minute to do it. This keeps his story on pace. So as undesirable as Bathroom Elvis is, he keeps the movie on track. A lesser writer(most of us), would have interrupted the pacing by using some more plausible way to establish why Clarence goes after the pimp...more plausible, but longer.

One can see in the script the basis for just about every decision.

The girl has only been a whore for 4 days. To make her an old veteran whore would make her less likable, would make her motives in liking Clarence less pure.

She tells Clarence the pimp treated her rather well. Huh? Well, if he had treated her badly then it would seem she was with Clarence only to escape.

So to make the pimp bad in Clarence's eyes, QT has her explain how the pimp roughed up one of the OTHER hookers.

All of the decisions make sense. And they all create the conditions under which Bathroom Elvis must be birthed.

The lesson: a bad plot device is not as bad as ruining the pacing of a story!
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Jeremiah Johnson
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 8:22pm Report to Moderator
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I like True Romance.  Is it perfect?  No.  It is strange enough that it keeps your attention throughout the movie (Bathroom Elvis, Brad Pitt as the stoner roommate, etc.).  Things tie up at the end in a pretty brutal and funny way.  

Also, Bathroom Elvis shows up again later in the movie too.  I like your thoughts on this.  I still think it is hard to add a Bathroom Elvis type character to just any story and make it work.  This was an exception, and agree with you that it helped get the story going.  All of the other events finished the momentum, and he still kept the Elvis in there.  Good job Tarantino.


My Scripts:
SHORTS
Bed Bugs
I Got The Shaft
No Clowning Around
Fool's Gold
Five Days for Redemption

TELEVISION
Father, Forgive Me
Sheriff of Nowhere
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KevinLenihan
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 9:12pm Report to Moderator
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Yup. The goal is always to avoid BE. But there are bigger goals, such as maintaining proper pacing, and making sure character goals are clear. BE is a last resort.
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James McClung
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 9:30pm Report to Moderator
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I'm not so sure Elvis was meant to be a plot device; I always thought he was there more as an embellishment to illustrate that Clarence has fears and doubts and isn't as self-assured as he increasingly seems to be as the story progresses. I think you could cut him out and Clarence's motives for going to face Drexyl would still be clear: he's in love with this girl and is determined to go that extra mile for her even if doing so is foolhardy, to say the least. That's pretty much where his whole "peace of mind" speech is going.

I also think it's entirely possible that Elvis is just Tarantino being indulgent. I don't necessarily think that's the case but I've been thinking a lot lately about just how indulgent Tarantino can be, having seen Django a number of times at this point.


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KevinLenihan
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 9:56pm Report to Moderator
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But how would you make clear to the audience why Clarence is going to the pimp's? Because it really does not make sense for him to do so, so it requires some exposition.
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James McClung
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 10:26pm Report to Moderator
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Like I said, I figure Clarence basically explains himself once he gets there with his bit about peace of mind and the letter. The rest is sort of inferred. I guess Elvis makes it go over better but I still doubt the whole reason he's there is to explain the plot because presumably Tarantino couldn't come up with anything better.

I don't know. That's just my interpretation. I've seen True Romance loads of times. One of my favorite films that's always held together to me, more or less. These types of things haven't jumped out at me all that much.


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KevinLenihan
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 10:58pm Report to Moderator
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I can picture him asking himself, while writing: why does Clarence go to the pimp's. And I don't think peace of mind explains it sufficiently. There is no reason to think the pimp will bother them. And since the pimp treated her fairly well, there is not even a revenge factor. So he kind of wrote himself into a corner.

But then Elvis explains to him(or he explains to himself through Elvis) that this is simply something that needs to be done. The world needs to be rid of this pimp.

Yes, it is used to give us an insight into his fears and doubts, he sense of self esteem. But a writer would not invent such a weird construct just for that, IMO. The purpose is to make the audience understand why he is going to the pimp's.

Again, just my amateur opinion. Thanks for mulling it over.
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James McClung
Posted: May 6th, 2013, 11:20pm Report to Moderator
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I agree Clarence and Alabama are basically in the clear as far as Drexyl goes. Regardless, it seems that Clarence just doesn't feel comfortable leaving a potential loose end. I mean, if you read the Elvis character as part of Clarence's thought process, that's clearly the case. And, like I said earlier, he wants to go that extra mile for Alabama. I mean, going to Drexyl's place isn't the first brash decision Clarence makes in the film.

That's my interpretation as well. And indeed, I'm considering yours.

A third possibility, which is also quite possible, is that Tarantino didn't give a good fuck about any of this stuff. Maybe he just thought Elvis would make a cool alter ego and the inclusion of that character was out of sheer indulgence. It wouldn't be his first. I mean, this is a guy who thought nobody in Hollywood would dare rewrite his scripts, even pre-Pulp Fiction.



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James McClung  -  May 7th, 2013, 11:31am
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Heretic
Posted: May 7th, 2013, 12:17am Report to Moderator
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My take on it was always that Clarence was just a young, dumb, impulsive guy. Going back for Drexl didn't need motivation that was rational...Clarence wanted to be a rock star. Clarence is his own worst problem. Keep in mind Tarantino's script left Clarence dead, though Scott couldn't stomach that in the end. And tragedies start with a bad choice, not a good one.

I think it's natural for a man to feel a bit of animosity towards his new wife's former pimp, too...

I dunno. I see what you're saying Kevin. It never occurred to me to look at it that way before though. Also, glad you finally caught True Romance! A minor classic, for sure.
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kingcooky555
Posted: May 7th, 2013, 8:41am Report to Moderator
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In my opinion, the use of Elvis is to show how unhinged Clarence is. This is a loner guy, perfectly established in the first scene. He's trying to pick up a girl by inviting her to not one but three kung fu movies, and most likely this is how it ends up with him in general. Thus, as a loner, he's created this pretend friend.

I can imagine that throughout his life he's had this pretend friend to get advice from. So when he finally finds the girl of his dreams, his pretend friend comes along and tells him to waste the pimp. I think I've read a script on Scriptshadow about Elvis and I learned from there that Elvis was actually big on guns so Elvis telling him to use a gun to waste the guy kinda makes sense.

I don't think Elvis was just put in there. I'm pretty sure it's an extension of Clarence's character (a lonely guy who has a pretend friend). Also, this creates a dark side for Clarence, because c'mon a guy that talks to Elvis and gets murder advice from an imaginary friend is very Jack Torrance (Shining). Thus, you kinda believe that Clarence can be both naive (fall for a prostitute after a first date) and be dangerous (kill a pimp, instigate a drug deal).

I'm glad you got a chance to see True Romance. I think pre Kill Bill is Tarrantino at his best. It's my second favorite Tarantino script - just plain awesome.

Also for any True Romance lovers out there - check out the source of this flic and Tarantino's first film (My Best Friend's Wedding) --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6MUbRZSg80

You'll see a lot of familiar names and dialogue.
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Dreamscale
Posted: May 7th, 2013, 9:03am Report to Moderator
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True Romance is probably my favorite film of all time, or at least right up there.

Kev, not to argue or anything, but IMO, as usual, you are over thinking and reading way too much into all this.

I would tend to agree more with James, Chris, and The King himself...Kingcooky, that is.

There are so many layers to TR.  So many very memorable scenes, characters, and dialogue.  It's one of those films where pretty much every single character actually has character.

The bottom line in my book is that writers write things into their scripts for a reason, but that reason is rarely what you may think it is.
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KevinLenihan
Posted: May 7th, 2013, 10:22am Report to Moderator
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Hey Cooky, Chris, Jeff

I am sure QT would refer to Clarence's loneliness, isolation and imagination to explain the Bathroom Elvis. But I believe that would be the writer rationalizing something after the fact. There is no way of knowing, of course. But we all do that kind of thing in our scripts. We use a device for some plot reason, and then later explain it as something more significant.

QT uses similar devices to solve plot or exposition problems in other films, I think. Examples escape me at the moment.

In this case, it seems pretty clear to me, almost like seeing into the mind of the writer. After the city hall wedding, the "set up" of the heroes is over. He uses a scene to set up the pimp as a bad dude, and I think this comes right before the marriage, so after city hall, it's time to move into the next part of the movie. Which really begins with Clarence killing the pimp and returning unknowingly with the cocaine.

The trick is how to get Clarence into the pimp's whore house in the first place. The pimp is not a threat to the girl. He probably already forgot her. He never abused the girl, so Clarence does not have much revenge motivation.

It's not that his motivation needs to be rational. It's that it needs to be sufficient. Revenge is not a sufficient motivator here. Protecting his wife is not a sufficient motivator, as she is not threatened. So all that leaves is a need to get her belongings...which she said she doesn't want.

And it's not enough to say he is "unhinged" because there has been absolutely no sign of that up til now. Just a lonely guy.

The only thing we really have is the comic book obsession, which shows a desire to be a hero, perhaps. But I don't think this would be at all clear to the audience. If we go from the city hall scene to Clarence showing up at the pimp's looking for her things, I think the audience will be confused about the confrontation. It would seem pointless.

So I think the challenge was for QT to come up with some kind of a transition scene which led to the pimp's place. He wants to move ahead with the story, so he needs the scene to be fast. Thus he constructs Bathroom Elvis.

Imagine you are QT writing this. The set up is done. The lonely guy has married the whore. They will live happily ever after...until the shit hits the fan. You already have the shit hitting scene in mind, the confrontation with the pimp. You're ready to get to it! You're excited to write that scene!

But you stop to try to give the audience some insight into Clarence's fragile mind by revealing his imaginary Elvis? No way. You just don't do that.

Of course, he might not have been writing chronologically, and he might have added that scene later. But bottom line is that scene sticks out as completely out of place. It seems clear to me that the scene was created as a way to get Clarence to the pimp's, a way that did not involve a lengthy scene or new characters. It's far from brilliant. It's functional.
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Dreamscale
Posted: May 7th, 2013, 10:38am Report to Moderator
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OK, Kev.  Let's look at another angle and see what you have to say...

What does the Sonny Chiba triple feature have to do with anything in the movie?

Is Clarence really so "lonely"?  Is lonely what he is?  He's in a bar early on and seems to know some peeps there.  He evens manages to invite a really old, ugly whore out that night, but she turns him down.

Who is Clarence, really?  Well, he's his father's son, that's for sure.  And when we meet his dear old Dad, do we learn anything about father and son and what Clarence's life was probably like growing up?  Or maybe what his life will be unless he changes things up drastically?

Clarence lives in a world in which his reality is not what he'd like it to be.  Therefore, he lives inside his own head, in a world where he can create his own reality.  When he finally gets a chance to make his own reality, he jumps at it and sets forth the events that will change and shape his life forever.
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KevinLenihan
Posted: May 7th, 2013, 11:06am Report to Moderator
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He certainly is the lonely guy. It's his birthday, and not only is he going to the movies alone, but his boss knows this ahead of time. About as lonely as it gets.

His hitting on the old whore highlights that loneliness. But it also reveals his flaw. He actually succeeds in making a small connection with the old broad and she considers going to the movies with him. It's only when she finds out what the movies will be that she backs out. Clarence could have changed his mind and selected another picture, but he doesn't.

This suggests perhaps a stubbornness on his part. It perhaps suggests, as you said, someone who lives in his own world.

But it probably mostly represents that Clarence is looking for more than company. He's looking for his soul mate, someone who can enjoy the same interests. If she can't sit through kung foo movies, she ain't the one. That's why Clarence isn't even all that upset when she declines.

I think it's a good point about the father living alone in a trailer, and the son not wanting that. But I don't think it has anything at all to do with why Bathroom Elvis was created. There are a lot of little things that could be discussed about the film. I'm happy to take part. There are many things I have not thought of. Bathroom Elvis was just one insight, and I don't think anyone has offered a more satisfying explanation for his manifestation.
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Dreamscale
Posted: May 7th, 2013, 11:28am Report to Moderator
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I hear ya, but what does Sonny Chiba kung fu movies have to do with this script/movie?  Why is it in there?  What does it represent, if anything?

And I do have the answer, BTW...just waiting to hear your thoughts...
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