The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (#)

    BENJAMIN
                  I never met my father.



                                     

74   CONTINUED:                                                      74

                                CAPT. MIKE
                  You're a lucky bastard! All
                  father's want to do is hold you
                  down!.. Out on my father's boat,
                  working da two-a-days... This
                  littl' fat bastard, "tug Irish,"
                  what they calls them. They say
                  the Irish the only one's stupid
                  `nough to work a tug. Them and
                  the Portuguese, as we all know how
                  stupid them Portuguese is. I
                  fin'ly get up the nerves and tell
                  him... "I don't wanta spend da
                  rest of my life on a goddamn
                  tugboat...!" You know what I'm
                  sayin'?

                                BENJAMIN
                  You didn't want to spend the rest
                  of your life on a tugboat.

                                CAPT. MIKE
                  Absolutely, damn right! So you
                  know what my father says? He says
                  "Who the hell you think you are?"
                  "What the hell you think you can
                  do?" I tell him. "Well if you
                  askin' -- I want to be a artist."
                  He laughs. He says, "If God
                  wanted you to be an artist he
                  would made you one." "God wanted
                  you to work a tugboat just like
                  me, and that's what you goin' to
                  do?" "Now, if I ever hear you
                  mention art again, I'll throw you
                  overboard!" Well, I went and I
                  show him... I made myself an
                  artist...

     And he suddenly takes off his shirt, pulls down his
     pants... And we see he's covered, from head to toe, with
     "his artwork," and incredible array of tattoos...

                                 CAPT. MIKE (CONT'D)
                  A tattoos artist...! I puts every
                  one on myself!

     And they look it, upside down sideways and backwards...

                                CAPT. MIKE (CONT'D)
                  You have to skin me alive to take
                  my art away from me now! When I'm
                  dead I'm going to send him my arm!
                                (MORE)
                                                       (CONTINUED)

                                                                 55.

74   CONTINUED: (2)                                              74
                             CAPT. MIKE (CONT'D)
               Don't let anyone tell you
               different! You got to do what you
               meant to do! And I happen to be a
               god-damned artist!

                             BENJAMIN
                    (stating the obvious)
               But you're a tugboat captain.