Monterey and Salinas, Ca. —1917
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a Man.
In northern California, the Santa Lucia Mountains, dark and brooding, stand like a wall between the peaceful agricultural town of Salinas and the rough and tumble fishing port of Monterey, fifteen miles away.
"1917 Monterey, just outside the city limits"
“ So, tell me: About how long have you been feeling depressed? ...”
Okay, we can come back to that later.
If you are going to undergo psychoanalysis with me, perhaps it might be better if I started, and told you how I go about things.
I'm not really a •strict• Freudian psychoanalyst, you understand —almost nobody is a strict Freudian these days.... But, that is not to say that the old boy doesn't have his influence.
It's amazing, you know: Sigmund Freud's scientific credibility was nearly DESTROYED —
but, right after World War II, his ideas became
THE MOST WIDELY DISCUSSED IDEAS IN AMERICA.
Do you know WHY he became so popular....?
Because he said that it was OKAY to be a pessimist;
he proved that if you were unhappy, that it was okay,
and it wasn't your fault.
And, I can't help noticing that you, personally, don't appear very pessimistic; as a matter of fact, you look rather optimistic.
TOO MUCH OPTIMISM IS HOW A LOT OF PEOPLE GET DEPRESSED :
They THINK they can solve the problems of the whole world; all they have to do is get people to act rationally.
You put too much faith in the Power of Reason, and you FAIL, just end up making yourself depressed.
Sigmund Freud understood that—that down deep, people AREN’T reasonable.
That is why my old teacher Erich Fromm back in 1970 said that psychoanalysis was really
"The Science of Human Irrationality."
Cal Trask :
My Mother... She's not dead and gone to Heaven... is she?
ADAM :
Why do you ask that?
Cal Trask :
She's not dead at all.
She's not buried in The East like you said, either.
She's alive.
ADAM :
What makes you think so?
Cal Trask
I heard from a guy.
ADAM :
Who?
Cal Trask
I don't know his name.
He was just passing through.
How come you told Aron and me she died?
ADAM :
I thought it would save you pain.
Cal Trask
Pain?
If she was still alive, where do you think she'd be?
ADAM :
I have no idea.
She went East.
Cal Trask
How do you know?
ADAM :
When she left The Ranch we lived on when you and Aron were born...
I heard she went East.
Cal Trask
What was she like?
Was she bad?
ADAM :
I guess she...
I never really knew what she was like.
She wasn't like Other People.
There was something she seemed to lack.
Kindness, maybe. Conscience.
I never knew what she was after.
Cal Trask
How come she left you?
ADAM :
I never knew that, either.
She was so full of hate.
Cal Trask
Hate for you?
ADAM :
For everything.
You won't tell Aron that she didn't die?
Cal Trask
No.
Must not do anything to hurt Aron.
Where'd you get that scar you got on your shoulder, Father?
ADAM :
I've told you, Cal.
It's an old wound I got in the Indian campaigns.
Why do you ask that now?
Cal Trask
What'd she look like?
Was she pretty?
ADAM :
She had the most lovely hands.
Like ivory.
She took such good care of them.
Her mother had arthritis.
She was always afraid it would come to her in her hands.
Cal Trask
Talk to me, Father.
I got to know Who I Am.
I got to know Who I'm Like.
I got to know...
Where is She?
ADAM :
I'm telling you, truthfully, Cal.. after she left, I never heard from her.
Cal, wait. I want to talk more with you.
If you leave this room now, we may never be able to talk again.
Aron Trask :
You coming home tonight, Cal?
Cal Trask
What's the difference?
You're Home.
You're The One He Wants.
Good evening, Cal.
High strung.
Very high strung.
