Poetic Justice

Poetic Justice   

Screenplay by                             John Singleton

Produced by                               Steve Nicolaides

                                                 John Singleton

Directed by                                John Singleton

Cast List:

Janet Jackson                          Justice

Tupac Shakur                           Lucky

Tyra Ferrell                              Jessie

Regina King                             Iesha

Joe Torry                                 Chicago

Roger Guenveur Smith                       Heywood

Lori Petty                                 Penelope

Billy Zane                                 Brad

COLUMBIA TITLE CARD:

"ONCE UPON A TTME IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOS ANGELES"

We hear voices: one male, the other female. From the tone of their speech and the accompanying music, we can tell we are entering a romantic scene.

FADE IN:

INT. FANCY NEW YORK APARTMENT – DINING ROOM – NIGHT

Where we see a romantic scene played out between a man and a woman. Both are white. The couple have just finished a candlelit dinner.

BRAD

You like your wine? Want s'more?

She nods her approval.

PENELOPE

Mmmmm you're good. Candles, dinner, wine. What's next?

He grins.

BRAD

Let me set the mood.

He goes over to the stereo to turn it on. The Isley Brothers "Between the Sheets" emanates from the speakers. Brad crosses to the couch and into a position in which to kiss Penelope. He does, and the sound of "Between the Sheets" is invaded by the remix of A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum."

EXT. COMPTON DRIVE-IN THEATER – DUSK – SFX

Two lines of cars wait to enter the drive-in. The heavy bass sounds of hip-hop music mingle in the air with that of the many window speakers that plag the movie. In the background we can see the couple in the previous scene kissing on a large movie screen. An LAPD helicopter flies overhead, transcending us into the next shot. Welcome back to South Central Los Angeles.

INT. COMPTON DRIVE-IN THEATER – DUSK – SFX

Overhead we see a shaft of Light coming from the drive-in's projector. As we move past a few cars, their inhabitants are all in various threes of sexual foreplay. Some are kissing; others are actually making love. All the windows are steamed up. We hear the voices of the females as the men grunt, groan, moan, and beg over their bodies. Love is in the air.

CAR #1

Don't bite me so hard! You gotta be more gentle.

CAR #2

(softly)

Use your tongue. Just use your tongue.

CAR #3

(with heated passion)

Ohhhh! Oh, yes, ohhh! Oww! I'm sticking to the seat.

We come to last car, whose windows are crystal clear. Things are just beginning to heat up between the couple inside the car. The woman is an "around the way" honey with soft brown skin, full brown eyes, and nice delicious full lips. This is Justice, who at seventeen is still looking for her place in the world. The lucky man kissing her is her boyfriend, Markell, a small-time drug dealer and former gangsta. Justice reluctantly accepts his advances, but she ain't having it. There is a window speaker, from which the sound of the movie Alters into the car.

MARKELL

C'mon, let's get in the back seat.

JUSTICE

No, Markell, why can't we just watch the movie?

MARKELL

'Cause it's boring.

He goes to kiss her again. This time, it's a nice, long, juicy powerhouse kiss that causes the Richter scale to jump two points. Justice appears obviously affected. She asks the inevitable question.

JUSTICE

Markell, do you love me?

MARKELL

Of course I love you.

JUSTICE

Why? Tell me why you love me.

MARKELL

(looks around)

Now?

JUSTICE

Yeah, right now.

There is a pause. He thinks.

MARKELL

Okay, I love you because you too fine.

JUSTICE

Is that it?

MARKELL

Yeah.

Justice looks dissatisfied.

MARKELL

Can I have some sugar? Some butter? Some sweets?

JUSTICE

No, not yet. Get me some popcorn.

Markell 's face drops.

JUSTICE

Pleazzze?!

Markell relents and gets out of the car. He takes two steps, turns on a heel, and leans into the car again.

MARKELL

Hey, Justice! I was just thinking. I also love you 'cause when I was in tha county jail, you wrote me a lotta sweet poems.

Justice grins. Markell smiles and blows her a kiss good-bye.

INT.COMPTON DRIVE-IN CONCESSION STAND – NIGHT

There are only a few customers in line; all are Black or Hispanic. Markell gets in line, and time slows down. We notice the abruptness of the popcorn popping like gunshots, the sound and motion of the gurgling Orange Bang machine, and two thugs who stand in the corner talking to each other. Markell seems noticeably nervous at their presence.

THE COUNTER

Where Markell finally arrives at the front of the line.

THE CORNER

Where one of the two thugs looks across the room at Markell. For a moment it looks as though he recognizes Markell. He turns back to continue to talk with his friend. A fight breaks out in another corner, and everyone's attention is drawn in that direction.

BACK TO COUNTER

Markell completes his transaction amidst the mayhem and walks away popcorn in hand. In the corner, the thug looks back toward the counter. On his face we see he now recalls where he has seen Markell before.

INT. / EXT. COMPTON DRIVE-IN – THE CAR – NIGHT

Markell comes back to the car, glancing behind his back every so often.

MARKELL

(looking over his left shoulder)

I think I saw these fools that Pete and I got beef with.

Markell turns to notice that Justice is not in the passenger seat. Justice leans up from the back seat to kiss his cheek and tenderly run her fingers around Markell's neck and shoulder. We notice her long fingernails. Markell laughs and places the popcorn on the dashboard. Our attention is drawn to the passenger window, where the drive-in speaker hangs. Romantic movie music flows into the car. On the driver's side the window is open. Suddenly, a pistol is placed next to Markell's head. Time slows down. The gun is fired. Justice screams. The popcorn scatters, and the passenger window breaks from the traveling bullet. Time resumes. Justice's screams turn to a whimper. There is blood on her hands. The drive-in speaker has now fallen on the passenger seat. We hear the romantic movie playing in the background.

OVERHEAD

AS WE PULL UP and away from the car. There are people running and screaming in every direction, and cars are leaving. These sounds overlap into:

TITLE CARD:

"POETIC JUSTICE"

The sun rises behind the logo.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. INGLEWOOD CEMETERY – DAY

Where we come out of the leaves of a tree to see a garden of stones, concrete symbols of souls long past. There is one lone figure standing before a grave. We recognize this person as Justice. We also hear Justice speak in voice over. Over the following images she recites the first of many poems that move this story forward.

BURN IN: "TWO YEARS LATER"

JUSTICE (V.O.)

"Alone. Lying, thinking. Last night. How to find my soul a home. Where water is not thirsty. And bread loaf is not stone. I came up with one thing. And I don't believe I'm wrong. That nobody. But nobody can make it out here alone."

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. PACIFIC BEAUTY COLLEGE – DAY

We move past many women. Ah of them are dressed in white smocks and are standing over the heads of other women who are seated in reclining beauty chairs. We hear the instructor giving a lesson in hair coloring. We end on Justice listening attentively and primping the hair of the woman in her chair.

JUSTICE (V.O.)

"Alone, all alone. Nobody, but nobody. Can make it out here alone. There are some millionaires with money they can't use. Their wives run round like banshees. Their children sing the blues."

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY

Where Justice puts some model heads into the trunk of her car.

EXT. CRENSHAW BOULEVARE – DAY

We see a "CRENSHAW" Sign up close go past the frame, left to right.

MONTAGE OF IMAGES

We see various images of life in the Crenshaw district of South Central Los Angeles. Some are static; others are hand-held traveling shots, docu style.

EXT. LIQUOR STORE – DAY

There are images of people protesting a Korean liquor store, some protestors flash signs that read: "BLACK / RECYCLE BLACK WLLARS"

EXT. DONUT SHOP – DAY

We see a Cop come out with donuts and coffee for himself and his partner.

EXT. LEMERT PARK – DAY

A group of young men are curbside being interrogated by the LILPD. Nearby a brother with a video camera begins to record. He is chased away by the police. In between some of these images, we SUPERIMPOSE the heads of some women being done. Over these images we continue to hear Justice's voice reading poetry. She is driving to work.

JUSTICE (V.O.)

"They've got expensive doctors, to cure their hearts of stone. But nobody. No nobody. Can make it out here alone. Alone, all alone. Nobody, but nobody. Can make it out here alone. Now if you listen closely, I'll tell you what I know. Storm clouds are gathering, the wind is gonna blow. The race of man is suffering, and I can hear the moan. Cause nobody. But nobody. Can make it out here alone."

We see Justice's car pull to the curb. It is a 1992 Honda Accord, complete with nice rims and tinted windows. The license plate reads "2 FUNKY".

INT. JUSTICE'S CAR – DAY

JUSTICES NOTEBOOK

Where we see Justice write the last stanza of the poem.

JUSTICE (V.O.)

"Alone, all alone. Nobody, but nobody. Can make it out here alone."

She closes her notebook. The cover reads "NOTES OF A POETIC JUSTICE".

EXT. CITY STREET – DAY

Where Justice exits her car. She uses her automatic lock system, which sounds of "armed" when it locks. As she walks up the street, we see the same brothers established in the previous montage on their knees, with their hands behind their heads. Justice walks past them without acknowledging their condition.

INT. JESSIE'S BEAUTY SALON AND SUPPLY – DAY

Hair, nails, curlers, and combs. A woman picks up a phone and says, "Jessie's Beauty Salon and Supply." We have invaded this place on Friday, the busiest day of the week. We see many women of various ages, shapes, and sizes receiving hair care from different stylists. No two heads are the same. Our attention and ears are drawn to the loud voice of one young woman who sits on the waiting couch flipping through a Black hair magazine. She has short-cut hair and eyes, nails, and temper of a Siamese cat. This is Iesha.

She is talking to Heywood, who is a spiritual person. He is so cosmic that his sexuality is often questioned. Nearby at another booth is Dexter, another male stylist who is very straight. His dick has guided him into the world of cosmetology.

HEYWOOD

(over images of nails, hair, etc.)

I know whatcha mean. I don't understand some of these women. I don't see how they can allow themselves to be so disrespected! My body is my temple! And a temple should never be defiled. Especially not in this case. I love myself.

Dexter shakes his head in shame at Heywood. He is massaging the head of one fine-ass sistah. She smiles. Dexter suavely bends down and says, "You like that don 't cha." She nods in approval.

IESHA

Yeah, well, he just did my girl all wrong. She's as 'fraid as a cat. Got her going around wearing sunglasses, and you know how she like braggin about her pretty green eyes. So you know what's up with that. Top it off, she still in love with the nigga.

Justice walks in.

JUSTICE

You telling everybody's business.

IESHA

Yeah, I'd tell your business too if you had somethin to tell.

JUSTICE

You ready?

Iesha nods a yes.

JUSTICE

You got your hair?

Iesha holds up a bag of synthetic hair. Justice walks toward her station, saying "Hello" to the other stylists on the fly.

INT. THE BABYROOM – DAY

Where we notice a large playpen with four babies. All are dressed in Baby Guess, Air Jordans, and Fila. One baby plays with a beeper that goes off as he puts it in his mouth. This is the Baby Room, where the women leave their children when they get their hair done. Start this shot off with a fine-ass sistah with a baby in hand walking over to the crib.

THE DOORWAY

Where we see a little boy about twelve years old standing in the middle of these children. This is Baha, the errand boy of the shop. Baba sits playing a Sega Game Gear, looking up from time to time out the window and at the fine women that pass by. Some of the older children attempt to distract him from his game.

BAHA

Stop! Quit!

(looking out the window, then goes to the doorway)

Here she comes!

THE SALON

Where all the stylists and customers turn. They know what that means.

EXT. JESSLE'S SALON – DAY