Ripped By mstoll
That was a wonderful dinner, Elyse.
Every time I come here,
I learn so much about health food.
I like your family, Elyse.
Even this guy.
When he's not talking politics.
Come on, Gus.
On the big issues, we're not that far apart.
- Mm-hmm. - Matter of fact,
I have always felt, uh,
kind of a special bond with you.
I cried when Bush was elected.
So did I.
Mine were not tears of joy.
All right, okay, so we don't talk politics.
It's one area we'll just avoid.
How are things going down at the station?
Oh, your dad and I are producing a documentary
comparing, uh, Reagan's presidency
to medieval Europe's bubonic plague.
Nine out of ten people prefer the plague.
All right, so we don't talk about work.
Hey, how's Mike doing at Harvard?
Oh, oh, very well, very well.
He's working part-time for Ted Kennedy.
You're killing me, Gus.
Maya, I understand you guys are looking for a house.
Have you had any luck?
Not yet.
The market is really tight.
Seems like there's nothing out there.
Well, if, uh, Alex and Gus don't wind up coming to blows here,
uh, why don't you take a look at the house across the street?
The Obecks are moving.
The Obecks are moving?
That's wonderful.
Why is that such good news?
Oh, well...
I never liked Marty Obeck.
He was always running around telling people
the only things I was interested in was makeup
and clothes and shoes.
What, you dispute that?
No.
I just think it's very rude of him to point it out.
What's the house like, Elyse?
Kind of like this one.
Victorian, with a lot of charm.
Do you think we could see the house this weekend?
Well, I'll talk to the real estate agent and set it up.
Just out of curiosity, Steve,
how many black families are there in the neighborhood?
Well, let's see.
There's the...
Well, uh...
with you, there'd be one.
Let's say we didn't move in.
How many would there be?
Didn't move in?
Uh-huh.
This will take a minute. Um...
That would be none.
Well, I think that might say something
about the neighborhood.
Look, Gus, I want you to know
this neighborhood is not like that.
We've lived here for 15 years.
There's never been one racial incident.
That's a pretty impressive record
for a one-race neighborhood.
It'd be great to have you guys as neighbors.
Gus and I could carpool to work.
Hey, I'm all for that.
Oh, I get so tired of driving to work alone
with nothing but the radio for company.
What do you listen to?
Strictly elevator music.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Gus!
I just know your friends, the Thompsons,
are going to absolutely love this house.
It's just one of the most charming old Victorians
- in Leland Heights. - Mmm.
And you know it's been completely restored?
Everything brought up to code in every respect.
Oh, heck with the Thompsons. We'll take it.
Listen, I'm gonna open the blinds in the kitchen.
It's so pretty with the sunlight streaming through.
Sorry we're late.
Alex and Gus insisted on sitting in the car
until the accordion version
of "Rock Around the Clock" was over.
Oh...
Oh.
Uh, uh, Christine Chadway,
these are our friends, Gus and Maya
and Michael Thompson.
Uh, Christine is the real estate agent who handles this house.
Uh, how do you... how do you do?
Oh, this house is so charming.
It's the best one we've seen, isn't it, Gus?
Yes, isn't it?
This is our dream house.
This is the house I saw my family in.
D-Don't show so much enthusiasm.
It'll only make the price go up.
Yeah. For once in his life,
my dad is offering some sound financial advice.
Pretend you hate the house.
Make her have to work to sell it to you.
- Yeah. - Okay?
This house has a lot of problems.
Well, the roof leaks.
Uh, the basement floods.
You know, it needs a lot of work.
I mean, quite frankly, they ought to just tear it down.
Now, this woman has a very unusual sales technique.
Didn't you just say that it'd been
brought up to code in every way?
Look, the workmanship is so shoddy, I just...
I just don't feel that I can, in good conscience,
sell this house to these very nice people.
Excuse me, uh, Christine?
It seems to me that you're trying to discourage us
from buying this house.
Oh, no...
Excuse me.
Uh, no, I-I just want to make sure,
right up front, that you know
the really miserable shape this house is in.
Well, suppose we offered you full price
- for the house right now. - Uh, whoa.
Uh, full price?
Uh, can I speak to you for a moment, Gus?
Maya, you like the house, don't you?
- Yes, I do. - Yeah, well, good, good.
We're offering your client full asking price for the house.
Yo, Gus. Yoo-hoo, Gus, big fella.
We haven't met. Hi.
Well, Christine, it looks like
you've got an offer you can't refuse.
I don't know that my clients
are really ready to sell this house yet.
I mean, actually, they just asked me to kind of
feel out the market for them first.
That's not true.
I happen to know that the Obecks are very anxious to sell.
Yeah, the absence of furniture is a bit of a tip-off.
I think it's obvious what's going on here.
She doesn't want to sell the house to us
because we're... black.
Black? Me? Never.
No.
You're not black; we are.
This behavior is totally offensive.
I, uh...
I want to apologize to my friends.
Christine, um...
I suggest you take this offer back to your clients,
and that they, uh...
they give this the serious consideration it deserves.
Well, actually, yes.
I-I do... I do have to talk to my clients.
I'm beginning to think this isn't about money at all.
And that pains me on every conceivable level.
Are you aware, uh...
Christine Chadway,
Realtor license number 47856...
that there are anti-discrimination laws
in this state?
Dad, uh, why don't we just...
get out of here?
This was a big mistake.
No, no, no, no.
The only mistake made here today was hers.
Michael. Maya.
Come on.
Let's, uh... let's look at the rest of our house.
It's scary the things I miss when I'm not here.
Mom baked a apple pie.
And it's still warm, Alex.
Well, what are we waiting for?
Let's get the knife.
Alex, we can't have any.
It's a... it's a "welcome to the neighborhood"
gift for the Thompsons.
Yeah, but Mom just baked it to torture us.
She's not above that, you know.
Ooh.
Sure smells good.
Probably tastes even better.
This could be her best work yet.
This pie is mine.
Do it, Alex.
What about the Thompsons?
We'll get 'em a store-bought pie.
They'll never know the difference.
Come to papa, come to papa...
Freeze, Alex!
You eat that pie, that's the last thing you eat.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Gus.
Well, thank you, Alex.
That's, uh, very sweet of you.
Thanks very much. Baked it myself.
Ooh, I came over to give you something, too.
- What's this? - Here.
"20 All-Time Greatest Hits for the Dentist's Office."
Oh, Gus. Oh, Gus.
I'm just glad I finally found someone to share this with.
Oh...
Oh! You...
You know, I had a root canal to "The Streets of Laredo."
What is this?
What is it, honey?
Nothing. Nothing.
What was that letter, Dad?
Uh, no, just... junk.
Uh, something about a sale.
Dad, have you lost your mind?
It's okay, Steve.
I know what it is. We got one, too.
What is it?
It's a letter from some of your neighbors,
asking you to join them in their effort
to rid the neighborhood of the new unwanted element.
Oh, Gus, I'm-I'm so sorry.
This is terrible.
They can't get away with this.
I'm gonna find out who they are,
and I am gonna give them a lecture on freedom
and constitutional rights that they will not soon forget,
and they are not gonna bother anybody after that.
Well, I've heard your lectures, Alex,
and I can't condone that kind of violence.
What's going on?
This is 1989.
Things like this don't happen now.
Well, I guess they do.
It's just so shocking to find it happening in your backyard.
Oh, don't be shocked, Elyse.
Oh, this thing always comes up,
and it doesn't take much to bring it to the surface.
Well, you're not gonna move out now, are you?
No, we are not.
Maya and I want to stay.
Gus,
we have to find out who wrote this letter.
No, Steven, no.
No, the best thing to do is to ignore it.
Once they realize we're not moving out,
they'll give up.
Look, you're not alone here.
We're gonna keep an eye out for you.
Thank you, Steven.
But it's, uh... it's okay.
Look, uh, I got to go.
Let me drive you home.
I live across the street.
Let me walk you home.
Look, Steven, when I get home,
I'll come back over here and tell you I'm fine.
Okay.
Then I'll walk you home.
Hey, Michael.
How you doing? I heard you were in from Harvard.
Hey, Alex, good to see you.
- Come on in, man. - Thanks. Thanks.
So, Harvard, huh? What's it like
going to the best business school in the country?
I'm not in the business school.
I'm in liberal arts.
They still have that?
Sorry to disappoint you, Alex, but... they do.
And to tell you the truth, I think, uh,
poets are more important than bankers.
Well, try getting a car loan from the Brontë sisters.
You know, it's going to be interesting
living in the same neighborhood with you, Alex.
Whoa.
Hey, Dad, would you turn that down a little?
Wait, wait, you don't want to listen to that?
Hey, that's the "Beer Barrel Polka."
The two of you should rent an elevator,
fix it up and move in together.
Listen, Mike, let me tell you why I really came by.
Um, I just wanted you to know, while you're back at Harvard,
that, um, you don't have to worry about your folks.
If there's any more problems, we'll be here.
Problems?
What kind of problems?
Uh, it's nothing, really.
I mean, nothing.
All right.
The house is haunted.
Look, somebody in the neighborhood,
uh, is passing around this racist letter
trying to convince people to get your parents to move.
Damn.
Alex, I told them this would happen
if we moved into an all-white neighborhood,
but they wouldn't listen to me.
Hey, Alex.
Oh, you should have been listening to WNTW.
You missed an uninterrupted polka fest.
Dad, uh,
Alex told me about the letters.
Oh, well, don't worry about it, Michael.
Chances are this whole thing will just blow over.
Well, I am worried.
How am I supposed to keep an eye on you and Mom
if I'm 800 miles away in Boston?
Hey, well, you don't have to.
Look here.
You see, we have our own personal vigilante.
Hi there.
Looks like rain.
Steve, old buddy, I appreciate your concern,
but it really isn't necessary for you to guard our house.
You can't be too careful, huh?
Okay.
Alex, I didn't see you come over here.
Yeah, I walked right by you on the porch, Dad.
- Hi, Alex. - Hi, Maya.
Hi, Steve.
Hi, M...
Maya, I didn't see you come home.
Oh, I walked right by you on the porch.
It's a heck of a service you provide here.
Hello?
Look here, if you ever call here again,
I'm gonna have you arrested.
Oh, and I'll, uh, take a box of mint cookies, too.
Damn Brownies.
How long has this been happening, Dad?
Oh, ever since Troop 39 started that sales push.
I think he has a right to know what's happening here.
All right.
Besides the letter,
there have been some phone calls.
It's not the first time this kind of thing has happened,
and it won't be the last,
but we can deal with it.
Who you calling?
I'm, uh, canceling my flight back to Boston.
- Hello? - You'll do no such thing.
You've got midterms coming up.
We'll be all right, Michael.
We don't want you to miss school.
What good am I going to be in school
if I'm worrying about you two all the time?
You deliberately put yourself into a dangerous situation
and naively think it's gonna blow over.
Well, it's not.
Well, what do you wants us to do, Michael? Move?
Yes, that's exactly what I think we should do.
Well, I'm sorry. We're not gonna be run
out of here like criminals.
We worked hard to own a place like this.
Why are you so stubborn?
This is a racist society.
You can't change that.
Yes, we can.
Look at you.
I mean, you are at Harvard.
Now, do you think you got there by people sitting back
and saying, "I can't change things"?
I'm all for change,
but not when it comes to placing my family in danger.
You're overreacting, Michael.
No, I'm not.
You just don't seem to understand
what could happen to you here.
I know Steven's one hell of a watchman,
but it's not enough.
I know what needs to be done here.
I'm gonna call a neighborhood meeting.
We've got to put an end to this.
Nobody should have to live under guard.
Hi, honey.
Hi. Elyse, when did you get here?
I came to hang curtains.
Walked right by you on the porch.
Come on, Eagle Eyes.
I'll walk you across the street.
If you ask me, that's a trick porch.
Thank you all for responding to the call to come here
and talk about what's going on in the neighborhood here.
Well, I'm ashamed to say
that ever since Gus and Maya Thompson
moved in here to this neighborhood,
they have been threatened and harassed
with hate mail and-and phone calls.
It-it has to stop.
Yes, it does.
Not everybody in this neighborhood is a bigot.
We're-we're nice people and we're good neighbors,
unless we're taken advantage of,
which brings me to the other reason
why I'm here tonight.
What's that, Phil?
I want my hedge clippers back.
You had them since last May.
And my electric sander.
Yeah, and my snow shovel.
We, uh... we promise to return everything
after the meeting.
Uh, I-I should apologize for my parents not being here.
They're visiting my aunt in Detroit.
Um, but I-I'm sure that I speak for my whole family
when I say that black and white together
make more than a nice piece of marble cake.
They make brotherhood.
Look, uh, let me, uh... let me start by saying
most everybody in this neighborhood
is happy to have you here.
We don't care about the color of your skin.
All we care about is, uh,
what dish you'll bring to those potluck parties
and whether or not you have good tools I can borrow.
Um, I feel there's something I have to say.
Now, I may not know much about history...
...or politics or...
math,
economics,
language arts, phys ed...
Mal, we want to wrap this up about 11:00.
Okay, okay.
I just have to include chemistry.
Um, but I do know people,
and when I look at the Thompsons,
I see these are... these are good people.
These are warm people.
These are stylishly dressed people.
Uh, I-I-I'd like to say something.
I just want to thank you for all the kind words that you've said.
Now, we know that the trouble is being caused
by only a few people.
We don't know who you are,
and quite frankly, we don't care,
but if you're here tonight,
let me say, loudly and clearly,
you are not scaring us out of this neighborhood.
We are not moving.
I have something to say.
Go ahead, Glen.
I worked at Franklin Steel for eight years,
graveyard shift, to try to save up enough money
to put a down payment on my house
so that my wife, Ginny, and our kids could have
a decent place to live,
and, uh,
now I hear that, since they've moved in,
the value of my house has dropped by $5,000.
And it's just gonna keep dropping
as more and more blacks move in here.
My house is the only investment I have,
and if it goes under, so does my family.
So what am I supposed to do?
Stand by and watch everything I've worked for
just slip away?
Now, I've got nothing against you personally.
This is all about economics.
Yeah, well, maybe it is to you,
but we have to take it personally.
I mean, we're the ones that are getting
the hate mail and the phone calls.
Well, I'm sorry that's happening to you,
but nobody asked you to move into this neighborhood.
I wasn't aware that I had to get permission.
But there are plenty of nice black neighborhoods around.
I mean, why'd you have to come here?
We came here because we have the right to live here,
just as you do.
You don't see me trying to move
into one of your neighborhoods, do you?
This is one of my neighborhoods,
an American neighborhood,
and I am an American, and I fought in Vietnam
and Mississippi and Memphis to defend the freedoms
that some of us would like to enjoy.
Well, your freedom is my financial disaster,
and if your family won't move, mine has to.
- Come on, Ginny. - Wait, wait, Glen.
Glen, Glen, just before you go,
you, uh... you mentioned economics,
so I feel that I must speak.
Now, the only way the property values
in this neighborhood are gonna go down
is if people like yourself start panic-selling.
Now, in-in the current market,
uh, our homes have been appreciating
by approximately 4.2% per annum,
6.3% if you made any home improvements.
How can we? Your dad has all our tools.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is this.
I hope that we in this neighborhood
can continue to live in harmony,
and to sell our homes
to people of all creeds and all colors,
all races...
at tremendously inflated profits.
Listen, Alex, I hope you're right,
but I can't afford to take that chance.
I am moving out now,
and there's a lot of you in this room here
who are gonna be following me,
even if you're too ashamed to admit it.
He won't be moving so fast.
I have his trailer hitch.
I...
I'm terribly sorry this has happened.
Uh, we found a house we liked, and we moved in,
but we didn't mean to disrupt the neighborhood.
Well, obviously this neighborhood needs disrupting.
Disrupting is healthy.
You know, my whole life, I've...
I've heard my parents talk about the '60s,
how they disrupted the social order
to change the things that they thought were wrong.
Well, I wish I were there in the '60s
so I could say to the world,
"I want to fight for justice, too."
That was a beautiful thought, Jennifer,
and very well-timed considering tie-dye is coming back in.
But it's only one family that's moving.
The rest of us are staying, right?
- Yeah. - Of course.
- Right. - Good.
Peter?
Phil? Nancy?
Well, how...
What can you be thinking?
Well, none of us want to move, Elyse,
but we can't afford to lose a lot of money, either.
I think we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Gus, Michael, I want to talk to you in private.
I think we should go home.
Look, don't let anything that's happened here
change your mind.
Steven, I'm sorry.
In my life, my family comes first,
and right now, I'm not so sure
that staying here is the best thing for us to do.
Michael, don't let them do this.
It was never my choice to move here.
Ripped By mstoll
Sit, Ubu, sit. Good dog.