The selfish cut script evaluation

The Selfish Cut

After first reading this script, I felt like there was one clear message trying to be conveyed by it, there was a definite old/young conflict theme or subtext. Unclear was as to whether this was way for the author to vent their anger or whether this was not relevant at all. I’m also not quite sure who I cared about, or who I should have cared about, one the one hand we have this 55 year old barber who is unobtrusively minding his own business, doing his job when in comes this youth who would be called all sorts of things by all manner of different people and by all rights, interrupts the old mans day, now there is always an air of what could be considered jealousy from the old to the young which is quite clearly the theme here but there is two sides to every story, at the end of the day, the kid is only 19, and is more than likely acting exactly the same as every other 19 year old lad, including the barber himself once did, the fact that the barber would go so far as to try and suggest premature baldness or grey hairs is very petty, and whether or not it is just to try and liven up his relatively mundane life or whether it is some malicious act of jealousy is relevant but either way, would still have the same effect on the lad, after all, who wants to be told they are going grey at 19? In that sense I am oddly, slightly more drawn to siding with the lad, maybe because I myself am 19, I do feel that when thinking about turning this script into a film, which subjective view of who you’re going to promote in the story is an important factor to think about, because the two versions could be very different.

So ultimately, I don’t think the story has a solid belief or outlook that is wishes to express, other than highlighting the fact that there has always been a conflict between old and young, as with a lot of other conflicts, there is no right or wrong side to be on, i.e. girls/boys etc… I think to form an opinion would be put down to a few things, firstly whichever of the characters you relate to more plays a part, it’s a psychological thing whereby even when faced with two sides of a proverbial game that you’ve never even seen before, you’ll side with the team that takes your interest more. Another big factor is the way the script is written and the film is shot, people can be made to believe anything if they are fed the right amount of information telling them so. These opinions are expressed solely I feel by the two characters, very simply, the relationship they have in the short time they are together is very descriptive and intuitive into both of their psyche’s, more so I think into the barbers.

The script jumped out at me the first time I read it, I found it much more interesting than the others, because it was less complicated, it was easier to see the subtext I think and this I knew would reflect better in trying to turn it to film. It is a very interesting script, with more depth than at first seen on the surface, even I have changed my opinion of it drastically since first reading it, as I mentioned, I have sided with the 19

year old lad, but at first I thought there was no choice as to who I should consider my friend and my foe in the piece, the brash exterior of the lad came across as arrogant, I thought he was a bit of a prick butting it bluntly, but then after going over it more, I have developed a slight repulsion for the old guy, something which I can relate to as I have myself been picked on by the old just because I am young, and this is something I will focus on spotlighting in my film.