Mid Term..

Joy Ransom (Fall 2007)
Brief synopsis and explanation of the intended direction, and reason for the adaptations style.
My CYOA, has two basic outcomes. I loosely followed the script of an actual show here, but included and subtracted a few ideas and concepts. By having only one true decision to make, which is the first one, (that decision being the appropriateness of expressing ones love for another at a specific moment in time), I am trying to illustrate the severity of one simple decisions in the progression of human narrative. By allowing the reader to feel in control of the outcome of this love narrative, by having such different options for the first and only decision, the reader will undoubtedly react in different ways to the progression of the story. The next option for both decision, are also the same. Having this was deliberate, I am choosing to ensue ambiguity here, and also satirically laugh at the desire to navigate perfection, when it comes to love.
When I think of narrative, it reminds me that the human narrative of love, is one that is perplexing to all, and will continue to be so until the end of time, however what I find interesting and enjoyable about Sex and the City, is that the writers make the viewers believe that this narrative can be strategically navigated. They cleverly include almost all women, by using four women, who are easily identifiable by just about any American girl. These women experience almost every possible relationship trial and tribulation possible. The leader, Carrie narrates the shows, and it is her perspective that is used as the undertone. Her questions allow room for hundreds of perspectives, thousands of questions, and millions of interpretations and as the show progresses the viewer is encouraged to find meanings relevant to their own narrative.
Sadly I could not delve as deeply as I wanted to with this midterm, because my criteria for the project only allowed for so much script manipulation, to illustrate my point, however for a bigger project I think it would be interesting to indulge the reader with many options, and write a script, that only includes my own creativity based on my interpretation of these very unique women. That way, I can think about the way society coerces women into specific ways of thinking about relationships, and the resulting way they live their “love narrative”.


Joy Ransom
Mid Term

Adaptation of Sex and the City (CYOA)

Season Two Episode 10, The Caste System Written by Jenny Bicks, Directed by Alan Taylor, Adapted by Joy Ransom

Sitting in the warm spring air you think about your three best friends. Samantha, oldest and dearest is what you could call “futuristic, modern women”. She has sex when and where she wants, and has just about no reservations about with whom she has sex. She praises herself for having the ego of a man in the body of a woman. Charlotte is from Connecticut. She is an Upper East Side type of girl. She works at an art gallery, selling high priced artwork to people who can afford it, but might not understand it, she doesn’t mind though. Miranda, she is the successful lawyer. She is perfectly content with her success and chooses to live void of male influence, on occasion.
But thoughts continue to wonder, and now they rest on your love, Mr. Big, the rich man that swept you off your feet, and has captivated you in every sense. He wines and dines you, and despite your effort has buried deeper in your heart than any other. It is easy to say things you love about New York, but it is hard to say I love you Mr. Big.
***
The next morning, you and Big sit in his expensive kitchen and as you watch him eat his toast, it becomes even more clear that you love him. You gently wipe the crumb off of his face, not more than a minute after you remove it, he takes another huge bit, replacing the crumb that you so deliberately moved. In this moment you think.
To Say you love Mr. Big the next time the opportunity presents itself, with no concern about how appropriate it might be, or how the randomness might affect the sentimentality of the phrase, because true love needs to stage for expression go to (2)
To Say you love Mr. Big at a time that you think would be picture perfect, and more appropriate, at a time where all circumstance lead to an obvious sensual reply of the same, from him… go to (3)
Section Two
You leave Big’s place shortly after lunch to go home and freshen up, by now time has passed and it is early evening. You think longingly how fast time fly’s when your with Big, now 8 hours later you run to the door after you hear his knock, anticipating another special moment. You open the door and see him standing, perfect as usual. You invite him in and tell him you need to change your shoes. He follows you into the room and pulls a small bag from behind his back. Eagerly looking into the bag, you are horrified. You pull out bejeweled goose purse. It was all wrong, ugly, gaudy, and way too up town for you. Nothing in the world seemed right now besides; “I love you” it spilled out of your mouth like a waterfall. Go to (6)
Section Three
You know you want to tell him how you feel, but you are keeping hope alive, that love can be fairytale. You tell him you’ll see him later and hurry home. Seven that night, you answer the door. Standing before you he seems even better than usual, you just know that tonight will be the perfectly romantic fairytale you hoped for. After all, he’s taking you to the ballet. You know now deep in your heart that this small gesture is huge, for Big, mainly because he hates the ballet. He pulls out a bag, and when you see the name on the bag a smile can’t help but to run across your face. You pull out a bejeweled purse, shaped like a goose. It was all wrong. The goose, the gems, the shape, as your head spins confused, looking lovingly at the purse you fall into his chest, after all it’s the thought right? The moment is perfect, he loves you, you think. He brought you this dumb gift on a special night to show how dedicated he is to you. “ I love you!” He looks at your face and for what seem like a year’s stairs blankly. “Uh, I’ll be outside.” Go to (7)
Section SixThe next day you eat a casual lunch with the girls and the story can’t come out any faster. “You told big you loved him over that!” Samantha says in disbelief. “I think my mother has on of those” chimes in Miranda sarcastically, “Maybe he thought you said, I love it” say optimistic Charlotte. You think for a moment, how that harsh encounter went, you recall his cold response. “Uh..I’ll just wait outside he said”. You wonder, was it the wrong time after all?
The conversation whirls around you but you cant help but to be distracted. You ask yourself over and over again, if there is any truth to the fairytale relationship. The perfect “I love you” with the perfect guy, at the perfect time, and you kick your self for possibly ruining it. “So he just pretended you didn’t even say it?” says, Miranda. “Sort of.” you say “..so now I’ve laid down a gauntlet, either he has to say it back or I am going to be forced to break up with him.” “How long are you going to give him?” Charlotte asks. “Well I don’t know, I think it has the shelf life of a dairy product, after about a week its going to begin to curdle.” “You know its funny, you tell a man you hate him and you have the best sex of your life, but tell a man you love him, and you’ll probably never see him again.” says Samantha. “Wait a minute, says Miranda, Did you ever think at this very moment they guy is thinking about his own discrete way of saying I love you back?” Knowing what a love skeptic Miranda is, makes you curious what love euphony she has had that has so drastically changed her outlook. Go to (10)
Section Seven
This night can’t have gone any worse than it has just gone. You call Charlotte and hope that her words will somehow make this ok, if only for a second. “Maybe he thinks you said I love it” says, Charlotte. “I mean he cant have seriously thought you love that ugly purse. Carrie look, that purse is what’s big now maybe he just wanted to show how dedicated he is to brining you into his world, I mean let’s face it, you are on a totally different level.” You think for a minute about what the intentions of his gesture were. Maybe love does surpass his obviously misplaced signs of affection. You leave and make it to the ballet. However, when the shows over, and the swans stop dancing, so does the music. Go to (9)
Section Eight
The next day you eat a casual lunch with the girls and the story can’t come out any faster. “You told big you loved him over that!” Samantha says in disbelief. “I think my mother has on of those” chimes in Miranda sarcastically, “Maybe he thought you said, I love it” say optimistic Charlotte. You think for a moment, how that harsh encounter went, you recall his cold response. “Uh..I’ll just wait outside he said”. You wonder, was it the wrong time after all?
The conversation whirls around you but you cant help but to be distracted. You ask yourself over and over again, if there is any truth to the fairytale relationship. The perfect “I love you” with the perfect guy, at the perfect time, and you kick your self for possibly ruining it. “So he just pretended you didn’t even say it?” says, Miranda. “Sort of.” you say “..so now I’ve laid down a gauntlet, either he has to say it back or I am going to be forced to break up with him.” “How long are you going to give him?” Charlotte asks. “Well I don’t know, I think it has the shelf life of a dairy product, after about a week its going to begin to curdle.” “You know its funny, you tell a man you hate him and you have the best sex of your life, but tell a man you love him, and you’ll probably never see him again.” says Samantha. “Wait a minute, says Miranda, Did you ever think at this very moment they guy is thinking about his own discrete way of saying I love you back?” Knowing what a love skeptic Miranda is, makes you curious what love euphony she has had that has so drastically changed her outlook. Go to (10)

Section Nine
“Wait a minute”, he said you can take it back. Say Miranda. “How in the world did that rectify the situation?” You tell then how your perfect night concluded. Almost tearfully you continue, “ so we sat at the table, candle light illuminating his perfections, and enhancing my flaws and he looks deep into my eyes and say it. I could hardly believe my ears. The way he eased into it falsely made me think that this first “I love you” could be perfect, but thank you Big, the first time I say it, his first audible response is, you can take it back it you don’t like it.” “How” you scream, “did the first time I say I love you to big, become the first time I wanted to say, I hate you?!” go to (13)

Section Ten
You were right, Miranda has had a love epiphany, and though you love her, you cant but to envy her seemingly perfect guy. His name is Steve, and they have been seeing each other for a while. He is a bartender and has not actual aspiration outside of “tips” Though they come from vastly different economic situation, your dear friend has chosen to ignore their differences in credit card limits. She allows Steve to take her out, but only to places she knows he can afford. Most recently they took a trip to a mid-town pizza place. It was cute, not what she is use too, but nice nonetheless. Over their quite flirtatious, “new love” conversation, she mentions a upcoming party hosted by her firm. Naturally her invite pleased him, and after agreeing to go, he breaks the new about the only suit he owns. “Gold”, she tells you. “He own only a gold suit..” Naturally she agreed to go shopping with him to by a more appropriate suit. The outing turned into a disaster..Go to (12)
Section Twelve
The shopping spree was a disaster, and for the likes of you, you cant seem to understand how it went to wrong for Miranda. She entered into it with the most honorable of intention. She loved Steve, and it was all that she could do to keep herself from ozzing out of the eyes with happiness when he had agreed to go in the first place. But now, the difference in credit card limits, had wedged a gab between the two love birds that neither Charlotte’s explanation or you own thought go understand. It started our innocently enough, Steve tried n the perfect suit, shows, and has even agreed to have the cuff done the way Miranda wanted, but when it came time to pay, he could not afford the thousand dollar suit. It was Miranda’s intention to pay for it, since she had invited him, but Steve’s ego could not allow him to be the “female” in this situation. After trying all his cards, he decided to max out one card, pay cash, and write a check. Obviously this was a bad idea, and later this decision would drastically alter the direction of their relationship forever. Go to (14)
Section Thirteen
You meet the girls for your weekly spa treatment. As you casually go over the events of the week, which include Miranda’s new love, Steve you break into a heated debate on what the rule of thumb should be with relationships and money. You and Big have a huge gap in income, and this gap also has been, indirectly the cause of your most recent feelings of hatred. Not literally, of course, but his not knowing how to bring you into his world, without buying expensive, poorly thought out gifts. You think silently as they go on, “I don’t want to have to apologize for my success, says Miranda, Why is it that if you make more money than a man you need to accommodate his ego. It’s like if they aren’t above you, they feel inferior to you, can’t we just exist with each other knowing that we have different credit card limits?” “Guys”, Charlotte interjects “ Its is just expected that the men make more money in the relationship. You act like we live in a classless society and we don’t!” Her head motions to the four women working frantically on you pedicures, then silence. Go to (15)
Section Fourteen
Miranda and Steve will never find the balance between their spending limits, and the night of the ball Steve stands her up, well almost. He cameo to her door dressed I plane clothes with an explanation. His justification of the situation was that, Miranda was out of his range. He feels that she needs to be with someone who can wine and dine her they was she deserves. In his own words “ She will always be out of her reach”. Though she can almost understand his point of views, it doesn’t stop it from hurting. You console her the best you can, but than again you are I no position to give advice about love and life. Miranda goes to the party alone, and wonders sadly to her self, if there was really anything wrong with a gold suit after all. Samantha has realized that the luxury of wealth wont ever compare to the satisfaction of balance in a relationship. It turns out that her new guy, a realtor Harvey Turkle has a servant, who doesn’t feel the need for any other women in her master’s life besides herself. She tormented Samantha for two nights in a row and ultimately won the favor of Harvey. Go to (18)
Section Fifteen
That night Samantha goes to see her newest love interest. Harvey Turkle, a wealthy realtor, who has just mad a fortune turning sweat shops into condos. She likes him well enough. As they eat she is shocked to discover he has a servant, yes a servant. A maid would have been appropriate but a servant is peculiar. Your phone rings and on the other end is a distressed Samantha. “She is insane, she kicked me out of the bed this morning, and threatened me” she blares into your sleepy ear. It turn out there is only room fro one lady in Harvey’s life. You laugh and think to yourself. The game of relationship are never as perfect as they may seem, you console your friend and no sooner than you hang up the phone rings again, Miranda hangs on the other end horrified at the way Steve’s shopping excursion has ended. Go to (17)
Section Sixteen
Miranda and Steve will never find the balance between their spending limits, and the night of the ball Steve stands her up, well almost. He cameo to her door dressed I plane clothes with an explanation. His justification of the situation was that, Miranda was out of his range. He feels that she needs to be with someone who can wine and dine her they was she deserves. In his own words “ She will always be out of her reach”. Though she can almost understand his point of views, it doesn’t stop it from hurting. You console her the best you can, but than again you are I no position to give advice about love and life. Miranda goes to the party alone, and wonders sadly to her self, if there was really anything wrong with a gold suit after all. Samantha has realized that the luxury of wealth wont ever compare to the satisfaction of balance in a relationship. It turns out that her new guy, a realtor Harvey Turkle has a servant, who doesn’t feel the need for any other women in her master’s life besides herself. She tormented Samantha for two nights in a row and ultimately won the favor of Harvey. Go to (18)
Section Seventeen
Fed up with the crazy world of Miranda and Samantha, you turn to your own relationship. Big has invited you to an up-town party, and because the goose had brought nothing but drama, you decide to show you appreciation, by using it tonight. If you wear the purse tonight, you can rectify the situation, and maybe even get the “I hate you” out of your system, and replace it with the perfect “I love you”. At the party you realize that the perfection you strive for in unattainable. While there you realize that though you love him, you cannot sacrifice you belief in love. Love should not be expressed with goose purse’s. You walk to the balcony to have a smoke, and you are pleasantly surprised to run into your old friend Jeremiah.
To converse with Jeremiah, and see where this potentially flirtatious past between the two of you can go, stay on the balcony turn. Go to (19)
To have a smoke, and leave turn to Go to (21)
Section Eighteen
You and Big never actually have your perfect interchange of words and though it makes you sad you realize that you were wrong for trying to make perfection out of something as sensitive as a helium bomb. You were playing with fire. You feel incomplete, and after tormenting yourself with thoughts of this for hours, you decide to start on your upcoming column. As you type out all the pain and disappointment you have in your heart the phone rings. After the third ring you answer the phone and are pleased to hear Big on the other end, you cross your fingers, and wait for it. THE END
Section Nineteen
Jeremiah is a musician. He plays downtown, and on more than one occasion you went to hear him. Each time you meet you and he spoke indiscreetly about the possibility of a relationship, but nothing ever flourished. He tells you about a new tattoo he got, and curious to see it he unzips his pants to reveal the waistline ink. While your head is buried deep in his crouch, a guest appears on the balcony. It is obvious that they will now report back to Big about what they thought they saw and irritated you return to the party, and the obvious crucifying go to (22)
Section Twenty-one
You have your cigarette and make your way back to the party. Its is dull, and you expected it to be so after taking in one too many superficial comment you decide to leave. Big stays behind, and surprisingly you don’t even care. When you get home you fall asleep and realize that your relationship with Big is more complex and convoluted than you initially had expected. The next morning you awake alone, still longing for your perfect Big response, and missing his body next to your more than ever before. You go to the computer and frantically type out the title for your next column. “Men are like socks.”… THE END
Section Twenty-two
Big approaches you, and almost as if he is someone else ask you in a not so nice voice if you were really giving the help a blow job. Disgusted you choose to ignore his question and move to another side of the room. As the night wound down, Jeremiah decided to take you to get drink and laugh the night away. After you’ve hit the last bar with him you two stumble down the street to your apartment singing “Jeremiah was a bullfrog.” The phone rings, and jolts you out of your drunken slumber, it is now morning, and Big’s voice on the other end is refreshing. He has finally found his way of saying I love you, actually though it is harsh and completely out of context you appreciate his, “I fuckin love you ok.” And realize that you cannot plan love, and though it can be navigated to some extent, it is defiantly not something you can prepare for. You hang up the phone roll over to look at Jeremiah, and decide you wont tell big about this one, because everything before “I love you, doesn’t count.” THE END