Arlington Road
written by Ehren Kruger
Oliver Lang: Who the hell do you think you are judging me? What gives you the right? (beat) You ever worked on a farm, Michael? Eh? Make your livin'?...support your family? (beat) The government stole my father's water -- a stream running through our land. Said they were "appropriating" it for other uses. We couldn't grow crops, we couldn't raise cattle. We had loans we couldn't pay. (beat) My father woke up one mornin'...and he realized he was worth more dead than alive. His, uh, skin and bones...were worth more in insurance money than as a damn farmer. (beat) I found his tractor...at the bottom of the bluffs behind our house. (chuckles) He made it look like an accident. I found his body. And the note? ...He wrote it to me. (pause) Insurance money...paid off what Mom could, but...wasn't enough! Neighbors -- neighbors took our land at auction. (beat) All because some bureaucrat stuck a pin in a map...in some crick in the middle of Kansas, said we couldn't use our own water.
Michael Faraday: Doesn't give you the right to build a bomb.
Oliver Lang: I was sixteen. SIXTEEN! D'you ever do anything wrong when you were sixteen?! You ever crash your car? You ever, uh...steal anything? You ever screw the wrong girl? (beat) You gonna tell your kid everything you did when you were sixteen, Michael? The lies you told?, the drugs you took, uh? Pfft! (beat) I've been judged for this! I got sent away for it, and you know what? it was the best thing that ever coulda happened to me. The best thing. Pfft.
Kudos and much thanks go to Don for this monologue, it is very much appreciated.