[Betty] To all the subscribers of The Teenage Mystique,
something happened to me.
And I've read your stories and watched so many people be wronged,
so I can't hold back any longer.
All I wanted to do was understand my authentic self,
my desires, my place in the world.
Because of that, I was forced to be a cheerleader.
I was put into therapy. My private diaries were read.
I was demeaned.
I am not your mother anymore.
[Betty] And then I was...
slapped.
Well, I'm finally going to tell the truth.
This is my manifesto.
My book, The Collected and Expanded Teenage Mystique.
Every thought I've ever had uncensored.
Only the truth will be allowed in these pages.
The truth about being a teenager.
Our stories.
And if it burns this small-minded town to the ground, well, so be it.
So how do you wanna do this?
Wanna go in first, and I mosey on in 30 seconds later?
Absolutely not.
Veronica Lodge's signature color may be purple,
but she's no shrinking violet.
So come on.
Let's give these cubes something juicy to goss about.
["Come On" playing]
♪ So young ♪
-♪ So fine ♪ -♪ So fine ♪
-♪ Won't you be mine? ♪ -♪ Won't you be mine? ♪
-♪ Come on ♪ -♪ Go steady with me ♪
-♪ Girl, come on ♪ -♪ Go steady with me ♪
♪ Whoa, we're gonna have a lot of fun And you just wait and see ♪
♪ Just you wait and see ♪
-♪ Whoa, I like ♪ -♪ I like ♪
-♪ The way ♪ -♪ The way ♪
-♪ You smile at me ♪ -♪ You smile at me ♪
-♪ Come on ♪ -♪ Go steady with me ♪
-♪ Girl, come on ♪ -♪ Go steady with me ♪
♪ Whoa, we're gonna have a lot of fun And you just wait and see ♪
Wowza, never had so many peepers on me at one time.
Well, if it's any consolation, I haven't gotten this much attention
since I arrived to school wearing my sexy witch costume.
Sexy witch costume?
Jughead Jones,
do you have a thing for sexy teen witches?
Well, yes. Yes, I do.
But I also know a boss idea when I hear one,
and sexy teen witch is a very boss idea.
Hmm. Well, glad to have inspired something.
Catch you later, alligator.
So, what do you think, Mrs. Grundy?
Archie...
this latest poem is...
excellent.
It's so much more mature than your earlier work.
It's like you grew up overnight.
-What happened? -I...
Well, I watched the sunrise, like you suggested.
Among other things.
Well, keep doing whatever it is you're doing.
I am definitely going back--
I'll definitely do that.
-Just keep at it, like you said. -[school bell ringing]
["Fine Little Baby" playing]
[students chattering]
♪ Well, my baby boogies When the sun is shinin' ♪
♪ She likes to make it When there ain't no time ♪
♪ When she do, do what she do... ♪
Morning, class.
♪ One fine rockin' time ♪
♪ Fine, fine, fine ♪
♪ Well, it's a fine little girl... ♪
[Julian] Come on.
-You're yanking my chain, Mantle. -Shh.
Cool it.
Not so loud.
You and Andrews?
At the same time?
Andrews.
Is it true? You and Reg took a ride on the town bicycle, Twyla Twyst?
And you're going back for seconds?
[Julian chuckles]
[Julian whistles]
[Betty] And another thing, dear readers. I'm sick of the double standard
that celebrates boys for their sexual conquests
and punishes girls for wanting the same.
Cheryl. I'm sorry.
What are these?
Hey, those pictures are amazing.
Are they from a private collection of yours?
I could try and spin some story, Betty, but I'm tired of lying.
The truth is, I am going steady with Toni Topaz.
Oh.
Oh, yeah, well, that makes sense.
Just try to use it against me. I double dog dare you.
Oh, Cheryl, don't worry. I...
I'm the Girl Next Door. I write The Teenage Mystique.
What? I love The Teenage Mystique.
-The Girl Next Door's advice is tops. -Oh.
It's an honor to meet you.
-Likewise. -[chuckles]
What are you doing with those amazing pictures?
I was going to submit them to Femme-And-In magazine
to come out in the most unabashed way,
and blow the lid off of my parents' world.
That's what I'm trying with the book version of The Teenage Mystique.
That's radioactive.
It is, and, actually, a story like yours and Toni's,
written by you in your words, would be swell to include.
Maybe accompanied by some of those pictures?
I'd have to talk to Toni, but yes, Betty.
The pages of The Teenage Mystique
might just be the perfect forum for our coming out to the world.
Excellent.
Cheryl,
do you think you and Toni would be willing
to take pictures like yours of me, possibly, for my book cover?
Absolutely. We can do a photo session, then you can pick your favorite,
and I can turn it into a luxurious, supple oil painting
for your book's cover.
[swaggering jazz music playing]
[Veronica] I have to tell you,
this is the bee's knees, Jughead. I didn't realize you could draw too.
[Jughead] Well, I'm no Ethel Muggs,
but I think this brain egg could be the thing to save Pep Comics.
Mr. Fieldstone is looking for a fresh breakout character
to get past the code and bring in new readership,
and I think it's Veronica the teenage witch.
Veronica, you're not gonna believe who's here.
Ms. Josie McCoy.
The famous chanteuse?
The founder of the Black American Theater Project?
The newly minted Tony winner?
[chuckles] In the flesh and fur.
To what do we owe this honor?
I've heard about your theater, Ms. Lodge.
I've heard you're not afraid to shake things up.
I've built an entire career out of shaking things up.
You may have heard I've been working on a major motion picture.
Hush-hush. You understand?
I have heard rumors that your Broadway smash Going Uptown
is being turned into a movie musical, yes.
The rumors are true.
A movie musical I wrote, directed, produced, and starred in.
You've always been the definition of a Renaissance woman.
Well, then you know Josie McCoy is a perfectionist.
This is my first motion picture, you understand.
I'm still in the middle of my process, still tinkering.
Close friends have seen early cuts,
but I need to know how it plays out in front of a real audience,
far from the prying eyes of my partners at Pasadena Pictures.
I don't need a bunch of starched suits mucking things up,
and second-guessing my every creative choice.
Not until I have proof positive.
Say, filled out questionnaires from a test screening.
Possibly at your theater, Ms. Lodge.
If it's up to my standards.
[dramatic music playing on-screen]
[crowd applauding and cheering on-screen]
[Veronica] Can I just say...
your movie is a surefire hit.
And you, Ms. McCoy, have made the leap to bona fide movie star.
Cheers.
But why bother with the test screenings?
Let's just have ourselves
a good old-fashioned red carpet movie premiere
and blow the roof off.
As I said, I'm still tinkering.
But why tinker with perfection?
You know how skittish studio executives can be.
Unfortunately, all too well.
I've dealt with my fair share.
-They're fear-driven creatures. -Exactly.
All right, then. Let's give them the proof they need.
I know the drill. We'll hand out surveys at the end of our test screening.
One moment, Ms. Lodge.
Your theater might be up to snuff, if slightly smaller than I'd hoped,
but I need to make certain that the seats at my screening
won't be filled with rubes and blue-hairs.
I need to get a lay of the land.
See if Riverdale's as hep a town as I've been led to believe.
Oh, we're hep.
But don't take my word for it.
Kevin, Clay, and I can show you around.
Why don't we meet up tomorrow at 8 for a tour?
Eight? In the morning?
Oh, no, no, no.
I, my dear, am a creature of the night.
I roll out of bed leisurely,
and start drinking espresso at 3 in the afternoon.
You will see me at dusk, and not a moment sooner.
Well, there are a few hotels in town,
but why don't you stay with me at The Pembrooke?
It's sort of like The Plaza by way of The Dakota.
Can I take you there and get you settled?
Hmm.
I like you, Ms. Lodge.
I think we're going to get on just fine.
Hi, Ms. Twyst.
[chuckles]
I, uh, was hoping that maybe we could see each other again.
Oh, yeah. I remember you now.
[both chuckling]
Well, you got it wrong, Red.
You see, Twyla's happy to help a fella out of a rut,
but she doesn't do long-term.
Especially not with puppy dogs.
Uh, but I really need the experience.
If that's the case,
Lord knows there's gotta be some hot older mama
who'd love to take a bite out of a Red Delicious like yourself.
You dig?
["No Doubt About It" playing]
♪ No doubt about it I really think you're fine... ♪
[doorbell rings]
♪ I'll shout all about it Tell the world you're mine... ♪
[Toni] Okay, you ready?
Yes.
One, two, three.
So pretty. Okay, let's do a few more.
-♪ No doubt about it ♪ -♪ Ooh, baby ♪
[camera clicking]
Hey, Veronica. Can I talk to you for a second?
Word from the bird is that Josie McCoy's in town,
and you might be bringing her to the Dark Room's open mic tonight.
My, gossip travels fast in this town, doesn't it?
If that's the case, my boy Fangs here is going to perform.
If he and Midge are gonna make a go of it, he needs a big break.
One that Josie might be able to provide.
Do you think Ms. McCoy would be willing to pick up what I'm putting down?
Now, I can't speak for Ms. McCoy, of course,
but if there's one thing a star like her recognizes, it's talent.
[Archie] Good morning, Mrs. Grundy.
I brought you something.
That is so sweet. Thank you.
And Red Delicious is my favorite.
Actually, I wanted to let you know
I'm performing a new poem I wrote at the Dark Room tonight.
Yeah, I'd really be jazzed if you could make it and hear it.
Well, I'm touched that you would think of me.
And, yes, of course I will be there. Anything for my favorite student.
[Jughead] She's bewitching. She casts spells.
Nothing harmful or offensive, of course. But mostly she's a high school student.
She goes to class, does her homework, gets into romantic trouble.
You know, good old-fashioned wholesome vampy campy fun.
-What do you think? -I think if she's gonna stand
a snowball's chance in hell of getting past the tribunal,
we're gonna have to sand the edges a little bit.
They hear the word "witch,"
they're gonna be going for their pitchforks.
-Teenage witch. -I'm not saying we ditch the concept.
I'm just saying...
I don't know. Make her a half-witch.
You'll have to get her out of this getup. Too much cleavage.
-And make her a blond. -Blond?
-You'll have to come up with a new name. -New name?
Yeah. "Veronica"? Reminds me of Veronica Lake.
Too sexy. Too dangerous. Too curvy.
Trust me, if it's gonna pass muster
with those prudes over at the tribunal,
well, it has to be something sweeter.
You know? I don't know, magical.
Now you pick the one you like the most,
and I will paint it.
That way, we'll get the exact look you want for your book's cover.
What's the hiccup? Are you displeased?
No. I'm so glad that I'm coming out
as the voice behind The Teenage Mystique.
Just can't help feeling a little bit like a fraud.
Dressing in lingerie, writing about sex,
when I haven't experienced anything even remotely sexually satisfying myself.
-What do you mean? -[sighs] I mean...
everyone I know is having, or has had sex.
I'm the only teenager in the world
who can't seem to find someone to go there with me.
Betty, you do know a woman doesn't need anyone
to be sexually satisfied?
She can...
do it on her own.
I did read about self-pleasure in Kingsley's book,
but it wasn't exactly a how-to manual.
I see.
However...
this particularly illuminating issue of Femme-And-In magazine
might be exactly what the doctor ordered.
And I certainly don't mean Werthers.
Turns out, all a woman needs to be sexually satisfied
is a bathtub, a bathroom with a lock on it, and...
shall we say, a helping hand.
[Veronica] Veronica the Teenage Witch is too sexy, you say?
I mean, he's not wrong.
I am cut from the same cloth as Veronica Lake,
and therefore, too provocative for those feebleminded censors.
It's their loss.
On top of which, I have to figure out a new name,
something more magical.
Hey, did you happen to see
that Audrey Hepburn picture that came out last year?
Her character had a superb name in that.
What was that movie called again?
Sabrina. Audrey played the title character.
Sabrina? Yeah.
Yeah, that could be the ticket.
[jazz music playing]
In the bloom of Eden's garden
The first transgression
A simple apple, Eve learned her lesson
Different garden, same temptation
A young man seeking an education
A teacher's pupil brings her apples
And sinful thoughts with which he grapples
While she teaches, he sits through classes
Wondering how she looks Without those glasses
[audience murmuring]
Jeepers, Archie, that was kind of off the cob.
Better luck next time, champ.
[audience snapping fingers]
If that's what passes for art in Riverdale,
I don't think this will work.
Just wait, Josie.
There's another act coming up that will have you purring.
[Toni] Well, it's official.
After that poem, this is the iciest room on the Eastern Seaboard.
No worries, though.
Give it up for my boy,
Fangs Fogarty!
-Whoo! -[applauding]
♪ You shake my nerves And you rattle my brain ♪
♪ Too much love drives a man insane ♪
♪ You broke my will ♪
♪ But what a thrill ♪
♪ Goodness gracious Great balls of fire! ♪
♪ I laughed at love 'Cause I thought it was funny ♪
♪ You came along and moved me, honey ♪
♪ I've changed my mind This love is fine ♪
♪ Goodness gracious Great balls of fire! ♪
[Betty] "The only person you need to know how to please is yourself."
♪ Feels good ♪
♪ Hold me, baby ♪
♪ Well, I'm off to love you Like a lover should ♪
♪ You're fine, so kind ♪
♪ Got to tell this world That you're mine, mine, mine, mine ♪
♪ I chew my nails And I twiddle my thumbs ♪
♪ I'm real nervous, but it sure is fun ♪
♪ Come on, baby, drive me crazy ♪
♪ Goodness gracious Great balls of fire! ♪
♪ Well, kiss me, baby ♪
♪ Ooh! Feels good ♪
♪ Hold me, baby ♪
♪ Well, I still love you Like a lover should ♪
♪ You're fine, so kind ♪
♪ Got to tell this world That you're mine, mine, mine ♪
♪ I chew my nails And I twiddle my thumbs ♪
♪ Real nervous, but it sure is fun ♪
♪ Come on, baby ♪
♪ Drive me crazy ♪
♪ Goodness gracious Great balls of fire! ♪
[crowd cheering]
What did I tell you?
-Hep, no? -Hmm.
Rock 'n' roll isn't my genre, of course, but...
he has something.
Touch of star quality, and that's more than most.
Let me ask you,
how is he on the bongos? Do you know?
To my knowledge,
there is no better bongo player in Riverdale.
Why?
[jazz music playing]
Have you heard that us females
Are a feline breed?
That kittens purr
According to its needs?
That some cats will fall
For a Riviera ball
Or for the Taj Mahal
Or for anything at all
Like diamonds
Or a painted picket fence
But me?
I make a different kind of sense
I'm a different kind of cat
[boy] You feel that groove?
I like love
And that is that
I'm not Persian or Angora
I'm in a...
Different category
I'm a...
Different kind of cat
I like love
And that is that
[cheering]
[Veronica] Well,
it's almost dawn, Ms. McCoy,
and we're all still here.
So, what do you say?
Is Riverdale hep enough for a test screening of Going Uptown?
Let's do it.
[Toni chuckles]
Ms. McCoy, at the risk of overstepping...
Would you also possibly consider attending a meeting
of Black Athena at Riverdale High?
It would mean so much to our members to meet a Black icon like you.
Ooh, I like the sound of that, but what exactly is Black Athena?
It's a literary society I started for the Black students of Riverdale High.
Hmm. Now that's something Josie McCoy can certainly get behind.
Archie.
Mrs. Grundy.
We didn't get a chance to talk last night after my poem.
No, I had to rush home.
My husband was expecting me for a late dinner.
Oh.
Okay.
Well, what did you think?
I think...
We need to switch gears.
Love poems are all well and good,
but I would like you to branch out.
Oh, okay.
Sure.
Okay. Anything you want, Mrs. Grundy.
I want you to write about pain.
Physical pain, emotional pain, psychological pain.
"What is my most painful experience?"
And write about that.
And let's take young heartbreak off the table as a topic.
Okay?
I was so inspired I stayed up all night.
So did I.
So was I.
[clears throat]
Do you hate it? I can adjust anything.
-The background color-- -No, don't.
Don't change anything.
It's beautiful.
Silly goose.
You're beautiful.
[Fieldstone laughs]
Kid, I gotta say, I love this.
I think you've struck gold here.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Now that's a title.
I'm gonna send this off to the tribunal for review, stat.
But congratulations, kid.
I think this cutie patootie half-witch of yours
is gonna single-handedly save Pep Comics
from the dustbin of obscurity.
[Clay] She's a woman who needs no introduction.
Josie McCoy's impact reaches beyond the stage
and into the very fabric of our culture.
I know you're all familiar with the breadth of her incredible work,
but let's dive a little deeper, shall we?
Tracy?
You are unapologetically you, Ms. McCoy.
But as someone representing, well, all of us,
did you have to compromise yourself along the way?
First thing-- Tracy?
Yes.
You are not me, and I am not you,
and yet we are all beautiful.
My darlings,
our experiences as Black people are multifaceted, and rich, and varied,
but none of us should have to compromise ourselves for anything.
We cannot.
Compromise is not a word in my vocabulary,
nor should it be in yours.
I cannot help but give my whole self to every performance
because the world deserves every facet of my being.
Ms. McCoy, a while back, on a trip to New York City,
I was lucky enough to see you as Lady Macbeth,
opposite Charles Clayton as Macbeth.
That was at my theater in Harlem, I remember.
Mm-hm. And your performance has stayed with me ever since.
You were so fierce and commanding,
and yet also vulnerable.
Oh, sweetie, that is the only way I know how to be.
[all chuckling]
Ferocious and vulnerable.
All things at once.
And when I work, I bleed. It's as simple as that.
That's what I try to do at my typewriter. I try to bleed too.
[all chuckling]
Enough about Josie McCoy.
Tell me, where did the idea for the Black Athena Club come from?
When I was in high school, I would've crossed the Sahara for a group like this.
Honestly, Josie, I started this club because I was tired, plain and simple.
I was tired of this bogus town telling me who I was.
Tired of treading water in the Caucasian sea of opinions.
-[student] Mm-hm. -We all needed a haven.
And I know I wasn't the only one tired of being told no by the gatekeepers.
So we...
So you bet on yourselves.
Mm.
Yes, I can see that.
Yes, I certainly can.
All right. Let's blow this out.
I want a full red carpet premiere. All the bells and whistle.
Spotlights, velvet ropes, the crème de la crème.
My movie is in your hands, Veronica, but...
If Going Uptown isn't a hit,
if we invite the press and they don't write five-star raves,
it won't just be my movie that disappears.
I disappear too.
I won't get a second chance, and this film cost me everything.
What do you mean?
Cost you everything?
I financed it myself.
When Going Uptown became a Broadway hit,
when I, Josie McCoy, made it a hit,
they wanted to turn it into a movie.
Of course I was thrilled.
Until I found out that my part,
the part that I won a Tony Award for...
was being reconceived for Lana Turner.
No.
Yes.
It was a slap in the face.
Apparently, the powers that be
thought the silver screen wasn't ready for Josie McCoy
and her Black, beautiful self.
So I scrounged up every penny I had,
I even mortgaged my brownstone,
and I bought the rights to Going Uptown out from them,
and I made the damn thing myself.
I put everything I had...
into this picture.
So...
the test screenings, the surveys, weren't part of your process.
-They were going to be for-- -Studios.
If we tested well enough
with Black and white audiences in the sticks,
I thought that maybe,
maybe I could convince one of the majors to...
To distribute Going Uptown.
Then why the change of heart to hold the premiere now?
Making Going Uptown and risking everything for it,
it's the most terrifying thing I have ever done.
The studios, they don't think I'm a movie star,
but I know I am.
But Going Uptown will have to explode like an atomic bomb.
Are you tuned in and hearing my signal straight?
Josie...
after the premiere I'm going to throw you,
you are going to have a bidding war on your hands.
Which is exactly what a star of your caliber deserves.
[Fangs] I hate not being able to see you.
Or hold you.
But we're cooking with gas now, baby.
I performed for the Josie McCoy.
She's gonna hook me up with her music producer in New York.
A real hotshot. Alexander Cabot.
Killer-diller!
Oh, Fangs, that's peachy to the max.
Then we'll get you out of that crazy place.
We'll be together before you know it.
[Jughead] They rejected Sabrina?
Yup.
Kicked it back, and in record time.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch just ain't gonna fly, kid.
Why? Did they say?
Oh, yeah, they gave my ears quite the bashing.
Objected to pretty much everything. Like, for starters, that she's a witch.
This is nuts.
Preaching to the choir, kid. Preaching to the choir.
You came up with something fun and whimsical,
and all they saw was witches, Satanism, hocus-pocus, and human sacrifices.
I know it's crushing, but shame on us.
We probably never should've tried to launch a comic book about a witch
in the middle of a witch hunt.
[Veronica] I'm so sorry, Jughead.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a brilliant idea.
And I'm not just saying that because I inspired her.
She's just ahead of her time.
Give it a few years.
Let the hysteria die down and there will be no stopping her.
I just feel like Pep Comics is...
sinking in quicksand.
Listen, if you're down in the mouth and not in the mood for a premiere,
I'd completely understand.
Are you kidding? This is the only chance I'll be invited to a Hollywood premiere.
I'm not going to miss it.
-The only thing is-- -You don't have a suit.
I barely have any clothes without an S on them.
I thought we might run into this predicament,
so I may or may not have taken some precautionary measures.
Tailored exactly to your measurements.
I think you'll find...
nothing but the best for my flutter bum.
Yowza.
Are you absolutely sure you're not a teenage witch?
-[cameras clicking] -[big band jazz music playing]
[audience applauding]
[groans] Who's that sourpuss?
He's a notoriously surly but also highly influential movie critic
from the Wall Beat Journal.
Don't worry,
you and your movie are undeniable.
Here we go.
-[whimsical music playing on-screen] -[audience applauding]
[music drones, then stops]
[audience murmuring]
-What the hell is going on, you bozos? -Film got caught and split.
We need to splice it back together and rethread it.
Have you snapped your caps? We'll lose them.
-Who? -The audience, Kevin. The audience.
And the critics.
The spell has been broken.
You two are the worst projectionists in the world.
You're fired, we're no longer friends,
and from now on you'll pay full for movie tickets.
Everyone calm down.
Once I was mid-performance in Greenwich Village
when the club got raided by the fuzz, but I still managed to finish.
We will get through this if we don't fall apart.
How long will it take to splice my film?
I don't know. Five minutes?
Five minutes?
There are half a dozen critics looking at their pocket-watches,
wondering if they can catch the next train out of Riverdale.
Hold your horses, folks. Where are you going?
Now, why don't we sit down and enjoy the excitement?
While they fix my film, how long would it take to get a band?
Fangs is here, so I'd say about 60 seconds?
Perfect.
Then I'll buy these two the time they need to get my movie fixed and running again.
[Veronica] Who says motion pictures are a frozen art form?
While my associates are making Going Uptown
even more fabulous than before,
here in the flesh,
performing the film's title number,
is Ms. Josie McCoy.
-[audience applauding] -Gentlemen...
♪ You're looking at a female ♪
♪ Who has driven men to homicide ♪
♪ How, must you ask? ♪
♪ Look at these beautiful legs ♪
♪ These legs were built to drive men mad ♪
♪ Would you like to dance? ♪
♪ When you look around the room, look ♪
♪ Tell me, what do you see? ♪
♪ Imitations of imitations ♪
♪ I invented myself ♪
♪ I'm a creature ♪
♪ Who sacrificed love for her art ♪
♪ Why, you may ask? ♪
♪ With these smoldering lips ♪
♪ Do you know what it's like To taste such smoldering lips? ♪
♪ Would you like to find out? ♪
♪ But first, I hear you're going uptown ♪
♪ Let's go and you lead ♪
♪ I'm ready for the big time ♪
♪ But what I need ♪
♪ I need ♪
♪ I need to return to the place ♪
♪ Where I used to belong ♪
♪ I hear you're going uptown ♪
♪ I hear you're taking me ♪
♪ You're taking me ♪
♪ You're taking me along ♪
[audience cheering]
[whimsical music playing on-screen]
I just saw Mr. Abrams off.
He's on the train back to New York.
And? Is it going to be a rave or not?
Now, Josie, you know these critics.
But I may have greased his wheels a bit,
and gotten a taste of what he's going to publish in the journal.
Well, let's hear it.
First, the headline. [clears throat]
"A Star is Born."
Would you like to hear the opening paragraph?
Why not?
"Stop the presses.
An atomic bomb exploded in Riverdale.
People will be talking about it for the rest of their days.
Call the Oscars and tell them
that all of the major awards will be going to Josie McCoy this year.
Ms. McCoy, the genius creative force,
and I do mean force behind Going Uptown,
has not only earned herself a seat at the glorious table that is Tinseltown,
she has commandeered the whole damn restaurant."
Is this really happening? I'm not dreaming?
Josie, it's not happening.
It happened.
You made it happen.
And, as far as I'm concerned,
put Riverdale and the Babylonium on the map tonight.
So thank you for that.
And by the way, there's one thing this reviewer got wrong.
A star wasn't born tonight.
You've always been a star, Josie.
From the first second you drew breath.
You weren't even at the hospital.
You're not wrong, though.
We make a good team, you and I. Perhaps we should do this again.
I wonder, Veronica,
if you're not just treading water here managing a theater,
when what you should be doing is making movies.
Ah-ha-ha.
I see I've intrigued you.
It's what Josie McCoy does best.
Uncle Frank?
What's going on?
Reggie, will you give us a minute?
What the hell is this?
Mrs. Grundy asked us to write about our most...
personal and private pain.
Overseas or in mountain marsh That's where you really are
You have a plot of land here at home
But you will always Be lost to me over there
Writing poetry to get with a girl is fine, I said that.
But writing about your father?
Exploiting his sacrifice for our country, for our family?
No.
No!
You will not sully his memory like this!
What's wrong with me writing about my dad?
I wish I could still talk to him, but I can't.
At least this way--
Uncle Frank, stop!
Don't you ever...
write about your father like that again.
Am I understood?
[ominous music playing] like that again.