Original subtitles

Oh, my sisters, my sisters.

How do I explain to you what it means to be faithful to a man like Shazza?

Especially when Shazza is the only man you've had a chance to be faithful to.

- [both laugh] - You know,

now, listen, now in 40 years of marriage,

now, you know what kept me and Velma going?

Monotony.

[snickers] Don't you mean, uh, monogamy, Mr. Gaines?

Oh potato, po-tah-ta.

You know, it doesn't matter who you're with

'cause it's always nice to fantasize.

Yes, indeed.

'Cause see, I just picture what my mama calls "a tall drink of water."

- What's that? - Big, broad shoulders

- and a butt like two ripe peaches. - [Freddie] Ooh.

I can see that.

Skin like velvet.

- Oh, I can feel that. - Oh, yes.

- Honey, let me tell you about his voice. - Uh, Freddie?

I can hear it. [chuckles]

[Kim] Ooh.

[giggles] Do I know you?

- It's me, Jamal. - [Freddie chuckles]

- A very tall drink of water. - Yes.

- Happy chastity. - Yes, Lord.

Jamal, Jamal� I'm sorry. I can't quite place you, man.

I'm your prison pen pal.

You told me that when I was done doing my time I should look you up.

You're a convict. [hesitating] I mean, you're an ex-convict.

I� I prefer the term "ex-offender."

Oh, sure. Hey, no offense. I mean, ex-offense. [laughs]

So, when did you get out?

- Last week. - Oh, that's great.

Great. [laughs] Congratulations.

Uh, uh, what do they say? Happy release? Merry parole?

[theme song playing]

? I know my parents loved me ?

? Stand behind me come what may ?

? I know now that I'm ready ?

? For I finally heard them say ?

? It's a different world ?

? Than where you come from ?

? Yes, it is now, yeah ?

? Here's our chance to make it ?

? And if we focus on our goal ?

? You can dish it, we can take it ?

? Hey, just remember That you've been told ?

? It's a different world ?

? It's a different world ?

? It's a different world ?

- ? It's a different world ? - ? Than where you come from ?

? Ooh ?

? Than where you come from ?

My girls�

Learning, growing, evolving.

Each one living like they were born in a trash compactor.

[Kim chuckles]

Well, I called Jaleesa's employment agency.

And she promised to send over a janitor right away.

- I hope it's not another loser. - [chuckles]

[Ron] All right, make way! Mr. Clean coming through!

Ron, you're not the new janitor, are you?

Well, I prefer "custodial engineer."

I used to have a band. Music was my life.

- [sighs] - I've heard that tune before.

Aye, well, Just remember, what goes around comes around.

That's why you're pushing that mop.

- Freddie. - Huh?

Maybe we shouldn't say anything about where I've been.

Oh, good idea. These people are not as open-minded as I.

Especially our dorm director.

Which can't be worse than a prison warden.

Well, I don't know about that. [laughs]

Oh, hold it right here, okay. I'll be right back.

Kim.

- What? - Listen, Kim,

I got this friend and he's got no money

and, oh, Kim, he's got no place to stay and I was wondering�

Kim, your eyeballs are drooling.

I am just staring at this gorgeous man.

Oh, that's Jamal.

You want him to spend the night in our room?

- Uh-huh. - Go, girl! [chuckles]

Man, you know, ain't nobody going to get no sleep with him around.

Oh, yeah, I know that's right 'cause I volunteer my room.

- Yes, I do. - Let's talk about this upstairs.

Look at these two.

[Ron] What you staring at?

It must be nice having a job?

Huh?

Who are you?

- Well, I'm a friend of Freddie Brooks. - [scoffs] That figures.

[laughs sarcastically]

So you think this looks like a good job?

Shh, if it pays more than $2 an hour, it does.

Well, how would you like to earn, say, $2.50 an hour?

Well, good luck, and watch out for Wicked Whitley of the West.

- All right. - [Ron chuckles]

[plastic rustling]

Oh, Lord�

[gasps] Oh!

Shoot.

May I be of assistance, ma'am?

- Who are you? - I'm the new janitor.

I'm taking over for Ron.

Oh.

My, my, my.

You're so� tall.

"Were I so tall to reach the pole

Or grasp the ocean in my span

I must be measured by my soul

The mind's the standard of the man"

Hey! Hey! Hey!

What happened to your new job, Mr. Janitor with a drum?

[laughs] That's funny. Very funny.

Let me put it to you this way.

Some people like to whistle while they work.

I prefer to whistle while other people work.

[knock at door]

[Ron] Hey, get the door, boy. [clears throat]

- Hey. - Hey.

[Ron] Oh, Jamal.

What's up, man? How you doing?

Hey, Jamal, this is my best friend, Dwayne.

Dwayne, meet Jamal.

Jamal's camping out on the couch for a few nights.

What's in it for you, Ron?

You know, I'm just helping the brother get into Hillman.

Yeah, man. Thanks for the job.

That $2.50 an hour is really gonna help.

[Ron] My pleasure, man.

Hey, uh, y'all mind if I use the washroom?

- No. It's right through there. - Thanks.

Yo, $2.50 an hour, Ron?

You're going to sit on your butt and make a profit off this brother?

I'm only charging him $2 a night for the couch.

You are a nasty little maggot destined for hell.

That's not necessary.

Say, Jamal, man, want something to eat? My treat.

Oh, no, thanks, man. I got a date.

Oh, now, that's what I like. A brother who works on the job.

Who's the lucky lady?

Uh, you know. The one you told me about.

- [Ron] Oh? - The wicked one.

- Whitley. - Yeah�

No man's ever given me daises before.

Simple flowers from a simple man.

Would you open the chardonnay for me?

Uh, I don't know how.

Well, I find your honesty refreshing.

Well, uh, speaking of honesty�

And there's also this air of mystery that you have.

I can tell that you've� you've done things, been places.

[Jamal chuckles]

I can't really explain it, but I like it. [chuckles]

Now push this down.

[sighs softly]

Hey, Whitley, I got these schedules�

Not a good time, Winifred.

Jamal� [chuckles]

- [whispers] What's going on? - Later!

Okay, I'm going to be right outside. Directly outside this door.

And if you need anything, you just call my name.

- I'll be right here. - [sighs]

Are you hungry?

Mmm-hmm.

It's been a long time since I had a home-cooked meal.

[Whitley] Good.

I love to cook.

I hope you like artichokes.

If you eat it like that, you will choke.

[both laugh]

Uh, there's a lot of things I don't know, but I'm going to learn.

Something tells me you have a great capacity for change.

You are the personification of pulchritude.

Pulchritude? [chuckles softly]

- It means beauty. - Oh.

I've been reading the dictionary one page at a time.

I'm on "P."

Well, education is a very pulchritudiful thing.

[Jamal chuckles]

So let's start right here.

- I'll teach you how to eat an artichoke. - [chuckles]

- Pull off a little leaf. - Uh-huh.

Dip it in the butter.

Then you slide the meat off with your teeth.

[chuckles]

Tender part's in the middle.

There's something I want to tell you.

And there's something I want to know.

- Where have you been all my life? - Oh, Whitley�

Where were you last week, last month, last year?

San Quentin.

Oh, San� San Quentin?

Is that near Trinidad?

Uh, no, Whitley.

San Quentin is a prison

I've been in for seven years.

Oh�

[hesitating] What were you in for?

Armed robbery.

Uh-huh�

Well�

[stammers] It was very nice meeting you.

So this is what it's going to be like from now on?

[scoffs]

Well, what did you expect?

Oh, I don't know. Maybe the chance to start over.

You know what my parole officer said to me?

"You'll be back."

I spent seven years fighting for my manhood.

I dreamed every day about getting out�

About holding the hand of a beautiful woman like you.

And you think I want to hurt you?

You haven't got a clue.

[mumbles softly]

Jamal, I'm� I'm sorry.

I� I suppose it is very difficult to change

when people only want to see what they want to see.

And some of us haven't been raised to see very much.

Maybe you can help me.

Maybe.

Want to finish your artichoke? [chuckles]

Hey�

Here's to seeing beyond appearances.

I'll bet you got some wild tattoos.

[coughs]

- [sighs] Kim, Kim! Kim! - What's wrong?

Whitley is in there having a romantic dinner with Jamal.

- Aw! - Damn, she's fast! Yeah, yeah!

- Jamal just got out of prison. - What?

- Prison? For what? - Yes.

See, that's the thing,

I write so many felons, I can't keep them straight.

[Kim squeals]

[both] Whitley.

Honey� It's locked!

- No! Whitley! Open this door! - Whitley! Whitley!

You open this�

Pardon me. [chuckles nervously]

- Can I talk to you for a minute? - [Whitley] What?

This isn't a good time, Kimberly.

- He's an ex-con. - [whispers] He just got out of prison.

- I know that. - [Kim] Oh, she knows that.

Do you think it's safe to have a criminal working in this dorm?

What I think is criminal

is the way society won't see him for who he is�

A wounded creature with the heart of a lion and the soul of an angel.

- This is not Beauty and the Beast. - [Freddie] Thank you.

[clears throat]

- Whitley� What was he in for? - Yeah.

- Armed robbery. - [all exclaiming]

Armed robbery!

It was society that put that gun in his hand, Kimberly.

Was society driving a getaway car?

How dare you talk that way in front of Jamal.

Maybe I'd better leave.

- Ha, maybe you should. - Maybe you should.

And you too.

How dare you!

I don't want to cause more trouble.

Jamal, I certainly hope you'll be reporting to work tomorrow morning.

Thanks.

Good night.

This is insane, Whitley.

Well, I don't know. Maybe not.

I mean, he didn't have the same chances we did.

He came from the streets.

Well, so did I. I didn't end up in prison.

Yes, but you are not a Black man.

Does anyone in this room read?

In some neighborhoods little boys grow up wanting to be inmates

like their daddies. That's all they ever see.

Prison, the Black man's university.

Hey, y'all, speaking of Black men I just ran into that very fine Jamal.

I say, let's talk about him. [giggles]

We are, Gina. Jamal just got out of prison.

Ooh, honey-boom. I just got over him.

Well, that's a very charitable attitude.

Whitley, now you know my dad was shot by a guy on parole.

Kimberly, it wasn't this guy.

We can't make Jamal pay for someone else's crime.

Is this about justice for all or booty for you?

You know, that is a good question.

- Ooh! - Hey, Gina.

Got a little chilly in here, huh?

- I'm used to that. - [clears throat]

- Want to know something? - Uh.

The first letter I ever got from my father

was from jail.

So you hang in there.

Hey, Lena, maybe we can get together sometime and talk�

You know, just� talk.

Uh, well, you know,

I got a real busy schedule and� With school and stuff.

[hesitating] Yeah, I know.

But you take care.

Hey, Freddie, what's up?

Hey, man. [chuckles] I, uh� I thought this might help you.

It's a self-healing coloring book.

Now, you draw a picture of your wounded inner child

and through finger-painting, you explore your primal rage.

Huh?

- Yeah. - Peace, man.

- Good morning. - Good morning.

I thought you might like a cup of coffee.

- Thank you. - I put cream and sugar in it already.

Mmm.

How's it going today?

Oh, I can deal with the silent treatment. I've been in solitary.

[Whitley chuckles]

So, what are you doing tonight?

Gonna rob a liquor store.

[laughs]

- Can I come? - [laughing]

I have, um, two free passes to a movie.

Hey, I can afford that.

It's a double bill.

Splendor In the Grass with Warren Beatty

and The Wild One with Marlon Brando.

I'll see you at 7:00.

Okay.

Hey, Ronald, what's up?

Dwayne, quick, put your computer in here.

What?

Boy, I don't have time. He's going to be back any minute.

- Who? - Jamal. He's an ex-con.

He just got out of prison.

Didn't you hear what I just said? The man is a crook.

Man, you were giving him $2.50 an hour and you're calling him the crook? [scoffs]

Dwayne, what do you think he's got in this bag?

Ooh, this is heavy.

Hey, Ron, put his bag down, man.

Dwayne, he was in for armed robbery.

Maybe there's a gun in here.

Maybe there's an arm in here.

Listen to you. Doesn't a brother deserve a chance to turn his life around?

Well, Whitley certainly seemed to think so.

Whitley?

Oh, yeah�

Jamal was at her place last night getting a whole lot of understanding.

Whitley was alone with the ex-con?

With a man that was locked up for seven long, lonely years.

- Give me this bag, will ya? - That's what I'm telling you.

[knock at door]

Oh. Mmm.

Hey�

- Uh, you ready? - Yeah. Let's ride, daddy.

Uh, ride what?

Your Harley.

I don't have a Harley.

Oh.

Well, never mind. We'll take the Benz.

I thought we could stop by the tattoo parlor after the movie.

Whitley, I don't think you'd want to go there.

Oh, no, no, you're wrong.

I want to experience life as you know it.

What do you think about "bad mama"

right there, upper arm?

Vroom! Vroom! Ha!

All right, hold it right there, man.

- Yo, yo! - Dwayne! How dare you?

No, we're here to make a citizen's arrest.

It's my ex-boyfriend. I'm so sorry.

No, Jamal is sorry, or whoever he is.

Explain yourself, Dwayne.

[Dwayne] I will, if he will.

Yeah, and let's start with this.

What you doing with my bag?

No, the question is what are you doing with all this loot?

I am talking about an expensive camera, high-end tape recorder,

and a whole lot of cash.

If I find my hot curlers in there, I'mma go off.

Gina.

No, she's just saying what you're all thinking.

Jamal, tell me that you didn't do this.

Would you believe me if I did?

Whitley?

- Where you going? Hey, yo! - These things are mine.

They belong to me.

Hey, that's not how it works in the real world, unless you're�

Lionel Walker.

- Jamal! - I'm not an ex-con.

- I'm a journalist for The Capital Monitor. - [Dwayne] Oh.

- What? - Sure you are.

I came to Hillman to explore attitudes about ex-cons.

But I wrote you letters in the prison.

I had an arrangement with the warden.

Here's my press pass, here's my byline.

I came to Hillman because you are the future.

Not everybody gets your chance.

Almost one in every four Black men are either in prison or on parole

and their future depends on how we treat them when they get out.

You used us. This� this is exploitation.

- Oh, really? - Yeah.

Mr. $2.50 an hour?

Well, that wasn't because you were a convict.

That's because you were stupid.

My brother, I admire what you're doing but not the way you're doing it.

Next time, go to Morehouse with that.

At least at Morehouse they wouldn't rifle through my stuff the way you did.

Oh, Dwayne, what I am hearing.

I hope this little incident

makes all of you take a hard look at your bourgeois hypocritical souls.

You know, Freddie, you talk a good game,

but you didn't want me here any more than anybody else,

then you tried to ease your conscience by giving me a coloring book.

- [students muttering, laughing] - What?

Well, do you think an article in a newspaper can really change things?

It's a start. We can start to fight the attitudes your father has to face.

Girl, your daddy a jailbird?

Wait a minute. That was not your business to tell,

Mr. Jamal/Lionel, or whatever your name may be.

Hey, what are you afraid of? They gon' turn on you?

I was trying to help the brothers.

And what about the sisters?

Yeah, man. What about the way you treated Whitley?

Don't you even go there with me.

Listen, um, I just want to say I still have very strong views about this.

At least you have the courage of your convictions.

[sighs]

- [knock on door] - Whitley.

I'm sorry. I hope you're not mad.

No, I'm not mad.

You've done a lot of good by coming to Hillman.

You made a lot of people really think.

Hey�

Maybe we can discuss this over dinner.

I know this great little French restaurant.

They serve this wonderful artichoke supreme in a sauce de beurre.

[softly] Oh.

Uh, you have to change your outfit.

That won't be necessary.

Okay. Let's go.

You know, I'm glad you agree with me.

That the end does justify the means.

It was mean, Jamal.

And this is the end.

[closing theme music playing]

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