All language subtitles for An Englishman in New York (2009)

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[music playing]

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER):
I have not been

one for grabbing
life by the throat,

for standing up and
demanding my say.

But I did at least lean
forward in my chair from time

to time to remind fate
that I was still here.

In the hope, perhaps, that she
would look around, point at me

and say "Crisp, your turn."

Then, of course,
one day, she did.

SHOW HOST: His extraordinary
story, "The Naked Civil

Servant," which was
broadcast last night,

has been described
as the triumph

of the resolute individual
against the faceless multitude.

ANNOUNCER: He is
Mr. Quentin Crisp.

[applause]

As a young man, you paraded
the streets of London,

your hair dyed, nails
painted, face made-up,

and you were badly
beaten up for this.

Why did you dress
like that when you

knew it would lead to beatings?

To begin with, I was
merely being who I was,

and for that alone,
I was beaten.

So I started to wear makeup
because it was necessary for me

to live out my life,
getting up, going to work,

buying food, going home again.

So that someone could
be seen to be homosexual

and to be a part of life.

SHOW HOST: So you were,
uh, you on a crusade.

"This is who I am,
get used to it."

If you like, yes.

Did you ever hit back?

Never.

Because that would've
been like reducing

yourself to their level.

No, because if I had,
they would've killed me.

[laughter]

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): In fact,
all my new-found celebrity

meant was that now
my tormentors had

a name to put to their demon.

Oh yes?

MAN (ON PHONE): Is
this Quentin Crisp?

Yes.

MAN (ON PHONE):
You're a fucking pouf.

I'm going to smash
your bloody face in.

You wish to make
an appointment?

MAN (ON PHONE): What?

I have some time
on Tuesday afternoon

if that is convenient for you.

MAN (ON PHONE):You're
disgusting.

Some people in New
York, they've just

shown Civil Servant on cable.

They want you to go over there
for a moment, do a stage,

and uh, talk.

Talk?

What about?

You, life the
secret of happiness.

But it is quite a long way.

You want to do it?

[music playing]

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): The moment
I saw Manhattan, I wanted it.

It was more like the movies
than I had ever dreamed.

[music playing]

But did Manhattan want me?

WOMAN: Oh, my, my, my.

You got it all on today, honey.

Yes, I have, haven't I.

[music playing]

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): The streets
of New York are the closest

thing to heaven on earth.

Here you are not scurrying
from one place to another

as fast as your
feet will carry you.

You are on display.

Without her outcasts,
the metropolis would

be a very dull place indeed.

[music playing]

To succeed in heaven, you
must avoid the shadows.

If the sunny side of the street
is full, walk in the road.

And on no account, learn the
language The more English

you sound, the more likely
you are to be believed.

[applause]

Welcome to what I would
describe as a consultation

with a doctor who is
more ill than you are.

What would you be like if there
was nobody else in the world?

Who would you be if
the know any opinion

that mattered was yours?

Because if you want to be truly
happy, you must be that person.

You must search inside yourself
for what is uniquely you.

When you find it, polish it,
until it becomes your style.

It's no good being a
pig farmer for 30 years,

looking back and saying I was
meant to be a ballet dancer.

By that time, pigs
are your style.

I'm Connie Clausen, C-L-A-U-
S- E-N. I want to represent you.

You're different.

That's good.

There's a big audience
out there for different.

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): We went in
search of the deviant dollar.

CONNIE: You should
have him on your show.

He wore makeup in
London in the '30s.

They beat him up for it.

In spite of that, he's,
he's actually funny.

No really, he's just great.

I could have him at
your door by 8:00.

RADIO ANNOUNCER: All
right, this is WYNY,

we getting down just
for the fuck of it.

Caller, you're through
to Quentin Crisp.

CALLER (ON PHONE) I've been
trying to get this fly girl

to step with me for months now.

But she just keeps saying no.

Well, if at first
you don't succeed,

perhaps failure is your style.

CALLER (ON PHONE):
Hey, man, common.

That's you told, sucker.

Live five, how you doing?

FEMALE CALLER (ON PHONE): Hi.

Hi.

I just moved to a
new neighborhood.

And the woman next
door is way above me.

She's got nicer clothes,
nicer house, a bigger car.

No, never try to keep
up with the Joneses,

drag them down to your level.

It's cheaper.

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER):
But time was running

out on my brief stay in heaven.

You're not here to work.

No but then, I
don't think I ever

did a day's real
work in England,

and they put up with
me for 73 years.

You've no family
here, no investments.

No.

So why should we let you in?

Well, I am told that the
Constitution allows residency

for unique people who can
fulfill a function that no one

else could possibly perform.

And

I humbly suggest that I
qualify on those grounds.

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): I
became a resident alien.

[music playing]

AUDIENCE MEMBER: How
do you stay sane?

Because balancing the public
you with the private you --

That's easy.

Become the public persona,
erase the private one.

What if your
husband or your kids

don't like your public persona?

Why are you with them if
they don't like who you are?

Leave them.

Yeah, okay but what about --
haven't you ever been in love?

Never.

For people like me,
the dream is to win

and to keep the love of a
great dark man, a real man.

The essence of a real
man is that he does not

fall in love with his own sex.

It's impossible.

This does not prevent
homosexuals from trying.

They pile the makeup on thicker,
they sway more from side

to side.

They camp even
more outrageously.

And the more they do this,
the further the object

of desire backs away, his
hands raised in horror.

That's so much bullshit.

I'm, I'm gay.

I'm a homosexual.

You used to be a pioneer,

and now look at you,
playing to the straights.

It is many years since I
presumed to think that I

represented homosexuality.

Now I represent nothing
more than my puny self.

I'm no longer a pioneer because
my journey has not taken me

deeper and deeper
into the jungle,

but mercifully out into
the common light of day.

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): No.

I will not be nudged into a new
struggle with the human race.

Now that we've finally
met, I love it.

[applause]

[phone ringing]

Oh, sorry.

Hi.

How are you?

No, no, no, no, no I've got it.

I've got it.

Phillip Steele.

CONNIE (ON PHONE):i
represent Quentin Crisp.

You know him?

He's this old gay guy,
and he's extremely witty.

Yeah, no, I know him

Well he wants to
write movie reviews.

I thought your magazine
might be interested.

Yeah, sure.

Yes we would.

Uh, we, we don't
have a lot of money.

Nice talking to you.

No, no, no, no, no, wait.

Um, I'm sure you can
dig into our pockets.

Oh can you?

I'm so pleased.

So will he kind of send us
the reviews he's writing?

He hasn't written
any reviews yet.

You gotta to take
him to the movies,

then he'll write
you some reviews.

Oh.

Okay.

Sure.

QUENTIN: Thank you.

I liked it very much.

Mr. Hoffman is a brave man.

A little different from
the films of your youth.

Well, the films of
my youth were silent.

Men were men and
women were women.

Romance still existed,
precisely because men

were men and women were women.

May I walk you home?

Sadly, I cannot go home.

I've been invited to a party.

Oh, well that sounds like fun.

I know no one there,
but I've been invited,

so I shall attend.

Well, if you want someone to
go with you, I'm not doing much.

Don't you perhaps have a friend
at home, waiting, Mr. Steele?

Oh well, I do live
with my partner, Simon,

but he's uh, um
busy tonight, so.

[music playing]

Live alone.

The continual
presence of another

will cramp your style in
the end Unless of course

that person is someone you
love, then the burden will

be intolerable straight away.

[laughter]

You're still hungry.

I never know when my
next meal may come.

But I'm told that peanuts
are a source of protein,

champagne is good
for the digestion.

I don't shop for food anymore.

I attend every cocktail
party to which I am invited.

This is Mr. Quentin Crisp,
all the way from London.

Hello.

This is Mr. Steele.

Mr. Steele rules
the native magazine

Hi.

Mr. Crisp is a very celebrated
gay rights campaigner.

You're sort of a
gay hero, right?

I don't think that I
could claim to be a hero.

Things must have been really
different when you were young.

They were.

Everything was in black
and white for one thing.

And it was illegal, right?

Being gay?

Profoundly illegal.

Now we're out and proud
and we've got everything.

Gay magazines, gay bars, gay
saunas, gay youth groups.

I'm very glad that I
have lived into an age

where happiness is there for
those who know how to enjoy it.

It must be strange
though, seeing

all these freedoms that
you could only dream about.

I'm sure that had they
existed when I was young,

I wouldn't have had the first
clue what to do with them.

Welcome to the 1980s.

[music playing]

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER):
The problem of sex

between two men is not that
it is dirty or harmful,

but that it is contrived.

For a man and a woman, their
union is taken for granted.

Before two men get into
bed, they must first sit

down and have a board meeting.

The soul doesn't stand a chance.

Hi, Mr. Crisp.

How are you?

Well, Thank you.

You know so many people.

If I have an ambition, it is
to know everyone in the world

before I die.

I'm not doing badly.

All right, E.T.,
what did you think?

It was enchanting.

I pity the little
guy in the suit.

Oh, so do I. To star in the
biggest film of the decade

and nobody will ever know
his face, what use us that?

Are you quite well, Mr. Steele?

You look a little
frayed at the edges.

I'm fine.

I'm fine.

Your little friend --

He upped and walked
out on me again.

Mr. Steele, if
your happiness is

entirely dependent
on another's love,

you will never truly be happy.

If your love is valuable to
you, it is because you give it.

You must be ready to
expect nothing in return.

Once you accept this, your heart
will never be broken again.

But then that's --
You have to countenance

living the rest of
your life without

ever hoping to be loved.

It really isn't as
impossible as it sounds.

Well, we must put an
end to this despair.

My turn to buy you lunch.

So, no?

Perhaps you might show
me one of these places.

Isn't there a bar
called the Anvil?

You want to go to a gay bar?

Uh, I don't think -- they are
quite wild places these days.

Exactly why I should
like to go to one.

See the American male
in all his finery.

Well, okay.

But not the Anvil.

Unless you happen
to have a leather

biker suit and helmet on you.

Oh dear, I left it at home.

These, Quentin are
known as clones.

They're all so clean.

Construction workers
without the actual work.

They don't seem very friendly.

I think, perhaps,
that's my fault.

Well, I don't
think either of us

is actually following
the dress code.

You gotta be a macho man.

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): They
operate on the principle

that in order to find
their great dark man,

they must first look like him.

Since clones are exclusively
attracted to other clones,

it is impossible to rope one
in without first becoming one.

But which of these
is the original?

The archetype?

And how many of them
are merely pretenders?

Clone admirers in disguise?

What is through there?

You don't want to know
what goes on in there.

I think I can imagine.

Guys, you're not exactly
playing ball here.

So why don't you finish
up, and go someplace else.

Okay?

Aren't you angry?

No, not at all.

It's not my thing anyhow.

It's their space,
and they have a right

to do whatever they want.

Their space?

Hardly progress, a more
fashionable ghetto.

Ah Quentin, things
have changed.

Gay men are partying now, after
all the shit they have taken.

You know they're having
the time of their lives.

And, who could blame them?

REPORTER (ON TV) Larry, does
the president have any reaction

to the announcement that
AIDS is now an epidemic

with over 600 cases?

Can you turn that up?

One-third of those have died.

It's being called
the gay plague.

[laughter] No, it is.

I mean, this is serious.

When one out of three people
that get this have died -- Is

the president even aware of it.

Well, I don't have it, do you?

No, I don't.

How do you know?

[laughter]

REPORTER (ON TV):
In other words,

the White House looks
on this as a great joke?

MAN (ON TV) Look, I checked
thoroughly with Dr. Rouge

this morning, and
he's had no, uh, no

patients suffering from
AIDS, or whatever it is.

May we move on.

Shit.

MAN (ON TV): That's enough.

[music playing]

No, beauty is in the
eye of the possessor.

Don't let anyone
tell you otherwise.

Do you like ballet?

I do, but the chief
thrill of the ballet

is the chance that one of the
dancers might break their neck.

Your predictions for 1983?

Things will get worse.

You said that last year.

Try telling me I was wrong.

[laughter]

What, what do you
think about AIDS?

What can be made of it?

Homosexuals are
forever complaining

of one ailment or another.

AIDS is a fad, nothing more.

You look well, Mr. Steele,

You always call me Mr. Steele.

I -- Do you ever call
anybody by their first name?

That would be impolite.

So, in what way is
AIDS a fad, exactly?

To create a hysteria
around this illness

now would play into the
hands of your enemies.

They would say
that homosexuality

and disease go hand in hand.

We must treat this crisis
as a boring triviality.

It will pass.

Well, I hope you're right.

It certainly is a popular fad.

The number of its
adherence grows by the day.

I'm very sorry to hear it.

See, now look, if you could
say that, that, you know,

on reflection you,
you, you recognize

that maybe what you said was --

It is my policy never
to lie, never to defend.

To recant would be to imply
that I do not mean what I say.

And I do.

Well, you should expect
things to get a little rough.

CONNIE: It's not as if
it's particularly funny.

AIDS is a fad I've heard better.

I've had two theaters cancel.

The book tour is becoming
difficult. You have to retract.

I can explain what I said.

They don't print explanations,
they print retractions.

Well, tell you what, we'll
lay off the public speaking

and the TV shows for awhile.

Wouldn't do you any good to
dig yourself in any deeper.

As you wish.

[music playing]

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): Why is
it that people insist I should

suffer, that I should
be lonely, indeed

am lonely did I but know it.

I am not.

Mr. Crisp?

Yes?

Could I join you, do you think?

Of course.

I've been coming to your shows.

I can only apologize.

I am able to give you a
full refund if it will help.

I love the way you
think on the spot.

The questions that
you get asked.

I treat it like
a geography exam.

The night before you
open the atlas at random

and if it says
China, you learn all

there is to say about China.

And then, if the exam
asks about France?

Then your answer begins
France isn't like China.

And you say what
you came to say.

Even if people don't like it?

Quite so.

I'd love you to see my work.

I think you'd understand it.

I'd be delighted.

And then I escaped from
Santa Barbara altogether.

And all that shit.

I haven't seen my
parents in a long time.

No?

No, well, they'd, uh,
interfere with my style.

I'm sorry, it's just,
um, it's really a mess.

House cleaning is a mistake.

Right.

Don't lose your nerve
because after four years

the dust can't get any worse.

How lovely hearing my
worn-out lines spoken

by another, younger voice.

They're a bit, uh, dirty.

Well, with sex and art,
you're stuck with it.

In real life it might go away.

Do you like them?

Yes, I do, very much.

They have an honest,
unpretentious quality to them.

I'm trying to
depict the efforts we

me to come together,
touch each other skin,

become a part of each other.

You see these efforts
as thwarted in some way?

Futile, I guess.

I mean, I think it's
like what you said.

Love is impossible.

I really believe that.

Thank you very much
for the tea, Mr. Angus.

Oh no thank you for coming.

I knew you'd understand.

Yes, your wonderful paintings.

Well,

Would you sit for me sometime?

I'd be delighted.

[music playing]

Hey!

Who the hell do
you think you are?

I'm sorry?

My friend is sick.

His name is Peter.

He has AIDS.

His body is covered in sores,
he's slowly going blind.

I'm very sorry to hear it.

You can give a shit.

AIDS is a fad.

What the fuck does that mean?

You know, if you
weren't so old, fella.

But you don't know Jack, and
you talk that kind of shift,

it makes me so angry.

In which case, I must ensure
that the words that have

upset you are never said again.

Yeah, well, fuck better.

Blimey politeness, like
that makes it all okay.

STEELE: I did warn you.

You made a lot of people angry.

Are you okay?

Yes, thank you.

I hope you don't mind me
exploiting you like this.

This I have come to expect.

I never understand people who
say, I felt I'd been used.

Because think of the people
who've never been used,

life's much harder for them.

You know, I should
be recording this.

Do you mind?

If you like.

Ooh.

Mr. Crisp,

Oh, yes.

Do you think, um, is there
a place in heaven for gays?

Well, heterosexuals
imagine the afterlife

as a world full of light
where there is no party.

If there is an afterlife for
homosexuals, which doesn't seem

very likely, it will be
very poorly lit, and full

of people they can
feel confident they

will never have to meet again.

You heard about the
mandatory screening program?

Yes,

What do you think about it?

Disgraceful.

It'd be good if people
heard you say that.

It wouldn't stop the program.

No, but it wouldn't take much,
you know, to show your support.

Just make a statement.

They're fighting
for their rights.

I don't believe
anyone has rights.

If humanity got what it
deserves, we would starve.

I think I'm going
to put those cinema

reviews on hold for a while.

I understand.

I don't think I feel
like going to the movies

with you, at the moment.

As you wish.

No.

I don't wish.

Why do you say that it
is impossible for you

to find love?

Why?

Because the object of
my desire is a real man.

And the essence of a real man
is that he doesn't fall in love

with somebody of his own sex.

I wouldn't want me.

I don't think it's fair
to expect anybody else to.

I'm sure that's nonsense.

Trust me.

I've looked.

I get my kicks in the back room.

Is that wise?

I like the back room.

They can hardly see your
face, and no one speaks.

No one breaks the spell.

Uh huh.

This ensures that you
will never meet anyone

who might actually love you.

That's okay.

Maybe sad and
lonely is my style.

REPORTER (ON TV): What do
you think of Quentin Crisp?

MAN (ON TV): He doesn't matter.

You see we used to think
he was some kind of hero,

but it turns out that he
was just a bitter old queen.

You know, uh, live
and learn, I guess.

Shot, please.

[music playing]

You want something buddy?

Huh?

Freak.

[music playing]

Hi.

The boys in your paintings --

My great dark men.

There is no great dark man.

Trust me, I looked.

It's not his rejection we have
to fear, its is nonexistence.

We see him invoked everywhere.

But he is a fantasy and
damaging fantasy at that.

You are beautiful, Mr. Angus.

The great dark man is not
the solution to your problem,

he's causing it, and he could
well be the death of you.

I think, well it's
way too late to start

worrying about that now.

I think we should
show your work.

I think we should find
a gallery and show

your work to the world.

That'd be great.

But who'd want to, uh,
who'd want to see my work?

I will find a gallery.

Mm hmm.

It's figurative.

It's very gay, isn't it?

I see.

Kind of nasty, aren't they?

Well, I don't think I
need to see any more.

The market isn't really
looking for message pieces

at the moment.

These are a little bit
preachy, and as I say,

they are very gay.

Works need to exert a
more universal appeal.

So say nothing, and it will
be a nothing that everyone

can feel comfortable with.

If you say so.

Taxi!

Please, allow me to help you --

No, really, that's
fine. that's fine.

Just -- Taxi!

I really need to be
on my own right now.

I'll see you later.

Thank you for
everything you've done.

[music playing]

Hello Quentin.

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): I was at
least able to suggest that Mr.

Steele print some
of Mr. Angus's work

within the pages of the
Christopher Street magazine.

Sure.

These are great.

They did not sell immediately.

Then, on seeing them
in the magazine,

Mr. Hockney purchased two.

This was the permission that
moneyed homosexuals across

the world had been waiting for.

The young artist lived just long
enough to see his work sell.

He died of complications
associated with AIDS.

I wish terribly
that he had lived.

If for no other Reason
than he had finally

found the desire to do so.

[music playing]

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER):
A tenth decade.

And I am still here.

There's a man in my
block who every week

without fail posts a gift to
me through the letter box.

A dead mouse.

Higher wages offerings
every Wednesday

and I cannot leave the house
until he has delivered.

I'm under mouse
arrest until he does.

I think my days as a public
speaker are coming to an end.

Well, you know, good.

You need to start
thinking of yourself now.

I have done little
else all my life.

Really?

Thank you for helping
me with the shopping.

I'll come by later
if you want me to.

That would be very kind.

QUENTIN (VOICEOVER): The
world indulges itself

in relentless change
about my years.

Let it.

More people are
getting what they want.

This is good.

As my voice becomes
less and less relevant,

I have more time
to rest my eyes.

Wake up.

Mr. Crisp, don't
worry I am here.

You're not dead.

The front door was open.

My name is Susanna Ventura.

Most people call
me Penny Arcade.

How do you do?

Do you believe
in postmodernism?

No.

I believe that once there
was modernism, then it ended.

Now there is only
decline and decay.

I think I may have just
fallen in love with you.

Oh dear.

Will you come and
perform with me?

Perform?

On stage.

A theatrical experience.

Left wing, in your face,
words, music, dance, nudity.

Nudity?

You do the words.

And you would-- But
what would I have to say?

Who would want to
listen to me now?

Quentin, you said
things would get worse.

You were so right.

We have lived into
a period where

protest and debate
have given way to buy

and hey let's buy some more.

Take a walk with me?

There used to be a bar on
this street called Ted's.

Now it's like a really high-end
shoe shop, but back in the day

it was this sleazy gay bar
with a great back room.

And, you know, it wouldn't
let Mark-Almond in.

You know Mark-Almond?

The singer.

Yes, I have heard of him.

They wouldn't let him in.

Too much makeup.

And he refused to wipe it off.

Something similar happened
to me in London many long,

dark years ago.

Queer on queer discrimination.

Of course it probably
saved his life.

Saved his life?

There was a disease
going around that was

quite fashionable at the time.

Remember?

Oh yes.

You still like New York.

Why?

Because happiness rains
down from the sky in America.

Even if that were true, this
will only ever be New York,

and New York is not America.

Not yet anyhow,
they're working on it.

Andy Warhol said
that in the future,

everyone will have their
15 minutes of fame.

Yes.

What he should have said
was in the future everyone

will have 15 minutes to find
someone in the room with money.

Buying is more
American than thinking.

Hmm.

There's exciting new phenomenon
known as the pink dollar.

Have you heard?

Gay men don't need
to protest anymore.

Why march for
freedom when you can

buy really cute white undies?

[music playing]

These boys live for the
gym, probably because there's

so many of them still dying.

Everybody's got to look
healthy, healthy, healthy.

Homosexuals have always been
experts in the art of hedonism.

Homosexuals!

You're so queer,
you're not even gay.

You said that the
trouble with gays

was they thought the whole
straight world was one

big party and the
only problem was

that they hadn't been invited.

I remember saying
something like that.

Uh uh.

They're hosting the party now.

Quentin look at them.

To be young and gay now
means your commandments

are written in stone.

Thou shalt go to the gym.

Thou shalt take drugs.

Thou shalt wax off ever
body hair thou hast.

And if you don't, you
get hurled out of heaven.

Cast out by the outcasts.

Sound familiar?

I got you a new pan,
and a tea towel, because,

may I throw this
one away, please?

PENNY: Quentin, speak to us.

What do you want me to say?

Say the first thing that
comes into your head.

I hear from my
spies, that there

is a Democrat president now.

I too, would cheer, but
I worry that Mr. Clinton

might break your hearts.

Ooh.

These days, America
only elects a Democrat

so that her armies can
have a well-earned break

before returning to the fray.

[applause]

I have found a new muse,
discovered a new profession.

Aged curio, the last
of a dying breed.

Doesn't it make you tired?

Do not worry, Mr. Steele.

It won't kill me.

A few performances
every now and then.

No, I suppose not.

And a feature film, in England.

Um, a feature film in England.

How can I refuse?

[music playing]

For you, Orlando, the house
and guns in perpetuity.

But, on one condition.

Do not age.

Do not wither.

Do not grow old.

Even a marriage to oneself
cannot last forever.

My body and I
divorced years ago.

But we're still forced
to live together.

STEELE: You're tired.

No more performances.

Mr. Steele says that I
should stop performing, says

we're fighting old battles.

Okay, fine.

If you feel like, uh, you don't
have anything more to say,

you can go home. and I'll
uh, I'll do the show myself.

[applause]

Quentin, what about death?

Is it possible to
die with style?

Oh, yes.

Once you have decided
you are a stylist,

you must keep your eye
on the ultimate horizon,

your finale, a way of
ending it on your own terms.

Otherwise you'll find yourself
on an iron bedstead in a rented

room with people standing
around you saying

"He can't last much longer."

CAB DRIVER: Watch it asshole!

I wish you'd stop doing that.

Yes, that would not
be a good way to go.

Gunned down by a
policeman, that'd

be dying in style,
shot through the heart

by a member of the NY PD.

You're incredible.

People ask me, what I would
like played at my funeral.

They imagine that we can
look down from the cloud

and count the number of
mourners at our wake.

And we won't.

We'll be dead.

When I die, I don't care what
happens to me or to the world.

Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Oh, what do you want
to do with these?

Invitations, to parties,
picture galleries,

film premieres.

All must be attended to.

Or, you could just
throw them away.

Well, won't they be angry?

No, They won't.

How will I live?

Quentin, you have
over $1 million

in your savings account.

It is possible
to put quite a bit

by if you're prepared to live
on peanuts and champagne.

Come on.

Throw them away.

AmFAR?

AIDS research.

I send them checks because
it has long been an ambition

of mine to meet Miss Taylor.

You send amFAR
thousands of dollars

just so you can meet
Elizabeth Taylor,

and for no other reason.

None at all.

Uh-huh.

I'll mail it for you.

Right.

Please don't bother.

Housework is a mistake.

Well, then let me make
a mistake on your behalf.

Why?

It will only raise two
decades worth of dust.

It's really not healthy
and you're not well anyhow.

He who so famously said that
after the first four years

the dust doesn't get any worse.

He was wrong.

The dust took its awful revenge.

Mr. Steele, why are
you so determined

to save me from myself?

Because, Mr. Crisp,
you are important to me.

How so?

When they showed The Naked
Civil Servant on cable,

I was still in the closet,
living in Hicksville, Kentucky,

and they showed that film and --

That film again.

Yes, yes, yes, that film again.

They showed the
film and I saw what

you did, how you braved them
out, and it changed my life.

I moved to New York,
I started to live.

And that would not
have been possible

if it hadn't been for you.

And this is the filthiest
stove I have ever seen.

Oh.

What is it?

You all right?

What is it?

Amongst other conditions,
I have a hernia,

and I don't think I'm wearing
the support correctly.

Phillip, would --

Sure.

[music playing]

STEELE: Quentin, allow
me to introduce you

to something called broccoli.

You can't go back to England.

Why not?

You have an enlarged heart,
psoriasis all over your body,

and you're in remission from
a bout of prostate cancer

that you're not
telling anyone about.

A transatlantic flight would
not be a good idea right now.

Let me go with you.

That would get me into
trouble with my employers.

You don't need the money!

Seven hours in a
pressurized cabin,

your heart is never
going to take it.

Oh, I get it.

Suicide by airplane, huh?

I don't want you to die.

Why not?

You're too important.

It looks like they're going
to elect another Bush.

I mean you said
things to get worse,

you didn't say
they'd get this bad.

I'm not exactly selling the
idea of continuing to live here,

am I?

No.

Well then fine.

I hope you die on the plane.

That way England will have
to bear all of the expenses,

and have none of the profits.

Wouldn't that be wonderful.

What does Steele say?

Mr. Steele is cozy.

I can't leave you
alone for a second.

I thought you weren't
going to do anymore.

You don't have to
die in England.

You hate England.

Yes, I do.

But there will be
so little fuss.

I'm almost forgotten there.

Here, here there is just the
possibility that someone will

try and rescue me at the last.

Before that, my
American swan song.

I've been invited to do one last
question and answer session.

Where is it?

In a gay club,
in Tampa, Florida.

Do you want to do it?

If only to find out
why they want me to.

Thank you, Phillip.

My pleasure, Dennis.

I haven't been
Dennis since I was 19.

What will I say to them?

The usual, I imagine.

Persistence is your
greatest weapon.

It is in the nature of
barriers that they fall.

Do not seek to become
like your opponents.

You have the burden, and the
great joy, of being outsiders.

Every day you live
is a kind of triumph.

This you should cling onto.

Your should make no effort
to try and join society.

Stay right where you are.

Give your name and serial
number and wait for society

to form itself around you.

Because it most certainly will.

Neither look forward
where that is doubt,

nor backward where
there is regret.

Look inward and ask not if there
is anything outside that you

want, but whether there is
anything inside that you

have not yet unpacked.

[applause]

[music playing]