Stay by Rihanna plays.
It’s abhorrent to God.
What’s abhorrent?
Lacey’s celibacy.
She was saving herself for marriage. With fervent adoration for God. …Passionately pursuing purity and honor. And Lacey is profoundly sexual and beautiful inside and out.
Imagine if Joe Kennedy Jr. was as…fervent about honoring God in that way. It’s…deeply shocking…even as a concept.
That’s what Lacey actually did.
Not because she was queer.
Not because she was stupid.
Not because she was…weird.
Because she worships Christ.
“It was…breathtakingly beautiful.” says Joe Kennedy Jr. himself. He’s dead. …He wants to torture Jack. “YOU ruined it!” he yells at his younger brother. Then he collapses into tears. “But so did I!”
Ted panics.
The song plays on.
Maybe Lacey is with Lem. But Lem didn’t even build a Maginot Line. And Lacey doesn’t feel loved…even if she is. Because of the liberals. Because of the living Kennedy family. Because of the living Illuminati. Because of stupid lie Lem told…however poorly.
“You didn’t love Jack your entire life.” says Lacey.
“No. I didn’t!” says Lem.
“But that’s what you said!” says Lacey.
It’s not much of a life you’re living. It’s not just something you take…it’s given.
“But I wasn’t there.” says Lacey.
“And I didn’t hold on. Once I realized you weren’t alive.” says Lem to Lacey. “I just wanted to die.”
“But you were given Jack’s dick. And…yet you’re recorded as loving him your whole life.” says Lacey.
“You know what this is!” yells Lem at Lacey.
“What is it?!?” she restrains herself to ask.
“You…want Michael!” says Lem.
Joe Kennedy Jr. in defiance of his own evil sings the song. It’s genuinely beautiful.
Michael Rockefeller laughs.
“She wants Michael not Lemoyne? What about Kennedy?” he says laughing. “Ken? No?” He scoffs in laughter. “Lem, you’re still making a fool of yourself!”
“No. It’s not that I want Micheal. …I want love.” says Lacey.
Stay starts over.
Jack bitterly works with the Illuminati. He has yet to be good? He’s…Hellishly jealous of Lacey?
“But why would Jack be jealous of Lacey?” asks Michael plaintively.
“But you’d not have cried at all if I loved you…and I died.” says Joe to Lacey.
“You know why? Right?!” asks Lacey.
He thinks. “That was a dumb question, I just posed. I do. …You’re right. …But I’m not that grand, Lacey.”
“Well…she is.” says Thomas Banks.
And at that Joe wants to annihilate the Earth.
“I had no business trying to be an artist!” says Lem bitterly. “You’re right, Lacey. He’s not a serious artist. It was…meant to be offensive.”
“Isn’t that obvious!?!” says Lacey.
Zelda cringes.
“It would be to me too!” says F. Scott Fitzgerald. He agrees with Lacey. He too is lost.
“It’s subtle!” says Harold Loeb.
“No! That’s childish!” says Lacey.
“She’s right!! It’s just an adult observation she’s making.” says Hemingway.
“So. Why?!?” asks Lacey. “Because possibly…I can’t stand it!” she says to Lem. “You…created…my Hell!”
“And that’s why…the following…has…to be written?” ponders Michael Rockefeller. “You can’t bear your wife on her birthday, Lem. She doesn’t have…a penis.” He laughs. Cries. “She never has had one. …You became a vile man. You poor thing.”
“It doesn’t even matter if Jack is almost pure evil.“ says Lem. “You don’t want to sleep with anyone but me. Do you?” he asks Lacey.
“No! Of course not!” she says. She thinks. “As in, no. I don’t want to.”
“Lem…it’s far too pathetic.” says Michael. “And yet she endures. …But she needs love.” He thinks. “Lem…they’re all monkeys. Useless to Lacey. …Or her children. …Lem…she’s alone. Not just lonely. …What foul lie makes you doubt her? It’s…disgusting.”
“I don’t think I’m good looking enough.” says Lem. “I made dumb observations. But…I can say that. And…admit I was a fool. So she hopes I’m smart enough. …But…I’m still so ugly.”
“You’re not ugly.” says Britney Spears to Lem whether she’s alive or dead.
“But I don’t look like Joe.” says Lem. “I didn’t…fly planes like Elliott either.”
“No. But…that’s weird.” says Britney.
“How weird?” asks Lem.
“Perverse. It’s perverse!” says Britney.
Lem understands. He’s…seeing Britney as old money.
“Yeah. I did that. It’s a veil. Not a wall.” she says. She smiles. Cries slightly.
“Our family wasn’t necessarily rich in England.” says Lem’s mother.
Lem thinks. “Why Michael?”
Stay plays.
Michael Lemoyne Kennedy stares at the tree that killed him. “If you dare.” he says to the tree. But…it’s…a tree. So it doesn’t move.
“Michael slept with a 14 year old.” says Britney to Lem.
“I didn’t. But…he actually did.” says Lem, breaking.
“What if Lacey needed you to love her at 14? You couldn’t have. …And that’s good. …But…her life isn’t…funny.” says Britney. “She barely wanted to live at 14.” She thinks. “She’s 40.”
“We tortured Britney. We tortured Marilyn. We probably killed Grace Kelly… We tortured Lana Turner? …We torture Lacey. …Zelda was driven insane! …We are evil to truly rare beauties. We HATE them. …We destroy their lives.” says an American woman in reflection.
Stay by Rihanna plays.
“If you can’t respect womanhood. We’re stealing Father’s Day. You don’t want it anyway?” says Lacey.
“Fatherhood is given.” says Joe Kennedy Jr..
“You’re a very sexy man.” Michael Rockefeller says to Lem. “You just don’t understand what’s sexy about men.”
“I saw it!” admits JFK.
“And you used and abused that insight.” says Britney Spears to JFK.
“I had a right to!!” yells JFK.
“Why?!?” bites Britney.
“I’m a victim.” JFK says pitifully.
“Because you’re sick??” asks Joe Jr. mockingly.
“No! That’s not why. …I’m a heroic man in that regard, Joe! …No. I’m…just…always…so…fragile and innocent. Like a sad…but very beautiful girl.” says JFK seriously with a sigh.
Michael Rockefeller erupts in laughter.
“That’s not who you are!” says Britney in shock.
“It’s secret. Within me! ..And that’s what made Kem, Kem.” says JFK.
“That’s insane.” says Joe Jr..
Lem fights off having a seizure.
“You’re non-binary??” Britney asks JFK.
He thinks. “I’m a woman!” he says.
“Really??” asks Britney.
Jack turns into a female version of himself. He’s not that pretty. He’s a…six? A six with fairly pretty eyes and a decent nose. Great hair. A hideous body. And the rest is average.
He looks at himself in the mirror.
“This isn’t me! And if it is…Lem is madly in love with me!!!!” he says with dreamy eyes.
“You’re wife is very average. Or do you prefer Jack?” asks Lem’s father.
“You’re a cheater. Or you aren’t.” says Britney to Lem before she walks off dramatically.
“Why don’t you go on a date to the movies with the love of your entire life.” Lacey says to Lem.
He looks at Lacey in shock. Smiles inside.
Suddenly him and Jackie Kennedy (formally JFK) are on a date.
Man In Black by Johnny Cash plays.
It’s a movie theatre. Jackie smiles. Bats her eyes.
“Say reckless lies to me, Baby!” says Jack chewing gum crassly. He giggles annoyingly through his nose. He looks certain Lem wants him desperately.
Suspicious Minds by Evil plays next.
Lem gets out of his seat and walks over to the row of seats across the aisle.
Jackie looks sad. She cries. Lem wants to leave the theater but can’t.
Thankfully the movie starts.
Transatlanticism by Death Cab For Cutie plays.
A close-up of Michael Rockefeller’s face in the ocean can be seen on screen. He rests his face on his arms on a log. His vivid blue eyes and wet lashes flicker, lit by rays of sunlight. He stares at an island too far into the distance.
The song becomes eerie.
The camera pans out to show the vast sea. Michael eventually disappears to the naked human eye.
“Come on!” sings Death Cab For Cutie.
It…is…terrifying.
The whole song finishes.
In silence we see Micheal’s face again.
Michael has a decision to make. Swim to shore or commit suicide. It’s the same distance back to the overturned boat.
Michael honors God and tries to swim.
Jackie who has been assuming (formally he’s) she’s the star in the film somehow…suddenly feels uneasy. She shifts in her seat.
Jackie swims? No…Michael swims holding a log.
The middle of A & W by Lana Del Rey plays.
Time darts forward and Michael almost goes unconscious. He slips into the ocean.
But he miraculously floats back up to the surface as he has the mental wherewithal to hold his breath as he passes out. He floats for a while. Then…realizing how close he is to shore he struggles valiantly towards the Asmats.
Once at the shore, in near silence, he rejoices. He hears an approaching group of men and assumes the best until he hears their sounds of war. He’s studied it. He knows they’re hostile.
It confuses him. But he wonders if he can sneak further onto shore without their permission or assistance.
Our False Fire On Shore by Cemeteries politely plays half way through, in the background.
The sound of water plays. The sound…of birds.
“You’re not one of us.” says Lady Duff in the 1920’s to the screen. It’s a startlingly and razor sharp cut.
Then the screen returns back to Michael. An arrow pierces him in the back. It’s shocking.
He doesn’t die easily. But he refuses to react. Instead he controls himself in excruciating conscious pain.
Jackie, riveted, watches with (formerly his) her mouth hanging open.
The Asmats watch for a second. Then they throw three more times. Finally through his brain and heart. He dies slowly, but finally unconscious.
Girl Of The Year by Beach House plays.
The screen goes pitch black. But the music vividly plays.
Lem cries. Closes his eyes.
Suddenly we are shown the sea.
Silence.
At first it’s just the water. Then the overturned boat floats into view. From the middle right.
A rescue operation comes into view next. In silence. The boat is silently rescued. We see the men look overjoyed. Then we see them look upset when Michael is no where to be seen.
The very end of Empty Camps by Cemeteries plays as one rescuer realizes and shows us using his face that Michael is likely dead. Then it cuts to black.
Ponchartrain by Jelly Roll Morton plays next.
F. Scott Fitzgerald starts to narrate. It’s fascinating to hear his voice.
“Back in 1963 two years after the death of Michael Rockefeller however he may have died. The man got shot.” says Scott.
The famous footage of JFK plays.
“This time with a gun!” says Scott.
The footage shows.
“Back and to the left! Back and to the left! Back and to the left! Back and to the left! Back and to the left! …Back…and to the left.” says Scott.
“That’s right! Four sure, massur!” suddenly says an aging, but widely grinning, black slave on screen in the 1920’s. In color.
A flapper dances to Sugar Foot Stomp by King Oliver.
Then Michael and Lacey are in bed. He rests on top of her. They’re tenderly, elegantly and sublimely making love in 2022.
The song plays but it cuts back to 1962. Jack tries to kiss Lem in the Oval Office. Lem closers his eyes tenderly. Smiles sweetly in anticipation. But once he smells Jack he almost vomits in his mouth. As always. He takes a deep breath. Jack is into it. He tries to kiss Lem.
Their lips touch. And Lem looks ready to cry. Jack gets increasingly aroused. He is hurt and shows no emotion when Lem laughs it off and backs away. Waves Jack off.
“We don’t have to kiss.” says JFK matter-of-factly.
“I’m sorry. I guess…I don’t like kissing.” says Lem. Lem sits down on a plush sofa.
Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Rey plays.
Jack walks over to his desk and shoots himself with something. In the wrist. Then he walks off.
Jackie Kennedy of the Bouvier family walks in. Kisses JFK lovingly. Lem, watching, wants to kill himself.
“Lem decided he wasn’t much of a woman. He wasn’t much of a man either though. …And he couldn’t figure out what it was about that scene that was so heartbreaking to him. …Because he just could’ve kissed Jack and yet he didn’t want to. Jackie?! How could it possibly be Jackie? Jackie is a woman and Lem thought he was gay. …How could he possibly be so heartbroken over a woman kissing a man who wasn’t him?!?” narrates Scott.
Lem sighed in severe, supreme discontent.
“He just presses that little button on his desk and suddenly she’s here waiting for him for kisses! …Throwing her arms around his neck!” says Scott in imitation of Lem. “That fucking…stupid whore!”
Then Lem started lusting about having sex with a dark haired woman. Or a blond? …Jackie came to mind. …He was a good man.
“No! One mustn’t lust after another man’s wife, especially when you have given him the impression of profound friendship.” says Scott in imitation of Lem’s thoughts.
Holiday House plays.
Lacey is at The Met. Wearing a lovely, elegant strapless dress. In 2005. She’s 21 going on 22. She’s fascinated by Asmat art. She’s majoring in art history in New York City.
The screen goes black. Then shifts back to Michael at the overturned boat.
“You can’t die! …Look…I don’t think I told you this but we’re lucky.” He looks serious. “Michael, we’ve been very lucky. …I think we should just keep being lucky and just stay here. …What’s the worst that could happen? You drown on your way back or we drown here together. Please don’t let me die alone.“ the man desperately says to Michael.
So Michael cries. “Fine! I could make it! …But fine!”
They’re rescued.
The song plays. In a suit, Michael walks forward and rests his hands on Lacey’s stunning bare shoulders. And at that instant she’s completely seduced for the rest of her life.
“Lem watches as on screen Michael whispers things in Lacey‘s ear… presumably about Asmat art.” says Scott. “In shock Lacey listens, and then, in a rather rare moment, allows herself intellectual vulnerability. She questions him about the nature of the Asmat people like where they live, what they eat, and then she turns to him and finally looks him in the face.”
“I’m not just fascinated by you. I’m genuinely fascinated by the Asmats.“ she says to Michael.
“They almost kiss.” says Scott.
“But I suppose that’s a rather morbid thing isn’t it? I’m sorry. Maybe I’m a little morbid.“ says Lacey.
“And at that Michael decides to kiss her.” says Scott. “It’s Lacey‘s first serious kiss and the first time she’s ever been kissed in public, certainly. …It lasts for a while because he’s Michael Rockefeller and it’s his exhibit and people don’t see what he’s doing as particularly peculiar or unusual. Tender is the night, indeed.”
The screen goes black. Holiday House plays louder as it finally ends.
When the final notes play. The room is silent. Then you hear Lacey’s sexual moaning briefly.
“‘I now pronounce you man and wife!’ says a priest on screen in what is a very private ceremony in an Episcopalian church in Manhattan that has been frequented by the upper class of New York since it was built.” says Scott.
The screen turns to show a blissfully happy Michael and Lacey. They kiss.
Then the film shows Lem sitting in the Oval Office contemplating being gay as he struggles not to want to kill himself. He winces in pain even as no one can see him. He closes his eyes in suffering. Rubs his forehead with his palm.
He looks ready to scream. He throws an apple across the room in a fit.
Dear To Me by Electric Guest plays.
“I am going to wager the entirety of US security and monetary policy-basically every association that I have of any importance on this bitch being a total fucking piece of shit.” says Mr. Blue high on coke to his mistress in his office late at night.
“I feel like given her parents abuse of her and their repressive spirituality that that’s probably a pretty safe assumption I mean I can’t imagine how screwed-up she must be for counselors not to even want to you know bother with her but man, you’re cruel!’” says his cool lesbian friend. She’s smoking a joint.
“Yeah!! I never lose! You know that.” laughs Mr. Blue.
“I know!” says Batgirl III lushly.
They feel on top of the world.
“And that that the entire illuminati shakes their asses for the pleasure of Mr. Blue and his mistress Batgirl III.” says Michael Rockefeller.
The Look by Metronomy plays.
“Because I didn’t stay at the catamaran. I left to save another man’s life. I but I died in the process. And I’m dead now, even as I say this to you.” says Michael Rockefeller.
On screen JFK shakes his ass in a suit. Tennessee Williams hoots and hollers.
“The question I posed to you is this: can you imagine the man you saw who JFK tried to kiss, the man who closed his eyes to try to enjoy himself but couldn’t quite manage it… married to the woman who married me? No, you can’t. No, you can’t? …Why? Is it because she’s my wife and you don’t lust after another man’s wife? Do you know if that’s true? Maybe she’s not my wife because maybe there’s no marriage in Heaven. I am dead. And that man that you saw, Lem Billings, he’s dead too.” says Michael.
JFK shakes his butt in the Oval Office in a private show for an unknown gay man.
Then the film shows Batgirl III shaking her ass in Mr. Blue’s office.
“Shake that thang, Batgurl! says Mr. Blue in a sassy voice.
Intermission appears onscreen.
Lem leaves. He’s allowed to.
And so…alone in a movie theater on a Father’s Day afternoon…JFK watches the remainder of the film alone. Lem refused to speak to him or even be near him. And so JFK chose to return to a male, because that’s what he is.
Of course…the second half of the film is a dry, very detailed and intellectual film about the Asmats. Turns out the title of the film is, In Love. It’s…all interrelated.
More later.
Resting on a bed strewn with beauty products Lacey learns about the rest of the film with Lem.
Stay plays. For a few seconds…
Michael and Lacey…in an alternate reality…make love in the 1960’s. In New York City.
It’s the end of the film. Almost as if one simply changed the channel…
Lacey…is a sad…30-something looking for a husband. Her aunt suggests New York. Lauren Bacall says she knows someone! Lacey and Lauren are friends.
“No, he’s nice!!! …Don’t let his last name scare you!” says Lauren over lunch with Lacey.
Opus 55 by Dustin O’Halloran plays.
Lacey quickly meets with Michael at his penthouse and then they go to his waiting car.
“I want to wow you.” says Michael.
Lacey looks apprehensive.
“Have you ever been married?” asks Michael suddenly, reading her face.
“No.” she says.
“I was shortly. It was…sad.” he says. Their eyes meet.
“I’m sorry!” says Lacey.
He grins. He pulls out a diamond ring.
“Will you marry me?” he asks.
“Yes.” says Lacey.
They smile at each other.
“Why did you take so long?” asks Lacey.
“Maybe to give some other poor fool a chance.” says Michael.
“But we seem so…alike.” says Lacey. “How…odd.”
“Do you want kids?” asks Michael.
“Do you?” asks Lacey.
“Three!” says Michael.
“I’ll try.” says Lacey.
They collect themselves.
“Oh I suppose I should look at the ring.” says Lacey.
“Tonight, I want you naked.” says Michael as Lacey slips on her ring.
She stares at the ring. “You’re obsessed with me.” she says.
“I asked Lauren to introduce us.” he says.
“Why?!” asks Lacey.
“Who else? …Look…I research things.” he says.
“So do I.” says Lacey. “But why me? I’m practically an old maid.”
“You’re beautiful.” he says. “You’re a rare beauty. …And it’s…fascinating to watch you. But I don’t just want to watch you.”
“I’m not that fascinating!” says Lacey. “Am I?”
“No, you are. …I’m not scaring you am I?” he asks.
“No. Do you love me?” she asks.
He smiles. “Yes! …Yes.”
Then, inching forward, she tries to fall into his arms.
Yachts by Coco, Steel & Lovebomb plays.
He holds her.
“I worry we’re not actually meant to be together for eternity. But I’m terrified to live the rest of my life without you.” says Michael.
She pulls him closer like a warm blanket. “I need you too. I’m incredibly lonely.”
The song cuts off…and Glory Box plays.
“You know I love you.” Michael says.
“Am I yours or do I disappear?” asks Lacey.
“If no one else wants you…I’m sn idiot.” says Michael nibbling on her ear.
“Then fix it.” says Lacey. “I’m exhausted, lover.”
“Mm. Let’s get married.” says Michael.
“Quickly. I’m too exhausted.” says Lacey.
“Smart! …We honor Christ…and make the wedding a piece of cake.” says Michael.
“Oh! That’s your idea! You’re the smart one!” says Lacey.
“Do you love me?” asks Michael.
“Yes. But we should be careful.” says Lacey. “And I know we can be.”
“Good golly! You’re right. We don’t want to hurt each other. But…let’s worry about that later.” says Michael.
Smoke & Mirrors by RJD2 plays.
They married.
And to them it was the most sane thing they ever did. And they knew no one else would understand.
Or would they?
“Can you understand? Can you understand? Why? Can you really understand why? Tell me…what it means to be in love.” saF. Scott Fitzgerald.
The credits roll.
Sunday by DJ Day plays.
Lem thinks.
“I get it. You’re just a woman.” says Lem. “And I seem like I’ve been expecting you to be a man.”
“So now what?!” asks Michael.
“I’m violently shaking with rage.” says Lem seriously.
“Yeah right!” says Lacey.
“Lem…you set yourself up.” explains Michael.
“Then…I have treat you like you’re just another man. …Or do I?” says Lem. “No, that’s not it.” He thinks. “Yes! …My ideal life was far different from my actual life. I do understand. I do.” he says.
More later.
Keen to Cross the Pond 