Justine

After we broke up, Justine, I crashed. I could barely sleep at night.

Justine[1]

Series
Somewhere Out There
Original Broadcast Date
April 7, 1996
Cast
Friederike Frank, Joe Frank
Format
Serious Monologue, 57 minutes
Preceded by:	The River
Followed by:	White Moon

Justine is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series Somewhere Out There. It was originally broadcast on April 7, 1996.

Synopsis

Joe addresses Justine, who has just broken up with him. Joe took it hard. He began driving by her house. He suspects a Mercedes-Benz he sees is her lover's. He bumps his car into it, hoping to set its alarm off, which would draw him out of her house. Eventually he opens her unlocked door, goes in, sees she's alone. He drives to the radio station and calls her. She's happy to hear from him. He goes to her house. She's been sick with flu. She's happy to see him.

23:00: Joe meets Jenny for lunch. She's unhappy with domineering men. She prefers people with character, even if they're older.

32:20: Joe's mother touts The courage to grow by Philip Berman. She's been in the hospital recently.

34:40: Last night Joe dreamt Justine 'had a tattoo on her arm of a dusty road leading to a farmhouse...' and much more detail: a town, a church and its parishioners, railroad tracks, swimming hole, movie theatre...

37:20: Joe remembers another dream: a funeral at a church. He got the driver of the hearse to put the crucifix Joe was carrying in the coffin. Workmen dropped the coffin, which rolled down the hill breaking open at the bottom. The corpse got out, washed himself in the stream. Joe recognized the corpse as himself. Justine shot him repeatedly in the head. They finished the funeral. Joe took his crucifix back, continued on his way to Calvary.

40:50: 'I don't want you anymore. I don't want to have anything to do with you. I don't want to see a picture of you, look at a letter you've written, hear your name spoken, see an article of clothing you wore, listen to music you like, go anyplace where you and I were together. I don't like your friends. I don't like your family.'

41:50: Addressing Justine, Joe says he never really knew her, that she held herself back.

43:40: Joe recalls the time they went sailing with her brother, his cold reception. Joe feared that his attitude had affected hers.

46:20: Joe remembers how much Justine loved nature, their hikes, petting horses they passed.

47:40: Joe remembers that Justine would believe outlandish stories he made up.

48:50: Joe remembers Marla, the telephone psychologist with whom Justine worked. At Justine's instance Joe called Marla when he became seriously ill. She recommended positive thinking, which Joe thought ridiculous. Joe's oncologist saw no correlation between a patient's attitude and his/her outcome. Eventually Marla broke down, left long pleading messages on Justine's answering machine.

51:50: After the breakup, John, one of Justine's friends, called Joe, wanted to see a movie with him. Joe tells him he doesn't want to see her friends. John's unsympathetic.

53:20: 'I don't want you anymore. I don't want to have anything to do with you. I don't want to see a picture of you, look at a letter you've written, hear your name spoken, see an article of clothing you wore, listen to music you like, go anyplace where you and I were together. I don't like your friends. I don't like your family.'

Legacy Synopsis

A second person address to Justine, a former lover. Joe doesn't know why she broke up with him. He can't sleep, begins visiting her house at night. He finds a fancy car parked out front, sneaks into the house to see if she has a new lover. Joe speaks both sides of a dialog with a woman: a kiss is like a souffle, preferring older men. Aging in our society, fairy tales. Age doesn't necessarily bring wisdom: "Would you rather have dinner with Claudia Schiffer as an 80 year old woman, or Margaret Mead as a young woman?" Our obsession with youth, beauty. An older woman (Joe's mother?) describes a great book full of the ideas of fascinating people. Dreams: an absurdly detailed tattoo on Justine's arm; while carrying a cross to Calvary, Joe watches a funeral procession drops a coffin containing Joe's body into a stream and the is resurrected, only to be shot and killed by Justine. Second person address continues: "I don't want you any more," he never knew her, her brother treated him coldly. Loving nature, being gullible and believing absurd stories, blaming people for their illnesses, not wanting to see mutual friends of an ex-lover.

Music

• "Definition" - Kruder and Dorfmeister (from G-Stoned, 1993) | YouTube [Intro]
• "Ponderosa" - Tricky (from Maxinquaye, 1995) | YouTube [34:11]

Additional credits

The original broadcast credits state: "With special guest vocalist Judith Owen. This program was recorded, edited, and mixed by Theo Mondle. Music looping by Bob Carlson. Special thanks to Kristine McKenna and Jennifer Ferro."