It was close to midnight on a Thursday. I had just finished my shift at the restaurant. Sweaty and tired after a long day at work, I had just changed out of my uniform, put on a warm jacket, and walked out in the crisp fall weather. There were not a lot of people out in the dimly lit streets. The outdoor area of the conjoining bar was empty, but a group of around 8 guys was standing by the corner talking. I remembered them from earlier in the evening. They had been out celebrating something and wanted me to talk to them, which I had done since I had the time. One of them had seemed a little more to talk to me eager than the rest, but I had pretended not to notice so I would not have to deal with the situation.
I quickly walked in the opposite direction of the group, towards the subway, hoping they would not recognize me. It took a couple of minutes before I realized they were following me. Was I the one they had been waiting for? I sped up, testing to see what they would do. But they did the same. I could hear them getting closer and feel my stress levels rising. What did they want from me? And would I be able to fight back? We got closer to the subway. More people were out in the streets. But I did not feel safer. All I wanted to do was run. I walked even faster. As fast as I could without running. I got to the subway and saw a train approaching the station. That was when I ran. I jumped on the train and lost the guys in the chaos. I sat down trying to catch my breath. Then came the anger. How were they allowed to make me so scared? Do they not know the power they possess over women?
Through writing the two different monologues for my first film, I got to explore my curiosities about human behavior further and create the two perspectives through the voiceovers. From there I became curious about other ways of playing with perspectives and how I could incorporate that into my artistic research. I decided to write my next script based on a night I was followed home after work by a group of men and use the perspectives to try and understand the guys’ side of the story while having them understand mine. I wanted to explore the obliviousness in search of a logical explanation for the behavior and examine where the lack of understanding of the woman’s fear comes from.
Below is my memory of the stalking I experienced next to an excerpt from the stalking in the script.
Sarah keeps looking for the keys but can't find them. She squats down and puts the purse on the ground to look more carefully.
She hears some glass bottles being kicked over and then voices getting lower when she finally finds the keys. As she gets up she sees that the group have started walking towards her. Sarah locks the door and grabs the handle to make sure it's locked before walking in the opposite direction.
Pete
(Yelling to Sarah)
Hey bartender! My friend thinks you're hot!
The group starts laughing and she can hear one of them whispering as she keeps walking and looking straight ahead.
MARCUS
(Whispers to Pete)
Hey! Be cool!
Sarah puts the keys in-between her fingers and makes a fist. Then, she makes sure the keys are angled correctly by moving them back and forth a little.
Tom
(Whispers)
She's really hot. You sure you don't want her?
Pete
If you don't want her, I'll take her.
They laugh. The group is getting closer, so Sarah speeds up.
Tom
(Yelling to Sarah)
Why are you walking so fast? We just want to talk to you.
Sarah starts breathing faster. Her knuckles are turning white.
Nick
(Yelling to Sarah)
Yeah, slow down!
The guys are whispering. Sarah quickly turns a corner. She turns around towards the corner and holds the fist with the keys up in front of her. The group rounds the corner and she jerks the fist forward towards them.
SARAH
Get back!
