"All I Want"

Introduction

This is an episode all about vices. You'll notice that I like to name my Twilight Zone episodes after common phrases like "Where Is Everybody?" and "Monster in the Closet". "All I Want" is no exception. We've all said this to ourselves or in conversation with others. "All I Want is a nice car..." or "All I Want is a better job..." We want these things because we believe it will make our lives better if he had these things. If you had that nice car or a better job your life will finally be complete. Don't lie, we've all been there and that includes me. That was the germ of the idea behind this episode.

Premise

The premise behind this episode was talking about the common phrase "All I Want..." and applying that to the most common thing people want... a partner. "All I Want is a girlfriend." then became the premise. I thought to myself if this is going to be a Twilight Zone episode. There needs to be an element of science fiction or the supernatural here. In the news, I had read an article about oddly enough sex robots. These uncanny valley-looking things were no more than just a fleshlight that talks to you. I just laughed it off. This won't catch on. But, then I thought what of it does? I then came across a post on Quora mentioning the state these sex robots were in now and in the future perhaps they may become so advanced that they look so human you wouldn't be able to tell. That got the gears turning in my head.

Thus, I made the twist-ending be that the girlfriend is in reality a sex robot. A machine. An object to be used and thrown away. Being the only female character in the entire episode, I believe this is saying a lot. I got the idea of John's (the protagonist) apartment being described as a cupboard came from "Crime and Punishment" where Fyodor Dostoevsky describes Raskolnikov's apartment as a cupboard. 

Synopsis

John Adam is a down-on-his-luck loser looking for a girlfriend he tells this to a Therapist who proclaims that John knows nothing about women. He's pressured by his Father after his Mother's recent passing to get his life together. Burdened by the guilt, John turns to visit the Life Corporation which specializes in finding mates for losers like John. But, it requires a hefty sum of money. Thus, John works day and night to get the money and upon handing the cash to the Manager is greeted by Joan. The woman of his dreams. Over the next few months, being with Joan improves his life. Better job. Better apartment. But, things don't last for long as Joan falls ill and has to be taken back to Life and eventually dies in John's arms. The illusion is broken when the Manager reveals that Joan was a machine the whole. John finally discards her and searches for something real. 

Teleplay

The link for reading the PDF of my writer's draft is below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c4tj4DXQOIyjSTYdLGnVbvGuLPkmAcpi/view?usp=sharing

The link for reading the PDF of the revision of my writer's draft is below:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-kr8W8G4wn8JtukMSZEe39vjhBLzijGT/view?usp=sharing

Playlist

The link for this episode's Spotify playlist is below:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/65zHjTWKOMtKL01Kt10T3d

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my blog post. If you did read my teleplay, I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Feel free to leave your thoughts below.