Paris, Texas (1984)
Harry Dean Stanton: Travis Henderson
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Quotes
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Travis : He thought if she never got jealous of him that she didn't really care about him. Jealousy was a sign of her love for him, and then one night, one night she told him that she was pregnant, she was about three or four months pregnant and he didn't even know and then suddenly everything changed, he stopped drinking, he got a steady job, he was convinced that she loved him now that she was carrying his child and he was going to dedicate himself to making a home for her. But a funny thing started to happen, he didn't even notice it at first, she started to change. From the day the baby was born, she began to get irritated with everything around her. She got mad at everything. Even the baby seemed to be an injustice to her. He kept trying to make everything all right for her. Buy her things. Take her out to dinner once a week. But nothing seemed to satisfy her. For two years he struggled to pull them back together like they were when they first met, but finally he knew that it was never going to work out. So he hit the bottle again. But this time it got... mean. This time, when he came home late at night, she wasn't worried about him, or jealous, she was just enraged. She accused him of holding her captive by making her have a baby. She told him that she dreamed about escaping. That was all she dreamed about: escape. She saw herself at night running naked down a highway, running across fields, running down riverbeds, always running. And always, just when she was about to get away, he'd be there. He would stop her somehow. He would just appear and stop her. And when she told him these dreams, he believed them. He knew she had to be stopped or she'd leave him forever. So he tied a cow bell to her ankle so he could hear at night if she tried to get out of bed. But she learned how to muffle the bell by stuffing a sock into it, and inching her way out of the bed and into the night. He caught her one night when the sock fell out and he heard her trying to run to the highway. He caught her and dragged her back to the trailer, and tied her to the stove with his belt. He just left her there and went back to bed and lay there listening to her scream. And he listened to his son scream, and he was surprised at himself because he didn't feel anything anymore. All he wanted to do was... sleep. And for the first time, he wished he were far away. Lost in a deep, vast country where nobody knew him. Somewhere without language, or streets. He dreamed about this place without knowing its name. And when he woke up, he was on fire. There were blue flames burning the sheets of his bed. He ran through the flames toward the only two people he loved... but they were gone. His arms were burning, and he threw himself outside and rolled on the wet ground. Then he ran. He never looked back at the fire. He just ran. He ran until the sun came up and he couldn't run any further. And when the sun went down, he ran again. For five days he ran like this until every sign of man had disappeared.
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Walt : We live in the suburbs, but I've got my business in town
Travis : Oh yeah? What's your business?
Walt : I make billboard signs for advertising.
Travis : Oh yeah? So *you*'re the one who makes those signs, I love those. Some of them are beautiful.
Walt : I'm not the only one who makes them, Trav.
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Hunter Henderson : He's dead?
Travis Henderson : Uh-huh.
Hunter Henderson : Well, can you feel that he's dead?
Travis Henderson : What do you mean?
Hunter Henderson : You know, when he was walking around and talking, right?
Travis Henderson : Yeah.
Hunter Henderson : You can feel that he's gone?
Travis Henderson : Yeah, sometimes. I know he's dead.
Hunter Henderson : I never felt like you were dead. I could always feel you walking around and talking - some place.
Travis Henderson : Yeah?
Hunter Henderson : I feel Mom too.
Travis Henderson : You do?
Hunter Henderson : Don't you?
Travis Henderson : Yeah.
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Travis : [crashing in a fleabag motel/laundromat seating area with his son] This is not a place to bring a fancy woman. Wouldn't you say? If you had a fancy woman, would you bring her in a place like this?
Hunter Henderson : What's a fancy woman?
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Travis : I knew these people
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Travis Henderson : My mother - was not a fancy woman. She was - she never wanted to be a fancy woman. She never even pretended to be a fancy woman.
Hunter Henderson : Then what was she?
Travis Henderson : She was just - plain. Just plain and good. She was very good. But, my Daddy, see, my Daddy had, eh, he had this idea, he had this idea in his head that was kind of - kind of - kind of a sickness.
Hunter Henderson : What idea?
Travis Henderson : He had this idea about her and he looked at her, but, he didn't see her. He - he saw this idea - and he told people that she was from Paris. It was a big joke. He started tellin' everybody all the time and finally it wasn't a joke any more. He - he started believing it.
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Travis Henderson : Daddy always had a joke about it.
Walt Henderson : What was the joke?
Travis Henderson : He - he would introduce Mom as the girl he met in Paris. Then, he'd wait - eh - before he said Texas, till everybody thought that - he'd meant - he would wait before he said Texas till everybody thought - after everybody thought he was talking about Paris, France. He always laughed real hard about it.
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Travis Henderson : Why didn't you take him with you Jane?
Jane Henderson : I couldn't, Travis. I didn't have what I knew he needed. I didn't want to use him to fill up my emptiness.
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Travis Henderson : Where are we going?
Walt Henderson : We're going to fly to LA. You're not afraid of flying are you?
Travis Henderson : Leaving the ground?
Walt Henderson : Yeah.
Travis Henderson : Why?
Walt Henderson : Because its too far to drive. It would take an extra two days. I can't afford the time, Trav.
Travis Henderson : Why?
Walt Henderson : It's just easier to fly, Trav. It's faster.
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Walt Henderson : You know, I'm gettin' a little sick of this silence routine. You can talk! I can be silent too, you know. I just a soon the both of us keep our mouths shut the whole rest of the trip.
Travis Henderson : Paris.
Walt Henderson : You know - What?
Travis Henderson : Paris. Paris?
Walt Henderson : Paris?
Travis Henderson : Did you ever go to Paris?
Walt Henderson : No.
Travis Henderson : Could we go there now?
Walt Henderson : It's a little out of the way. Ah, no, I've never even been to Europe. Anne keeps wanting to go there. Well, she's from France, you remember? But, we never seem to find the time; because, my company keeps me kind of busy.
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Walt Henderson : What you got in your hand?
Travis Henderson : A picture.
Walt Henderson : A picture of what?
Travis Henderson : A picture of - of, eh, Paris.
Walt Henderson : Paris? Really?
Travis Henderson : Yes. A picture of a piece of Paris.
Walt Henderson : Where'd you get a picture of Paris? Can I see it?
Travis Henderson : Yes.
Walt Henderson : This is it? This is Paris? It looks just like Texas to me.
Travis Henderson : It is.
Walt Henderson : Paris, Texas?
Travis Henderson : It's right here on the map.
Walt Henderson : There's really a place called Paris, Texas?
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Travis Henderson : I remember now.
Walt Henderson : What?
Travis Henderson : Why I bought that land.
Walt Henderson : Why?
Travis Henderson : Well, Mama once told me that - that's where she and Daddy first made love.
Walt Henderson : Oh, in Paris, Texas?
Travis Henderson : Yeah.
Walt Henderson : She told you that?
Travis Henderson : Yeah. So, I figured that that's where I began. I mean, me, Travis Clay Henderson. They named me that. I started out there.
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Walt Henderson : Why in hell would you want to buy a vacant lot in Paris, Texas, for Christ sake?
Travis Henderson : Uh - I forgot.
