Trouble Telling

Curated and contributed by: Nikita Zavyalov, TESOL, Hawaii Pacific University

the Cure MP4 - Copy_Trim.mp4

The Cure (1995)

An 11-year-old Dexter (Joseph Manzello) is not only diagnosed with AIDS but also experiences rejection from everybody - except for his mother (Annabella Sciorra) and his next door neighbor Erik (Brad Renfro), who is about 14. During the summer break, Erik takes Dexter on an adventure from their hometown Stillwater (MN) to some shaman in Louisiana, who apparently has found the cure for the disease.

Dialogue

Erik wakes up in the tent hearing Dexter making crying sounds in his sleep. Erik shakes Dexter to wake him up.

Erik Hey, this is me...Oh shit, you pissed all over your sleeping bag!

Dexter Sweat.

Erik What? You're shivering, how can you be sweating when you're cold!

Dexter I don't now. I just do...

Erik Here... Change the clothes... Here's my sleeping bag.

Dexter Thanks

Erik Were you having a nightmare or something?

Dexter No...

Erik What's a matter?

Dexter It happens sometimes. When I wake up, and it's dark... Astronomers believe that the universe is 18 billion light-years across.

Erik So?

Dexter Suppose you could go in the eighteen billion light-years. What if there's nothing out there? Suppose you kept going another 18 billion light-years, so far I'd be see nothing... Because the light from the universe would be fainter than the faintest star. Infinitely cold. Infinitely black. Sometimes... if I wake up, and it's dark, I get really scared... Like I'm up there now, I'm never coming back.

Erik Here... Hold on to this while you sleep, and if you wake up and you scared... You say wait a minute... I'm holding Erik's shoe. Why the hell would I be holding some smelly basketball shoe? A trillion light-years from the universe, I must be here on earth safe in my sleeping bag... Erik must be close by... Guess it's worth to try...

Teaching Activities

Activity 1
"Have you ever...?"

Get in pairs. Talk with your partner about a real-life moment when you told shared your trouble with someone? Were you brave enough to talk about your trouble with your friend, what was the reaction of your friend?

Activity 2
"Analyze the clip"

Analyze each clip by answering the following questions:

Who is in trouble and why do you think this person is in trouble? What kind of verbal and non-verbal messages you hear and see in order to come up with such a conclusion?
Who is able to solve the trouble and how so?
Do you think the suggestion to solve the trouble was effective? How so?

Activity 3
"Role Play"

Create, rehearse and perform a dialogue with your partner. A dialogue should be based on the idea of sharing a story that includes some troublesome experience. You can choose option 7 if you want to create your own (imagined or real) situation, otherwise you can brainstorm some ideas that are based on the situations from 1 - 6. A person who is receiving a trouble story, should come up with a solution or expression of sympathy to make your partner feel better. Here is the list of the situations:

1) Key or money lost or stolen

2) Theft

3) Accident

4) Unintentional conflict

5) Fear of doing something

6) Fear of seeing someone

7) Your own unique trouble (real or imagined)

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