“son what in God’s name were you thinking?”
his pulse raised but he refused to show it.
“i just wanted-”
“you wanted WHAT?”
“I had a suspicion, I had the machine, and I had a chance”
“you TOOK a chance, and now look what you’ve done!”
“yeah well what have I done?”
“you...you violated someone’s privacy...”
“someone who was staying in OUR home”
“that...what does that have to do with anything?”
“it’s our phone line Dad”
“and he’s a preacher for...”
“he’s not an ordained minister, Dad”
“what does that - do you have an answer for everything?”
“i just did my homework is all”
“well you sure did. just tell me one thing.”
“what’s that?”
“where in hell did you get such a disrespect for authority? is it that so-called music you listen to? backward messages telling you to do this?”
“Dad, what kind of authority does he have?”
“WHAT? what kind of question is that? where do you get this stuff?”
Irene: “dear....”
“just because someone gets up in front of church?”
“Nicky...our society is built upon certain...principles...”
“principles that guys like that have authority?”
“NICHOLAS!”
Irene: “Okay....Nick why don’t you...”
“sure, mom...i’ll go for a walk”
“now just wait a cotton picking minute...why do you think guys like me went to vietnam? huh? why do you think we did our duty to fight for this country, is this the thanks we get?”
pauses, looking at mom: “i don’t think i’d better answer that one right now, so....”
“oh why not? let’s hear it”
nick just shakes his head
“no i wanna know, what do you have to say”
“you went to Nam to shoot people, dad.”
“...UNBELIEVABLE!”
Irene: “honey-”
“do you expect me to stand here and take this from a punk kid?”
“dad, my generation just doesn’t get it”
“well how could you? YOU DIDN’T LIVE THROUGH IT!”
“and it’s a good thing, we have enough to deal with in these times”
“oh REALLY? like what?”
“how about so-called authority figures that just want to talk and never seem to listen?”
“listen? as if you people have anything to say?”
“Dad you just made my point...”
When Ned’s fist emerges through the wall in the den knocks over a picture of his father, Sgt. Maj. James Swanson.