FADE IN:
EXT. STREET – DAY
A less than average 18 year old boy dressed in simple jeans, t shirt and a wax barber jacket. He carries a backpack over his right shoulder. He is followed through the crowd.
GORDON
I’m not entirely sure when this
all started, I always just assumed
I was born this way. I heard that most
of us are.
INTERVIEWER (V.O)
Gordon Bridgeman is one of 2.3% of the
World’s population that suffers from
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, more
commonly known as OCD. It is the fourth
most common Mental Disorder and is
diagnosed in 1 in 50 adults in the US.
Gordon’s obsession isn’t one of the more
common of the disorders. The majority of
sufferers have obsessions with things such as
hygiene and security, but this is where Gordon
differs. Gordon is obsessed with correct
grammar.
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
Gordon is sitting on the sofa, talking to Interviewer who is behind the camera.
GORDON
I do admit that I tend to struggle with
other peoples’ attitudes towards grammar.
I just feel that if it’s not correct, then
it should be.
EXT. STREET – DAY
Gordon is walking to school
INTERVIEWER (V.O)
Gordon is in his last year of A level
studies. A levels are a hard time for any
young person, therefore for Gordon and his
disorder it is an extremely strenuous time.
GORDON
I do struggle at school. Not many people
understand me. I think it’s because they
don’t like being corrected. I’m just trying
to help them.
INT. CLASSROOM – DAY
An English language class, the teacher is at the front of the class talking to the students. The desks are arranged in a “U” shape and Gordon sits on the side facing the front of the classroom, with a student on either side of him neither of them looking interested.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
We are currently observing Gordon in his
English Language lesson.
MR TAYLOR
If you remember, your homework was to find
homonyms, so we’re going to put as many as
we can on the board. Bethany can you come
up and scribe for us.
Bethany gets up to the front of the class and is given the pen from Mr Taylor. She accidently writes “Brian Storm” in a cloud in the centre of the board.
GORDON
What is your problem?! That is clearly not
how you spell brainstorm you incompetent
fool! What are you even doing in this class?!
This is A level. How on earth did you get
the grades to even make it here?!
MR TAYLOR
Gordon! Sit down! It was an obvious accident
and there was no need whatsoever for your
little outburst. Your head of year will be
hearing about this.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Gordon struggles to contain his compulsions
when faced with a grammatical error, even
in the mildest of forms.
GORDON
I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings; I
just tell them they’re wrong. Sometimes I may
say a little too much but they won’t learn
otherwise so it has to be done.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Gordon has very few friends and this is due
to his condition.
GORDON
Not many people like me. I have a couple of
friends and they’re great, but everyone else
bullies me. They’d spell things incorrectly
on purpose, just to wind me up and I really
struggle with that.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Gordon’s bullies call him names maliciously
made up for him, and him only.
GORDON
Names like Grammar-wanker and Grammar-Nazi,
names like that. I try not to let them get
to me.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Although Gordon claims that the names don’t
affect him, his parents John and Gina
Bridgeman see differently.
INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY
GINA
Some days he’ll come home from school and
go straight up to his bedroom and you won’t
hear a peep out of him until dinner.
JOHN
You know it’s been a bad day for him ‘cause
he’ll come home with a load of newspapers and
he’ll proof read every single one of them.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Over the years, numerous rumours have been
made up regarding Gordon and his condition.
JOHN
A couple of years back, a few of the kids
in his year spread a rumour that he masturbated
to a dictionary. He didn’t talk for days,
not to anyone. He just shut himself in his room.
I’m pretty sure he went through 15 newspapers
in a matter of days.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Gordon had a Facebook account but had to delete
it as he would get bombarded with grammatically
incorrect messages daily. And it’s not just
school that Gordon struggles with. Everywhere
he goes he is confronted with incorrect grammar. Even the simplest of things can set off his
compulsions, such as grocery shopping.
GINA
I really struggle when I have to go shopping.
He simply refuses to use products where the name
is spelt incorrectly. I mean things like Kleenex
he won’t use because “clean” isn’t spelt
correctly.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
It’s because of little compulsions such as these that make home life for Gordon much harder than
it needs to be. This need for words to be spelt correctly spans over to leisure, such as music.
GORDON
I can’t listen to any music by an artist if
their name is spelt wrong. (beat) Any examples?
Well there’s Snoop Dogg. Flo Rida as well,
it’s just Florida with a space in it! I can’t
listen to them. (pause) Kesha. I simply cannot
bring myself to listen to Kesha, I mean she
has a dollar sign instead of an S, it’s just
stupid!
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Not only does it affect Gordon’s home life
and school life, but it also affects him
when he goes out in public.
JOHN
He has been known on a number of occasions
to tell complete strangers that they are wrong.
Even for the smallest of things.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
When following Gordon on his day-to-day
routine, he took a trip into town. Whilst
in a café his condition kicked in once
again.
EXT. STREET – DAY
Gordon is seen queuing in a café through the large window.
INT. CAFÉ – DAY
Gordon is sitting down alone with a cup of coffee, gazing out of the window. On the table beside him a young couple are having a quiet argument.
WOMAN
(Hushed argument) I don’t understand what
is wrong with you.
MAN
(Hushed argument) Love, let’s not get into
this now.
WOMAN
(Hushed argument) Why not Noah?
MAN
(Hushed) Because I haven’t done nothing
wrong! Woman goes to respond, but is cut
off when Gordon interrupts
GORDON
I believe you mean you haven’t done anything
wrong. If you haven’t done nothing wrong,
then you’re actually stating that you have
The couple stare at Gordon in shocked silence. Gordon takes one last sip of his coffee and leaves, pulling his rucksack over his shoulder.
EXT. STREET – DAY
Gordon is walking down the street. Behind him is a woman walking, holding hands with her young daughter. The two of them are talking to each, but the conversation cannot be heard over INTERVIEWER
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Gordon's compulsions can strike at the
even the most innocent of mistakes.
Gordon suddenly stops and turns to the mother and her daughter, bending slightly to eye level with the little girl.
GORDON
I believe you mean vanilla, as valinna
has no definite meaning to it.
Gordon turns back around and carries on walking down the street, leaving a baffled Mother and daughter, stopping to inspect a poster on the way. He spots a mistake and gets his marker pen out and corrects it.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
It isn’t just the grammatically incorrect
people that Gordon is confronted with when
in public. The small amount of graffiti
surrounding Gordon’s hometown is enough
to set off his compulsions.
GORDON
I can’t walk past graffiti without checking
it first and if it’s wrong I have to change
it. That’s why I always carry my marker
pens with me.
Gordon removes his marker pens from his rucksack and shows them to the interviewer.
GORDON (CONT’D)
I have them in all sorts of colours, just in
case. The underground places tend to have the
worst amount, but there’s an awful lot in
the toilet cubicles I go in.
GINA
We have to make sure he leave the house at
least 15 minutes earlier than normal, just
in case he gets caught up proof reading
something.
JOHN
If he goes to the toilet in a public, it
can take a while. You know what some of
these stalls can be like.
INT. - PUBLIC TOILETS
Gordon is showing the interviewer some of his corrections.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Gordon showed us some of the corrections
he has made in a particular set of stalls.
GORDON
I've seen this person write in cubicles
all over the city. They're particularly
bad at spelling. I presume that this is
spell “sexy”.
Gordon points to the word “sxc” with slight disgust on his face. He then takes out his marker of corresponding colour and corrects it.
GORDON
And I suppose this was meant to say “anyone”
Again, Gordon corrects the word with his marker pen.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Gordon's compulsions have occasionally
gotten him into trouble.
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Gina is at the kitchen table folding up clothes, primarily those belonging to Gordon.
GINA
People have complained when he's written
on their posters, which were meant to be
spelt incorrectly. We've had to then pay
for some more to be re-printed. It's not
too costly, but it all adds up.
EXT. STREET – DUSK
Gordon is walking down the street. He stops to look at a board of posters.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
Recently, Gordon's compulsions have
worsened. This is likely due to the stress
of A levels, and not knowing what he wants
to due in the future.
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Gordon is sitting at his desk, proof reading a newspaper and twiddling a red pen as he talks to the interviewer.
GORDON
Pretty much all of my teachers have said I
should go into the publishing business.
They said I could be a successful proof reader
or something like that.
EXT. STREET – DUSK
Back to the shot of Gordon looking at and editing the board of posters.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
On our final day with Gordon his compulsion
got him into a bit of a predicament.
A couple of policemen appear next to Gordon and begin talking to him. Gordon is then shown getting angry with the policemen, pointing vigorously at the board.
INTERVIEWER (V.O.)
It is obvious that Gordon's OCD symptoms
are something he feels strongly about, which ultimately gets him into trouble.
The policemen are seen pushing Gordon up against the board and arresting him. They all begin to walk towards the camera. As they get closer the policemen on Gordon's left put his hand up to the camera and asks them to stop filming.
Cut to black.
TEXT ON SCREEN
Gordon was given an £80 fine on-the-spot
for the “graffiti” on the posters and held
at the police station for 48 hours with the
offence of assault with intent to resist
arrest.
The last we heard, Gordon has agreed to go
to therapy in an attempt to reduce his
compulsions.
We would like to wish Gordon all the best
for the future.
Fade out.
END
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