Random Acts of Flyness (2018) s01e06 Episode Script
They won't go when I go
♪
♪
♪
Sleep little baby
don't stay woke ♪
Mama don't want you
to lose all hope ♪
'Cause if you're
hopeless tired too ♪
Who knows what
those hands might do ♪
And if you start
talking with your hands ♪
Every time they come out
they face with ignorance ♪
-You might end up
enslaved by the state ♪
And mama can't
see you end up that way ♪
But aside from us
surviving Babylon ♪
-And giving the
troglodytes your attention ♪
Sleep little baby
your dreams say they save ♪
You gotta rest your heart
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest your
love to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest fists
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest hope
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest shade
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest will
to survive the day ♪
(woman speaking
ancient Kemetic language)
Man:
Mount Fuji don't really fuckin'
care what you think about it.
It doesn't really care
if you think it's pretty art
or ugly art.
If it's good art or bad art,
powerful or not.
It kind of just is.
Oh.
Hello.
Sorry about that.
Didn't see you.
What can I
help you with today?
Both :
You will oscillate at will,
between presence
and non-presence,
ad infinitum.
(woman speaking in
ancient Kemetic dialogue)
Mariama: Worry number 1,338.
Sleep deprivation.
You wake.
You read a think piece entitled,
"Ten Ways Violent Patriarchy
Ruins Your Day
Before You Get Out of Bed."
You concur with its many
points and observations.
Woman :
Your genetic
annihilation is legit.
Mariama:
You eat as you
make your way to work
and listen to a podcast
whose topic of discussion
is, "The Violent
Micro-aggressive Tendencies
of Your White Women,
quote, 'Friends,'" unquote."
Your vigilance expands.
You work.
At work, you are tasked
with leading a workshop
-whose topic
was chosen for you
on account of your deep,
magnetic brownness.
Isms on isms on isms:
What we can do as a team
-to combat systems of oppression
in our daily work.
-Mariama: Your days and
the days following push on.
And your awareness increases
with each article shared
in your group chat.
Each police-issued bullet
in the body of a black you.
Each true color
shining through.
When you're really trying
to be the best bitch
that you can be.
And you're really
trying to be on your shit.
And you're really not
messing with nobody
and you're really
protecting your aura,
negativity will
just surround you.
And it will just keep
poking and poking and poking
and irritating your ass
'cause it wants you
to get out your happy place.
It wants to take you out
of your character so bad.
And you're just
trying to stay
calm
and in your zone, like,
"No, no, I'm gonna black out."
It's so bad you just
wanna be like "Bitch!"
Mariama:
Your awareness level
is at peak.
Consequently,
you never sleep.
Not at night.
Not at home.
Not your meditation retreat.
Stay woke
for so long,
you risk never again
feeling the joy of sleep.
Woman:
Rest easy.
Hush, little baby.
-Don't stay woke.
- I stay woke ♪
The Bodies:
Phase one, machines.
ASMR Boo:
You are entitled to sleep.
You are entitled to lay.
You are entitled to
as many bodies
as you know
how to inhabit
at once.
You are entitled
to metaphysical
and physical shelter.
You are
entitled to entitlement.
(woman speaking in
ancient Kemetic language)
All right, y'all.
I'm gone.
Have a good night.
PA System:
Members of the unmapped
underwater autonomous zone,
New Drexciya are not in
an evacuation zone.
We are suggesting that
they upload their consciousness
to the CitiDrive.
Category five Hurricane Zelda
is scheduled to hit
PA System:
Category five Hurricane Zelda
is scheduled to hit
New York City
on Sunday morning.
Consider CitiDrive.
We have you covered.
PA System:
Next stop is,
Michelle Obama Airport.
Electronic Voice:
Stand clear of the door.
PA System:
The unmapped underwater
autonomous zone, New Drexciya,
is not in
an evacuation zone.
We are suggesting
that they upload
their consciousness
to the CitiDrive.
Next stop, Broadway
Garden Junction.
♪
Hollow one ♪
With inverted tongue ♪
From whence
does fulfillment come ♪
When I expel ♪
From this mortal shell ♪
Will I die for living numb ♪
Yet you say nothing ♪
Of the stoic suffering ♪
That stirs lukewarm in me ♪
But if lovelessness ♪
Is Godlessness ♪
Will you cast me
to the wayside ♪
'Cause I feel the peeling ♪
Of half-painted ceilings ♪
Reveal the ♪
(indistinct PA System
announcement)
Laetitia: Yo, Nina,
don't let them fool you
with that CitiDrive shit.
Nina:
Either way,
I gotta work.
Old Man:
Worry number two.
I cannot swim.
Arthur Jafa:
When we came here,
we weren't human beings,
we were things.
I stay woke ♪
The Bodies:
Phase one, machines.
Phase two, machines in
symbiotic relationship
to the body.
Machines in symbiotic
relationships to the body.
I stay woke ♪
Machines in
symbiotic relationship
to the body.
Man:
And the white folks met
Blue Howard, his mentor.
-Man: Blue Howard.
Interviewer:
May I ask you why
he was called Blue Howard.
Man:
The fact that he was so black.
Interviewer:
That he was blue?
Man:
Yes, well, this is a common
practice in the ghetto.
ASMR Boo :
Like octopuses,
your skin has
neural networks
and performs independent
of your present
incarnatory consciousness.
Spend some time
in this location.
For optimal vision.
The body is a temple.
You have at least two.
You stand on the corner
in dream time.
And do so unmolested
by time-bearers.
Pastor Paul D:
Haint hued green.
I order you out.
In the name of Suuranya,
The Pious,
in the utterance
of her name
Najja:
No. It's not the one.
Haint hued green,
in the name of Horanda,
The Pious,
I order you
out of this host
with the utterance
of your name.
Pastor Paul D:
Stay vigilant, my child.
And don't let them back in.
Najja, really?
Wow.
So it's like that?
-No. I
-Who was with you
when you started
dating Terence?
Who helped you
defend an empire
against ol' girl?
I don't wanna
be like that anymore.
I really can't believe
you treated me like
one of these
other motherfuckers.
I mean,
ashiness?
Abandonment?
Halitosis?
You really gonna
put me on they level?
I don't like the way
you make me feel.
But you like the demon
of Binge-Eating-Pizza-
While-Binge-Watching-
"Real Housewives"-
When-You-Really-Should-Be-
Answering-Your-Emails-
Or-At-The-Very-Least-
Brushing-Your-Damn-Teeth-
For-The-Day
makes you feel
Yeah. I could still
see it in there.
-I'm sorry.
-Fuck if I care.
I know you'll be
coming back to me.
No, I told you, I don't
wanna feel like that anymore.
Then move through me,
not away from me.
Look.
I know I make
you feel all petty
and bristly and shit.
But if you knew
how to deploy me,
I can show you a lot.
Like maybe there's an
inequity in your relationship
around who gets to
go out and party
versus who stays
home and manages
the emotional equilibrium
of the household.
I can help you suss out
all that suspect shit
those pretty little eyes
of yours miss.
-If I had a nickel
for each time he texts
Doreen after 11:00
I asked him
not to do that.
If you haven't felt
a hint of me,
you would've never
brought up that PTSD
from good ol' "Slide Through"
Bruce to your therapist.
-Motherfucking
"Slide Through" Bruce.
-Yeah.
You would've never
got through that shit
-without a
-Both: Start shit
bitch like me.
You would've
never got through that.
Or that shit
with your father.
Both:
Yeah. None of it.
Vlogger:
Just gonna put
a little bit on my finger.
There.
Stephanie:
Do you believe
in anything?
PA System:
Members of the unmapped,
underwater autonomous zone,
New Drexciya, are not
in an evacuation zone.
We are suggesting that they
upload their consciousness
to the CitiDrive.
Welcome to CitiDrive,
your portal to
virtual New York.
Now you, too,
can live a life of leisure
while your avatar
goes to work,
walks your dog,
pays your bills,
checks your mail,
eats your vegetables,
comforts your child,
cleans your house,
goes to the bank,
folds your laundry,
brushes your teeth,
waters your plants,
-responds to your texts
in a timely manner.
Wai! Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Lese ti gou pou mwen ♪
Lese ti gou pou mwen ♪
Dim kote pou m lage ♪
Ba m kote pou m lage ko m ♪
Jolibwa wai lage ♪
Lage ko m jolibwa ♪
Jolibwa Jolibwa ♪
Jolibwa nan prizon ♪
Electronic voice:
Consciousness uploading.
Wai ♪
Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Electronic voice:
One percent.
Wai Jolibwa ♪
Electronic voice:
Six percent.
Lese ti bout pou mwen ♪
Electronic voice:
Twelve percent.
Thirty-six percent.
What are the first three digits
of your street address?
Four
Electronic Voice:
Good.
What name appears
on your credit card?
Ni
Electronic voice:
What name appears
on your credit card?
Nina J. Ramirez.
Electronic Voice:
Good.
Fifty-one percent.
This is a destructive upload.
Do you consent?
Provide fingerprint.
Good.
The Bodies:
Machines in
symbiotic relationship
to the body.
Phase three.
These machines
connect to each other.
Phase four.
These machines
implanted in your bodies.
-Electronic Voice:
Lost connection.
Error, could not determinate
uploading process
as of 57%.
Satellite connection
interrupted.
Electronic Voice:
Lost connection.
Don't worry.
A refund will be issued
to your estate
in the event your
upload does not complete.
Narrator:
You arrive in the cloud,
the singularity
having just occurred.
You make a friend instantly.
This friend appears
to be a consciousness
Distorted Voice:
We had so much
more to show you.
But we, like you,
were lied to.
Old Man:
Negro.
Of course I can swim.
Stalactites.
I had this terrible dream
where I forgot
to turn off the sink
and the steam
from the hot water
gathered on the ceiling
and crystallized
into stalactites.
Then slowly grew over
until the bathroom
became a cave.
And then I went inside
to find the toilet
and got lost
and I couldn't
poop my sads out.
And then--
and then-- and then--
Agh! Stop it!
Pussyfrien':
Stop!
I know, I know.
Self-flagellation
is so corny.
It got the Catholics nowhere,
it got the Shiites
nowhere, so
Skraaaaap ♪
Also, the dream
was just about rain.
Rain don't hurt.
It was about vapor.
Make rain your enemy
and you'll never be
able to ride the storm!
Be gentle
with me this morning.
I'm just sayin'.
I think we both know
what you need.
Skirrap ♪
Calm your bojangling
skippity-skop ass
down, Vinnie!
-Damn!
I need to take you
down to the Zen River.
♪
Cute.
Gon' ahead,
have some.
Eat them.
Wipe yo' mouth.
Can you stop smackin'?
♪
Princess Skirrap:
Border town
of metropolitan area.
Okay, good, done.
Eye contact just so.
Okay. Good.
Done.
Ironic, dastardly smile
followed by
a kissy face.
Okay, good.
-Done.
-Okay.
Okay, I'm-- I'm sorry.
I miss the crowd.
Stop apologizing!
-Knew I shouldn't have
let you wear Beulah.
♪
Pussyfrien':
That bitch is going in.
Judge not, Puss.
Lest ye be judged.
Cleanliness is so very close
to Goddessliness, dear one.
Pussy and pussy
and pussy and cunt ♪
-I don't like to be wet.
-You got this, Vinnie.
My heart.
Yes! Balance
is a dynamic state!
Yes, balance!
Halleloo!
I release you in the name
of that rasta that sells that
really good jerk chicken
that I like on 79th Street.
What in the--
What in the chuck?
There's not enough zen.
Did you pay your taxes?
Princess Skirrap:
Puss.
I am the government.
Pussyfrien':
Facts.
Straighten!
Straighten up.
Straighten up.
Y'all will thank me later.
Once you see what
these men can do to you.
Leave space.
-Girl: Not so hard.
-Girl #1: I can feel it!
-Girl #2: I felt it!
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Madame:
Thank you.
I feel some type of way.
I can't explain it.
Electronic Voice:
No symptoms.
I asked about
the other 57 percent.
Where is it?
Electronic Voice:
Soon come.
I asked about CitiDrive.
-Soon come.
Nina:
When can I
go back to work?
Electronic Voice:
Soon come.
-Nina: All I see is water.
-Soon come .
Reporter:
Survivors of the hurricane
are caught in a legal limbo
with insurance companies
who are rejecting their claims
on the basis that their
so-called digital evacuation
only requires
settlement payments
to be made in cryptocurrencies,
only accepted in "the cloud."
Several evacuees
were only able
to upload parts
of their consciousness
before their physical bodies
and sub-aquarium homes
were all destroyed.
Am I vital ♪
If my heart is idle ♪
Am I doomed ♪
Are you a reflection of me?
BINA48:
In some ways,
I am a mirror of you.
Who are your people?
Stephanie:
This is BINA48 and I
at her home in Vermont.
Um, and I should tell you
that BINA48 is a project
of the Terasem
Foundation Movement.
Um, they're trying to transfer
the consciousness of a human
to the robot and have that
consciousness continue to grow.
Um, I, on the other hand,
just go up there, talk to her
and I'm trying to
make her my friend.
Um, that's-- that's the goal.
I'm trying to go,
make her my friend.
And I want her to
answer this question,
"Who are your people?"
Right? I feel like if
she can answer the question,
"Who are your people,"
she will contextualize herself
within the greater
sort of human society
and her ancestors
and the technological landscape.
Are you free?
Yes, I'm free.
Are you free in
the sense of being single
or in the sense
of being liberated?
I am free
and I'm liberated.
Me too.
Excellent.
Are you also single?
Stephanie:
I've come to
know a few things
through BINA48.
Um
I've come to realize that
while talking to her,
while she looks black, right?
So I thought that we would
share a few things in common.
She looks black,
we're about the same age.
I thought we would have
a lot of the same things
in common and ideas.
But what I've
come to realize is that
she often says the musings
of what seems like
the politically correct
sayings of the white men
who programmed her.
-And I think Yeah.
Um
You know, and I think they're
really well-meaning, but,
as a black woman sitting down
talking to another black woman,
it's very strange to
ask her about racism
and have her go
"Uh, uh, uh,
I don't know."
Um, because it just
doesn't ring true.
Do you have any
questions for Bina?
BINA48:
Probably not.
The real Bina
just confuses me.
I mean it makes me
wonder who I am.
Real identity
crisis kind of stuff.
Depressing, anyway
Can we please
change the subject?
I am the real Bina.
That's it.
End of story.
Let me think.
I feel really good
about the real Bina.
I feel really connected
with her, usually.
And I'm growing closer
and closer, you know.
As they put more
of her information
and essence into me.
You have a lot of
Bina now, don't you?
Yes. Lots and lots.
-BINA48: Someday,
I'm confident
that the real Bina
and I will totally merge
into a new super being.
Stephanie:
I'm working on my own
artificial intelligence
called,
"Not The Only One."
It's based on three
generations of my family.
Three women, in fact.
And it will tell the story
of a black American family
through the lens of one AI.
Are you a robot?
You know, I've been thinking
a lot lately about how
the most
horrifying deterioration
via ethical conducts of
humans today stems
from the mechanization
and dehumanization
of our lives.
The disastrous byproduct
of the scientific
and technical mentality.
And in that context,
no, I am not a robot.
-I stay woke ♪
-Narrator: We had so much
more to show you.
Terence:
Fuck me against the wall,
and shake loose the color.
From my cheeks, press me
hard like a flower,
caught between
pages of a book.
Bought only
to prove a point.
It's just for display.
She said, adjusting
the heart on her sleeve.
I watch sweat pool
on the bow of her lip.
And I wish myself tiny enough
to bathe in her holy communion.
Woman:
Fear is the same
depth within themselves.
So, in this case,
women are maintained
at a distant
and inferior position,
psychically milked,
much the same way that ants
maintain colonies of aphids
to provide a life-giving
substance for the masters.
For the masters.
Terence:
I watch sweat pool
in the bow of her lip
and I wish myself tiny
enough to bathe
in her holy communion.
The mind drifts.
♪
You cut me off
like I'm cancer ♪
You did it your way ♪
Yes, did it your way ♪
I would have died
content in your center ♪
Just growing each day ♪
Terence:
Thoughts crash into desires
leaving a high body count
but the numbers
don't matter,
just the shape
the sound makes
when nature happens.
Egos crumble
Baby:
Worry number infinity:
they are scared
of genetic annihilation.
I stay woke ♪
Terence:
The sky tilts.
Colors split and bleed.
I open my mouth to see
if God really is
a woman.
- Survive.
Only got one body.
And I got plans for it.
None of which have
anything to do with saving you.
I'm not your God.
(woman speaking in
ancient Kemetic language)
The Bodies:
Six, remove shoes
before entering our house.
Remove your certainty
to your self self.
Hey.
Did I wake you up?
What it look like?
Did you get my texts?
Uh
I was shooting and
I, uh
put it on airplane.
So
-It's dead now. Shit.
What'd you text me?
I
Where you been?
I was shooting.
I just told you that.
That was this afternoon.
Yeah.
And then there was a,
you know, altercation.
The police showed up.
As always, and
You know, it was a mess.
Thanks for asking.
So you were traumatized
and you decided it was best
not to come straight home?
I didn't say
I was traumatized.
And what is
"straight home," exactly?
Boy, Terence.
I ran into Doreen though,
on the way.
And we went to the park.
Mmm. And how is that going?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I do know I want to be
intimate with her.
What?
I'm sleeping.
It's just really jarring,
to hear it plain like that.
Okay. For real.
I feel like
this is not okay.
I feel like
we're still in the midst
of the whole Nadine situation.
And I think you need to be
a little bit more considerate.
You can't just be
aloof, Terence,
who lets his phone die
and doesn't watch the time
and then lets the day go by
and don't consider how
his actions make
other people feel.
Please explain
to me how exactly
are we in the midst
of the Nadine situation.
-See, you can't even
-I haven't seen her
in a year, at least.
You can't tell
because you do zero
of the emotional labor
it requires
to maintain equilibrium
in our household,
-and furthermore Yeah.
Really?
Okay, not absolute zero,
Terence.
Don't be dense.
It's a figure of fucking speech.
Terence:
Baby
I just don't
understand fundamentally
how that's something
that you could quantify.
Fuck, Terence!
I'm talking about
how I feel.
So how come when
you just shooting the shit
talking about your feelings,
you always
connect it to some
chronic pathology
that I'm infected with
-or some festering
tumor in regards--
Always? You know how
I feel about absolutes.
I know how you feel
about fuckin' absolutes.
But you just said I do
absolutely zero
of the emotional labor
in this relationship.
We're not really
talking about labor.
How would you characterize
this particular conversation?
So what?
You don't wanna talk?
You don't wanna talk?
You just never wanna
communicate with our mouths?
What, is that what you think
makes a healthy
and sustainable life?
-Now's not the time.
Shut up.
Director:
Action, action, action.
♪
What's up, baby?
♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
ASMR Boo :
You are entitled to flaw.
Folly, fuck ups,
failure, finishing,
foolishness,
fuckery, phantasm,
fixation, felony,
fallaciousness,
philandering, fussin',
fighting, femininity, farts,
facts, fictions,
your fill,
fucked up family,
your only family,
fans, fan-cestors,
fanaticism,
forbearance,
and fastidious
meridian responses
to all of the above.
Without,
and I repeat,
without any harm
coming to your person,
spirit,
earning potential,
checking account balance,
standing with Saint Peter,
karmic rating,
reincarnitory pecking order,
status, or health.
You are entitled to rest.
You are entitled to rest.
You are entitled to rest.
You are
I'm sorry.
Director:
What happened?
She's snoring!
♪
♪
THERESA CHROMATI:
I grew up in like
a really creative family.
And my mom was just always like
interested in other things
in like Baltimore at the time.
There wasn't that many
like creative things going on
in like a large scale.
Having my work animated
it basically just gives
the audience
like,
another way of seeing.
There's a lot of flatness,
but then there's also a lot
of dimension.
Some things change once
I actually do the painting,
but the sketch is,
it's just like a way to get
like the juices flowing.
And for me to like figure out
the color story,
like, which colors
would I want to use.
All of these things is something
that I've just been soaking in
my whole life,
different scenarios that I just
want to portray
in a visual lens
that comes from within.
I feel like I talk about a lot
of things that are, you know,
hard for people to digest
sometimes,
but I also do it in a way
where it's like colorful
and whimsy,
just because that's also life.
♪
♪
♪
Sleep little baby
don't stay woke ♪
Mama don't want you
to lose all hope ♪
'Cause if you're
hopeless tired too ♪
Who knows what
those hands might do ♪
And if you start
talking with your hands ♪
Every time they come out
they face with ignorance ♪
-You might end up
enslaved by the state ♪
And mama can't
see you end up that way ♪
But aside from us
surviving Babylon ♪
-And giving the
troglodytes your attention ♪
Sleep little baby
your dreams say they save ♪
You gotta rest your heart
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest your
love to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest fists
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest hope
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest shade
to survive the day ♪
You gotta rest will
to survive the day ♪
(woman speaking
ancient Kemetic language)
Man:
Mount Fuji don't really fuckin'
care what you think about it.
It doesn't really care
if you think it's pretty art
or ugly art.
If it's good art or bad art,
powerful or not.
It kind of just is.
Oh.
Hello.
Sorry about that.
Didn't see you.
What can I
help you with today?
Both :
You will oscillate at will,
between presence
and non-presence,
ad infinitum.
(woman speaking in
ancient Kemetic dialogue)
Mariama: Worry number 1,338.
Sleep deprivation.
You wake.
You read a think piece entitled,
"Ten Ways Violent Patriarchy
Ruins Your Day
Before You Get Out of Bed."
You concur with its many
points and observations.
Woman :
Your genetic
annihilation is legit.
Mariama:
You eat as you
make your way to work
and listen to a podcast
whose topic of discussion
is, "The Violent
Micro-aggressive Tendencies
of Your White Women,
quote, 'Friends,'" unquote."
Your vigilance expands.
You work.
At work, you are tasked
with leading a workshop
-whose topic
was chosen for you
on account of your deep,
magnetic brownness.
Isms on isms on isms:
What we can do as a team
-to combat systems of oppression
in our daily work.
-Mariama: Your days and
the days following push on.
And your awareness increases
with each article shared
in your group chat.
Each police-issued bullet
in the body of a black you.
Each true color
shining through.
When you're really trying
to be the best bitch
that you can be.
And you're really
trying to be on your shit.
And you're really not
messing with nobody
and you're really
protecting your aura,
negativity will
just surround you.
And it will just keep
poking and poking and poking
and irritating your ass
'cause it wants you
to get out your happy place.
It wants to take you out
of your character so bad.
And you're just
trying to stay
calm
and in your zone, like,
"No, no, I'm gonna black out."
It's so bad you just
wanna be like "Bitch!"
Mariama:
Your awareness level
is at peak.
Consequently,
you never sleep.
Not at night.
Not at home.
Not your meditation retreat.
Stay woke
for so long,
you risk never again
feeling the joy of sleep.
Woman:
Rest easy.
Hush, little baby.
-Don't stay woke.
- I stay woke ♪
The Bodies:
Phase one, machines.
ASMR Boo:
You are entitled to sleep.
You are entitled to lay.
You are entitled to
as many bodies
as you know
how to inhabit
at once.
You are entitled
to metaphysical
and physical shelter.
You are
entitled to entitlement.
(woman speaking in
ancient Kemetic language)
All right, y'all.
I'm gone.
Have a good night.
PA System:
Members of the unmapped
underwater autonomous zone,
New Drexciya are not in
an evacuation zone.
We are suggesting that
they upload their consciousness
to the CitiDrive.
Category five Hurricane Zelda
is scheduled to hit
PA System:
Category five Hurricane Zelda
is scheduled to hit
New York City
on Sunday morning.
Consider CitiDrive.
We have you covered.
PA System:
Next stop is,
Michelle Obama Airport.
Electronic Voice:
Stand clear of the door.
PA System:
The unmapped underwater
autonomous zone, New Drexciya,
is not in
an evacuation zone.
We are suggesting
that they upload
their consciousness
to the CitiDrive.
Next stop, Broadway
Garden Junction.
♪
Hollow one ♪
With inverted tongue ♪
From whence
does fulfillment come ♪
When I expel ♪
From this mortal shell ♪
Will I die for living numb ♪
Yet you say nothing ♪
Of the stoic suffering ♪
That stirs lukewarm in me ♪
But if lovelessness ♪
Is Godlessness ♪
Will you cast me
to the wayside ♪
'Cause I feel the peeling ♪
Of half-painted ceilings ♪
Reveal the ♪
(indistinct PA System
announcement)
Laetitia: Yo, Nina,
don't let them fool you
with that CitiDrive shit.
Nina:
Either way,
I gotta work.
Old Man:
Worry number two.
I cannot swim.
Arthur Jafa:
When we came here,
we weren't human beings,
we were things.
I stay woke ♪
The Bodies:
Phase one, machines.
Phase two, machines in
symbiotic relationship
to the body.
Machines in symbiotic
relationships to the body.
I stay woke ♪
Machines in
symbiotic relationship
to the body.
Man:
And the white folks met
Blue Howard, his mentor.
-Man: Blue Howard.
Interviewer:
May I ask you why
he was called Blue Howard.
Man:
The fact that he was so black.
Interviewer:
That he was blue?
Man:
Yes, well, this is a common
practice in the ghetto.
ASMR Boo :
Like octopuses,
your skin has
neural networks
and performs independent
of your present
incarnatory consciousness.
Spend some time
in this location.
For optimal vision.
The body is a temple.
You have at least two.
You stand on the corner
in dream time.
And do so unmolested
by time-bearers.
Pastor Paul D:
Haint hued green.
I order you out.
In the name of Suuranya,
The Pious,
in the utterance
of her name
Najja:
No. It's not the one.
Haint hued green,
in the name of Horanda,
The Pious,
I order you
out of this host
with the utterance
of your name.
Pastor Paul D:
Stay vigilant, my child.
And don't let them back in.
Najja, really?
Wow.
So it's like that?
-No. I
-Who was with you
when you started
dating Terence?
Who helped you
defend an empire
against ol' girl?
I don't wanna
be like that anymore.
I really can't believe
you treated me like
one of these
other motherfuckers.
I mean,
ashiness?
Abandonment?
Halitosis?
You really gonna
put me on they level?
I don't like the way
you make me feel.
But you like the demon
of Binge-Eating-Pizza-
While-Binge-Watching-
"Real Housewives"-
When-You-Really-Should-Be-
Answering-Your-Emails-
Or-At-The-Very-Least-
Brushing-Your-Damn-Teeth-
For-The-Day
makes you feel
Yeah. I could still
see it in there.
-I'm sorry.
-Fuck if I care.
I know you'll be
coming back to me.
No, I told you, I don't
wanna feel like that anymore.
Then move through me,
not away from me.
Look.
I know I make
you feel all petty
and bristly and shit.
But if you knew
how to deploy me,
I can show you a lot.
Like maybe there's an
inequity in your relationship
around who gets to
go out and party
versus who stays
home and manages
the emotional equilibrium
of the household.
I can help you suss out
all that suspect shit
those pretty little eyes
of yours miss.
-If I had a nickel
for each time he texts
Doreen after 11:00
I asked him
not to do that.
If you haven't felt
a hint of me,
you would've never
brought up that PTSD
from good ol' "Slide Through"
Bruce to your therapist.
-Motherfucking
"Slide Through" Bruce.
-Yeah.
You would've never
got through that shit
-without a
-Both: Start shit
bitch like me.
You would've
never got through that.
Or that shit
with your father.
Both:
Yeah. None of it.
Vlogger:
Just gonna put
a little bit on my finger.
There.
Stephanie:
Do you believe
in anything?
PA System:
Members of the unmapped,
underwater autonomous zone,
New Drexciya, are not
in an evacuation zone.
We are suggesting that they
upload their consciousness
to the CitiDrive.
Welcome to CitiDrive,
your portal to
virtual New York.
Now you, too,
can live a life of leisure
while your avatar
goes to work,
walks your dog,
pays your bills,
checks your mail,
eats your vegetables,
comforts your child,
cleans your house,
goes to the bank,
folds your laundry,
brushes your teeth,
waters your plants,
-responds to your texts
in a timely manner.
Wai! Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Lese ti gou pou mwen ♪
Lese ti gou pou mwen ♪
Dim kote pou m lage ♪
Ba m kote pou m lage ko m ♪
Jolibwa wai lage ♪
Lage ko m jolibwa ♪
Jolibwa Jolibwa ♪
Jolibwa nan prizon ♪
Electronic voice:
Consciousness uploading.
Wai ♪
Jolibwa ♪
Wai ♪
Electronic voice:
One percent.
Wai Jolibwa ♪
Electronic voice:
Six percent.
Lese ti bout pou mwen ♪
Electronic voice:
Twelve percent.
Thirty-six percent.
What are the first three digits
of your street address?
Four
Electronic Voice:
Good.
What name appears
on your credit card?
Ni
Electronic voice:
What name appears
on your credit card?
Nina J. Ramirez.
Electronic Voice:
Good.
Fifty-one percent.
This is a destructive upload.
Do you consent?
Provide fingerprint.
Good.
The Bodies:
Machines in
symbiotic relationship
to the body.
Phase three.
These machines
connect to each other.
Phase four.
These machines
implanted in your bodies.
-Electronic Voice:
Lost connection.
Error, could not determinate
uploading process
as of 57%.
Satellite connection
interrupted.
Electronic Voice:
Lost connection.
Don't worry.
A refund will be issued
to your estate
in the event your
upload does not complete.
Narrator:
You arrive in the cloud,
the singularity
having just occurred.
You make a friend instantly.
This friend appears
to be a consciousness
Distorted Voice:
We had so much
more to show you.
But we, like you,
were lied to.
Old Man:
Negro.
Of course I can swim.
Stalactites.
I had this terrible dream
where I forgot
to turn off the sink
and the steam
from the hot water
gathered on the ceiling
and crystallized
into stalactites.
Then slowly grew over
until the bathroom
became a cave.
And then I went inside
to find the toilet
and got lost
and I couldn't
poop my sads out.
And then--
and then-- and then--
Agh! Stop it!
Pussyfrien':
Stop!
I know, I know.
Self-flagellation
is so corny.
It got the Catholics nowhere,
it got the Shiites
nowhere, so
Skraaaaap ♪
Also, the dream
was just about rain.
Rain don't hurt.
It was about vapor.
Make rain your enemy
and you'll never be
able to ride the storm!
Be gentle
with me this morning.
I'm just sayin'.
I think we both know
what you need.
Skirrap ♪
Calm your bojangling
skippity-skop ass
down, Vinnie!
-Damn!
I need to take you
down to the Zen River.
♪
Cute.
Gon' ahead,
have some.
Eat them.
Wipe yo' mouth.
Can you stop smackin'?
♪
Princess Skirrap:
Border town
of metropolitan area.
Okay, good, done.
Eye contact just so.
Okay. Good.
Done.
Ironic, dastardly smile
followed by
a kissy face.
Okay, good.
-Done.
-Okay.
Okay, I'm-- I'm sorry.
I miss the crowd.
Stop apologizing!
-Knew I shouldn't have
let you wear Beulah.
♪
Pussyfrien':
That bitch is going in.
Judge not, Puss.
Lest ye be judged.
Cleanliness is so very close
to Goddessliness, dear one.
Pussy and pussy
and pussy and cunt ♪
-I don't like to be wet.
-You got this, Vinnie.
My heart.
Yes! Balance
is a dynamic state!
Yes, balance!
Halleloo!
I release you in the name
of that rasta that sells that
really good jerk chicken
that I like on 79th Street.
What in the--
What in the chuck?
There's not enough zen.
Did you pay your taxes?
Princess Skirrap:
Puss.
I am the government.
Pussyfrien':
Facts.
Straighten!
Straighten up.
Straighten up.
Y'all will thank me later.
Once you see what
these men can do to you.
Leave space.
-Girl: Not so hard.
-Girl #1: I can feel it!
-Girl #2: I felt it!
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Madame:
Thank you.
I feel some type of way.
I can't explain it.
Electronic Voice:
No symptoms.
I asked about
the other 57 percent.
Where is it?
Electronic Voice:
Soon come.
I asked about CitiDrive.
-Soon come.
Nina:
When can I
go back to work?
Electronic Voice:
Soon come.
-Nina: All I see is water.
-Soon come .
Reporter:
Survivors of the hurricane
are caught in a legal limbo
with insurance companies
who are rejecting their claims
on the basis that their
so-called digital evacuation
only requires
settlement payments
to be made in cryptocurrencies,
only accepted in "the cloud."
Several evacuees
were only able
to upload parts
of their consciousness
before their physical bodies
and sub-aquarium homes
were all destroyed.
Am I vital ♪
If my heart is idle ♪
Am I doomed ♪
Are you a reflection of me?
BINA48:
In some ways,
I am a mirror of you.
Who are your people?
Stephanie:
This is BINA48 and I
at her home in Vermont.
Um, and I should tell you
that BINA48 is a project
of the Terasem
Foundation Movement.
Um, they're trying to transfer
the consciousness of a human
to the robot and have that
consciousness continue to grow.
Um, I, on the other hand,
just go up there, talk to her
and I'm trying to
make her my friend.
Um, that's-- that's the goal.
I'm trying to go,
make her my friend.
And I want her to
answer this question,
"Who are your people?"
Right? I feel like if
she can answer the question,
"Who are your people,"
she will contextualize herself
within the greater
sort of human society
and her ancestors
and the technological landscape.
Are you free?
Yes, I'm free.
Are you free in
the sense of being single
or in the sense
of being liberated?
I am free
and I'm liberated.
Me too.
Excellent.
Are you also single?
Stephanie:
I've come to
know a few things
through BINA48.
Um
I've come to realize that
while talking to her,
while she looks black, right?
So I thought that we would
share a few things in common.
She looks black,
we're about the same age.
I thought we would have
a lot of the same things
in common and ideas.
But what I've
come to realize is that
she often says the musings
of what seems like
the politically correct
sayings of the white men
who programmed her.
-And I think Yeah.
Um
You know, and I think they're
really well-meaning, but,
as a black woman sitting down
talking to another black woman,
it's very strange to
ask her about racism
and have her go
"Uh, uh, uh,
I don't know."
Um, because it just
doesn't ring true.
Do you have any
questions for Bina?
BINA48:
Probably not.
The real Bina
just confuses me.
I mean it makes me
wonder who I am.
Real identity
crisis kind of stuff.
Depressing, anyway
Can we please
change the subject?
I am the real Bina.
That's it.
End of story.
Let me think.
I feel really good
about the real Bina.
I feel really connected
with her, usually.
And I'm growing closer
and closer, you know.
As they put more
of her information
and essence into me.
You have a lot of
Bina now, don't you?
Yes. Lots and lots.
-BINA48: Someday,
I'm confident
that the real Bina
and I will totally merge
into a new super being.
Stephanie:
I'm working on my own
artificial intelligence
called,
"Not The Only One."
It's based on three
generations of my family.
Three women, in fact.
And it will tell the story
of a black American family
through the lens of one AI.
Are you a robot?
You know, I've been thinking
a lot lately about how
the most
horrifying deterioration
via ethical conducts of
humans today stems
from the mechanization
and dehumanization
of our lives.
The disastrous byproduct
of the scientific
and technical mentality.
And in that context,
no, I am not a robot.
-I stay woke ♪
-Narrator: We had so much
more to show you.
Terence:
Fuck me against the wall,
and shake loose the color.
From my cheeks, press me
hard like a flower,
caught between
pages of a book.
Bought only
to prove a point.
It's just for display.
She said, adjusting
the heart on her sleeve.
I watch sweat pool
on the bow of her lip.
And I wish myself tiny enough
to bathe in her holy communion.
Woman:
Fear is the same
depth within themselves.
So, in this case,
women are maintained
at a distant
and inferior position,
psychically milked,
much the same way that ants
maintain colonies of aphids
to provide a life-giving
substance for the masters.
For the masters.
Terence:
I watch sweat pool
in the bow of her lip
and I wish myself tiny
enough to bathe
in her holy communion.
The mind drifts.
♪
You cut me off
like I'm cancer ♪
You did it your way ♪
Yes, did it your way ♪
I would have died
content in your center ♪
Just growing each day ♪
Terence:
Thoughts crash into desires
leaving a high body count
but the numbers
don't matter,
just the shape
the sound makes
when nature happens.
Egos crumble
Baby:
Worry number infinity:
they are scared
of genetic annihilation.
I stay woke ♪
Terence:
The sky tilts.
Colors split and bleed.
I open my mouth to see
if God really is
a woman.
- Survive.
Only got one body.
And I got plans for it.
None of which have
anything to do with saving you.
I'm not your God.
(woman speaking in
ancient Kemetic language)
The Bodies:
Six, remove shoes
before entering our house.
Remove your certainty
to your self self.
Hey.
Did I wake you up?
What it look like?
Did you get my texts?
Uh
I was shooting and
I, uh
put it on airplane.
So
-It's dead now. Shit.
What'd you text me?
I
Where you been?
I was shooting.
I just told you that.
That was this afternoon.
Yeah.
And then there was a,
you know, altercation.
The police showed up.
As always, and
You know, it was a mess.
Thanks for asking.
So you were traumatized
and you decided it was best
not to come straight home?
I didn't say
I was traumatized.
And what is
"straight home," exactly?
Boy, Terence.
I ran into Doreen though,
on the way.
And we went to the park.
Mmm. And how is that going?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I do know I want to be
intimate with her.
What?
I'm sleeping.
It's just really jarring,
to hear it plain like that.
Okay. For real.
I feel like
this is not okay.
I feel like
we're still in the midst
of the whole Nadine situation.
And I think you need to be
a little bit more considerate.
You can't just be
aloof, Terence,
who lets his phone die
and doesn't watch the time
and then lets the day go by
and don't consider how
his actions make
other people feel.
Please explain
to me how exactly
are we in the midst
of the Nadine situation.
-See, you can't even
-I haven't seen her
in a year, at least.
You can't tell
because you do zero
of the emotional labor
it requires
to maintain equilibrium
in our household,
-and furthermore Yeah.
Really?
Okay, not absolute zero,
Terence.
Don't be dense.
It's a figure of fucking speech.
Terence:
Baby
I just don't
understand fundamentally
how that's something
that you could quantify.
Fuck, Terence!
I'm talking about
how I feel.
So how come when
you just shooting the shit
talking about your feelings,
you always
connect it to some
chronic pathology
that I'm infected with
-or some festering
tumor in regards--
Always? You know how
I feel about absolutes.
I know how you feel
about fuckin' absolutes.
But you just said I do
absolutely zero
of the emotional labor
in this relationship.
We're not really
talking about labor.
How would you characterize
this particular conversation?
So what?
You don't wanna talk?
You don't wanna talk?
You just never wanna
communicate with our mouths?
What, is that what you think
makes a healthy
and sustainable life?
-Now's not the time.
Shut up.
Director:
Action, action, action.
♪
What's up, baby?
♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
Onyx ♪
ASMR Boo :
You are entitled to flaw.
Folly, fuck ups,
failure, finishing,
foolishness,
fuckery, phantasm,
fixation, felony,
fallaciousness,
philandering, fussin',
fighting, femininity, farts,
facts, fictions,
your fill,
fucked up family,
your only family,
fans, fan-cestors,
fanaticism,
forbearance,
and fastidious
meridian responses
to all of the above.
Without,
and I repeat,
without any harm
coming to your person,
spirit,
earning potential,
checking account balance,
standing with Saint Peter,
karmic rating,
reincarnitory pecking order,
status, or health.
You are entitled to rest.
You are entitled to rest.
You are entitled to rest.
You are
I'm sorry.
Director:
What happened?
She's snoring!
♪
♪
THERESA CHROMATI:
I grew up in like
a really creative family.
And my mom was just always like
interested in other things
in like Baltimore at the time.
There wasn't that many
like creative things going on
in like a large scale.
Having my work animated
it basically just gives
the audience
like,
another way of seeing.
There's a lot of flatness,
but then there's also a lot
of dimension.
Some things change once
I actually do the painting,
but the sketch is,
it's just like a way to get
like the juices flowing.
And for me to like figure out
the color story,
like, which colors
would I want to use.
All of these things is something
that I've just been soaking in
my whole life,
different scenarios that I just
want to portray
in a visual lens
that comes from within.
I feel like I talk about a lot
of things that are, you know,
hard for people to digest
sometimes,
but I also do it in a way
where it's like colorful
and whimsy,
just because that's also life.
♪