Burnt Prairie - Cal
Genre: Drama
Director: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: Robert Forster, Grace Fulton, John Gallagher Jr., Ed Oxenbould, Josh Lucas, Annabeth Gish, Colman Domingo, Aden Young, Alison Wright and Timothy Busfield
Plot:Dick Carpenter (Robert Forster) goes about his day like any other day. He greets his wife Laurie (Alison Wright), who is thirty years his junior. She is making breakfast for their daughter Willow (Grace Fulton). Dick hugs her goodbye as she leaves for school.
Dick is a farmer during the day, something he figure he will do until the day he dies.
When Willow arrives at school, she can tell something feels off. And not in the tragic sense. Moreso, she feels like everyone is laying their eyes of disgust upon her. This carries over into class and she asks Elliott (Ed Oxenbould), who sits next to her, what is wrong. He says that it something that her dad said. Their teacher Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) sees them talking and shuts it down, leaving Willow flushed with embarrassment.
The talk of the town over the next day becomes about the racial insensitivty of Dick’s comments. This is actually debated, with some thinking it is not as bad as others. At the farm, Dick’s is relatively anonymous so he can go about things as normal. It is when he gets home that he learns from Laurie the controversy that his comments have stirred. When Willow gets home from school, all she says is that she called in from work tonight and goes straight to her room.
The next day, things get worse as Dick’s comments are picked up by the Indianapolis Star - still capitalizing on any coverage they can from Von’s death. This prompts a spike in media requests for Dick, as well as out-of-towners traveling to Burnt Prairie to protest.
In Thomas’s history class, he calls an audible and makes today’s class about “Race in America”. This doesn’t help Willow’s self-esteem as she feels this is targeted towards her so she leaves class prematurely.
After class, Thomas hunts through the halls to find Willow. He apologizes if class today struck a nerve with her but he felt it was the right time to talk about it with the students. He says that Dick’s comments require some perspective and that people in town tend to view things through a very narrow lens. In small communities like this, people only know as much as they are exposed to and that is how they view the world. It’s moreso ignorance than malicious intent. Willow asks if he is calling her dad ignorant. He says everyone is ignorant to a degree until they are open to learning more about what they don’t know. And that is why he thought this would be a good time to teach about minority cultures. This gets through to her and she thanks him.
Laurie is surprised to see an old red Ford pickup truck pull up in their driveway. It is Alan Carpenter (Aden Young), Dick’s older son. He lives in Indianapolis so doesn’t come around very often but says that he wanted to check on how his father was doing. He and Dick do some catching up - Dick doesn’t seem too bothered by the controversy, and doesn’t think his comments were that bad. Alan actually agrees.
The mood around town has grown hostile as most have grown vocally protective of their long-tenured coach and are angered by the calls for his resignation. This includes Cal (Josh Lucas), who secretly instigated this controversy but still believes this team has a shot at making it far in the playoffs. In a joint statement from Mayor Colleen Lamb (Annabeth Gish) and BPHS Principal Phil Daldry (Timothy Busfield), they condemn the comments but saying that Coach Carpenter’s 40+ years of community service and mentoring should be the truest statement of his character, not a few off-hand remarks.
Willow catches up with her brother, who is 25 years older than her. He asks about how school is going and she says not easy. She says that their father’s comments have rubbed off poorly on her. Alan grows defensive and says that is just how Dick’s generation talks. Willow is honest and says that she thinks he should resign - the amount of stress that coaching and farming takes on him can’t be good anyways. Alan is angered to hear this and tells her she is out of line. Dick Carpenter is an Indiana basketball legend and he can retire when he pleases. Laurie overhears Alan raising his voice towards Willow and steps in, telling him he needs to back out. Willow storms off, crying.
Laurie talks to Dick about the argument she overheard and this disheartens him. He still doesn’t see what is wrong with what he says but he is sad that it has negatively affected his daughter. He decides to call Marvin Murphy (Colman Domingo) and apologize for what he said. Afterwards, he calls Phil Daldry and informs him that he is resigning from the post of head basketball coach, effective immediately.
Dick is a farmer during the day, something he figure he will do until the day he dies.
When Willow arrives at school, she can tell something feels off. And not in the tragic sense. Moreso, she feels like everyone is laying their eyes of disgust upon her. This carries over into class and she asks Elliott (Ed Oxenbould), who sits next to her, what is wrong. He says that it something that her dad said. Their teacher Thomas (John Gallagher Jr.) sees them talking and shuts it down, leaving Willow flushed with embarrassment.
The talk of the town over the next day becomes about the racial insensitivty of Dick’s comments. This is actually debated, with some thinking it is not as bad as others. At the farm, Dick’s is relatively anonymous so he can go about things as normal. It is when he gets home that he learns from Laurie the controversy that his comments have stirred. When Willow gets home from school, all she says is that she called in from work tonight and goes straight to her room.
The next day, things get worse as Dick’s comments are picked up by the Indianapolis Star - still capitalizing on any coverage they can from Von’s death. This prompts a spike in media requests for Dick, as well as out-of-towners traveling to Burnt Prairie to protest.
In Thomas’s history class, he calls an audible and makes today’s class about “Race in America”. This doesn’t help Willow’s self-esteem as she feels this is targeted towards her so she leaves class prematurely.
After class, Thomas hunts through the halls to find Willow. He apologizes if class today struck a nerve with her but he felt it was the right time to talk about it with the students. He says that Dick’s comments require some perspective and that people in town tend to view things through a very narrow lens. In small communities like this, people only know as much as they are exposed to and that is how they view the world. It’s moreso ignorance than malicious intent. Willow asks if he is calling her dad ignorant. He says everyone is ignorant to a degree until they are open to learning more about what they don’t know. And that is why he thought this would be a good time to teach about minority cultures. This gets through to her and she thanks him.
Laurie is surprised to see an old red Ford pickup truck pull up in their driveway. It is Alan Carpenter (Aden Young), Dick’s older son. He lives in Indianapolis so doesn’t come around very often but says that he wanted to check on how his father was doing. He and Dick do some catching up - Dick doesn’t seem too bothered by the controversy, and doesn’t think his comments were that bad. Alan actually agrees.
The mood around town has grown hostile as most have grown vocally protective of their long-tenured coach and are angered by the calls for his resignation. This includes Cal (Josh Lucas), who secretly instigated this controversy but still believes this team has a shot at making it far in the playoffs. In a joint statement from Mayor Colleen Lamb (Annabeth Gish) and BPHS Principal Phil Daldry (Timothy Busfield), they condemn the comments but saying that Coach Carpenter’s 40+ years of community service and mentoring should be the truest statement of his character, not a few off-hand remarks.
Willow catches up with her brother, who is 25 years older than her. He asks about how school is going and she says not easy. She says that their father’s comments have rubbed off poorly on her. Alan grows defensive and says that is just how Dick’s generation talks. Willow is honest and says that she thinks he should resign - the amount of stress that coaching and farming takes on him can’t be good anyways. Alan is angered to hear this and tells her she is out of line. Dick Carpenter is an Indiana basketball legend and he can retire when he pleases. Laurie overhears Alan raising his voice towards Willow and steps in, telling him he needs to back out. Willow storms off, crying.
Laurie talks to Dick about the argument she overheard and this disheartens him. He still doesn’t see what is wrong with what he says but he is sad that it has negatively affected his daughter. He decides to call Marvin Murphy (Colman Domingo) and apologize for what he said. Afterwards, he calls Phil Daldry and informs him that he is resigning from the post of head basketball coach, effective immediately.
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