Questionable Behavior

By Jack Foley

I am tempted to write a film script
Called QUESTIONABLE BEHAVIOR.
In this script people would do things
That were legal but unethical.
They would profit at the expense
(Pun intended) of others.
Nor would the questionable
Behavior be limited to the characters.
I should like to point out
That writing a film script is a prime example of questionable
behavior.
Look what it did to F. Scott Fitzgerald.
And not only writing a film but producing one (Think of Harvey
Weinstein)
Or directing one
(Think of John Ford, “The only man who could make John
Wayne cry,”
Or of Alfred Hitchcock, who was asked by a Concerned doctor,
“Are you trying to KILL
Tippi Hedren?” The answer
Was probably yes.)
Need I go on about the lives of actors?
I mean the successful ones, leaving
Aside the ones who fail or who achieve
(In Jimmy Carter’s wonderful phrase) only “limited success.”
How many suffer heartbreak or hopeless dependency
On drugs? How many become total drunks
Who were once sensitive, intelligent people?
How many become crazies like Marlon Brando
Or tragic heroines like Marilyn Monroe, Peg Entwhistle, and Jean
Spangler?
I know of two
Who murdered their wives
And then themselves.
Better to find
Something else to do,
To stay in the darkness of unfame
In a nice house
With plenty of DVDs
And a pretty girl or boy
Who has strong arms, a great smile,
And talented underwear.