American Rhetoric: Movie Speech

"The Door in the Floor" (2004)

Ted Cole Reads 'The Door in the Floor'

Audio mp3 delivered by Jeff Bridges

There was a little boy who didn't know if he wanted to be born. His mommy didn't know if she wanted him to be born either. They lived in a cabin, in the woods, on an island, in a lake, and there was no one else around. And in the cabin -- there was a door in the floor.

The little boy was afraid of what was under the door in the floor, and the mommy was afraid, too. Once, long ago, other children had come to visit the cabin for Christmas. But the children had opened the door in the floor and had disappeared down the hole. The mommy had tried to look for the children, but when she opened the door in the floor, she heard such an awful sound that her hair turned completely white, like the hair of a ghost. And, the mommy had also seen some things, things so horrible, you can't imagine them.

And so the mommy wondered if she wanted to have a little boy, especially because of everything that might be under the door in the floor. And then she thought, "Why not? I'll just tell him not to open the door in the floor."

Yet, the little boy still didn't know if he wanted to be born into a world where there was a door in the floor. But, there were some beautiful things in the woods, on the island, and in the lake. "Why not take a chance?" he thought.

And so, the little boy was born, and he was happy, and his mommy was happy again, too.

Although she told the boy, at least once every day, "Don't ever, not ever, never, never, never -- open the door in the floor.

But, of course, he was only a little boy.

If you were that little boy, wouldn't you want to open that door in the floor?