Pressure Point

I told you two months ago. I told you I was finished with this case.

I meant it then, and I mean it now! I'm finished!

Come in, doctor. Come in, come in, come in, come in, come in.

I'm sorry.

But I'm off the case.

And I don't want to argue about it.

I've heard everything you had to say. I don't wanna talk about it.

- I just wanna tell you that I'm finished. - What happened now?

- Nothing's happened. - Obviously something has.

Nothing's happened now that hasn't been happening for the past 71/2 months.

I'm not sure why I'm so calm this morning, but at any rate...

If I go on with this kid, he's gonna have me running up walls.

I tell you, time and time and time again...

...I bring him to the point where I think I can do something with him...

...and every single time I run into this hatred.

Now, the boy hates me.

You don't understand how deeply he hates.

I understand. That's his problem.

Oh, I know it's his problem. Believe me. I know that.

But you've got 14 psychiatrists on this staff, and two are Negroes...

...and one of them should be down there with that boy and not me.

The boy is 13 years old.

His mother was a prostitute who brought home white men.

His father was hanged by white men for killing a white man his mom brought home.

God only knows I respect you.

And I respect your experience. But, doctor, in this case...

...your reasoning is wrong. Dead wrong.

It's not wrong. I spoke with the patient last week.

In my judgment, it is essential, having undertaken this case...

...that you see it through. - Don't you think I know that?

What do you think has been keeping me going on this case for 71/2 months...

...without getting anywhere?! - Easy.

I'm sorry.

But this boy's got me over a barrel in a way that...

I don't eat.

I just don't eat. And I don't remember the last time I've been able to sleep.

And I feel like hell. I...

You have a job to do. I never heard anyone describe it as an easy one.

No! No, if failing with that boy means that I've failed on this job...

...then I've failed. But you're taking me off as of now.

And suppose I don't remove you from the case?

Well, then, I'm through. And I mean that.

And I don't care.

You're really serious, aren't you?

I'm sorry, doctor, that I've gotten excited...

...but I just can't handle it.

I'm serious.

I thought for quite a while about putting Smith or Harris on this case...

...because they are Negroes, but I didn't for just one reason:

I have more confidence in you than in either one of them.

They're good, but they're not quite as good as you are.

And I do understand how you feel.

I do understand how you feel.

I quit my job one time...

...and it was the first really good job I ever had.

Prison psychiatrist in a federal penitentiary.

Sit down.

The case that had me over a barrel came in in 1942.

Twenty-nine years old, Caucasian...

...and sentenced to three years for sedition.

Okay, whatever you say, doc. See you tomorrow.

I was working on 40 or 50 cases at the time, and it was 20 years ago.

- All right. - But I remember.

I remember the time he walked into my office...

...as if it were yesterday.

Sit down.

No, on second thought, keep laughing.

Just stand there and keep laughing.

They told me you don't like answering questions.

You got a job to do. Go ahead and do it.

- Exactly what do you think my job is? - What do you think I think?

I'm not insane, if that's what you're trying to find out.

According to this information you've done some mighty strange things.

That's your opinion.

Do you really believe all those things you've been doing and saying?

You really do, don't you?

Enough to go to jail for it.

If a man won't take some risk for what he believes in...

...either his opinions are no good or he's no good.

Which is it with you?

Look, let's not get personal. Are you a doctor, or aren't you?

- My job is to find out exactly... - I don't care what your job is.

- I don't even care what you think. - Why not?

Because you're a Negro.

So finish asking your questions and let me get out of here.

You can go anytime you like.

But before you go...

...tell me, what have you got against us Negroes?

- You really want to know? - I really want to know.

What do you got against us whites?

There's your answer.

Now that Jews put that cripple in the White House, you people think you got it made.

I suppose so.

Okay.

You got me in here. There's nothing I can do about that.

You can ask me all the questions you want, you can even write down that I'm crazy.

But you can't keep me in here forever.

I don't know about that. Shouldn't be too difficult to get you committed...

...when your sentence expires. After all, I've got it made.

And since they've got that cripple in the White House...

...should be easy to get a couple of my colleagues...

...a couple of Jew psychiatrists, to certify you insane.

You're trying to needle me, huh?

Just trying to get to know you.

Tell me, do you really feel what you believe?

- What do you mean? - Well...

...what you say about the government and Jews and Negroes.

Most of it.

And the rest?

Politics.

And you really expect to win like that? Look what it's gotten you so far.

Oh, that was a predictable setback, I'd say. After all, Hitler had his.

He wrote Mein Kampf in prison, you know.

Do you intend to write your memoirs?

Maybe.

What do you expect to do when you get out?

Same thing I did before.

Advocate the violent overthrow of the government.

Not necessarily violent.

It'll depend on the American people.

In the meantime, I plan to read and prepare myself for the future.

I understand you have a marvelous library here.

I was somewhat ashamed of the way I had conducted that first interview.

I certainly did not feel I had been objective.

I had to admit to myself that I was disappointed...

...when I found that he was to be confined for a short time.

For everything about the man, everything he believed and stood for...

...alienated me, repelled me.

Curious, I thought, how detached and even tolerant I could be...

...with the murderers and thieves I treated every day. But with him...

Well, any more questions?

Oh, I see. You're studying me.

Well, go ahead. How about a closer look?

You want me to take my clothes off?

More on the basis of his history than the interview...

...I decided he was a psychopathic personality.

He was paranoid, aggressive, antisocial.

And because he was a leader type, he might become a focal point...

...for the impressionable inmates. I recommended that he be quartered alone...

...under maximum security precautions to prevent him from spreading his ideas.

Okay, let's have it. 'Round and 'round we go.

Let him go! Let him go. I'll give you a good reason for not liking Jews.

Break it up! Break it up!

- Break it up! - What happened?

This big man's been picking on this little man...

- Who started it?! - I did! And don't you forget that, big man!

He's been making trouble since he got here.

I'm not surprised. I just had a brief talk with him, and that was enough.

How would you like a longer talk?

I wouldn't. I don't think I could be of help right now.

Why not?

There's little I can do without cooperation, and he didn't seem very cooperative to me.

- What do you expect us to do with him? - I don't know.

Look, let's just wait a while and see what happens.

But if there's more trouble, you're stuck with him.

- How's that? - Thanks a lot.

That's the spirit. Keep smiling, I always say.

Yeah, well, whatever you always say.

- I'll see you later. - Okay.

Where were we?

There doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong.

I can't sleep. For the past week I've...

Keep breathing deeply.

Can't you give me some sleeping pills?

Not unless I find some reason for it.

All right, you can put your shirt back on.

What am I gonna do, then?

If you can't sleep, there must be some reason for it. Right?

I suppose so.

Well, that's what we're going to find out.

Take your time.

What can I do for you?

I didn't ask to come here, so let's not play any games.

Your answers are probably on those cards.

What I've learned from this is that there's nothing organically wrong with you...

...that you have occasional blackout spells...

...and that you find it difficult to fall asleep.

That's enough, isn't it? What's that "what can I do for you" routine?

I didn't ask you what was wrong with you.

I wanted to know if you thought I could help you, if you'd let me help you.

Help me, huh? Look who's calling the kettle black.

Who ever heard of a Negro psychiatrist, anyway?

Don't you people have enough troubles?

Boy, you must be a real masochist.

Why can't a Negro be a psychiatrist?

He can. Yeah, he can.

But where is he gonna get his patients outside of a federal penitentiary?

Psychiatry is an expensive thing, and your people can't afford it, you know.

So the best you can be is a prison psychiatrist in the worst office they've got.

You want to help me?

- Why don't you just help yourself. - What do you mean?

This isn't the place for you.

All you people are trying to be white and respectable.

Want to be doctors, psychiatrists.

Why don't you wise up?

How would I do that?

Go back to Africa.

- What about those blackout spells? - What about them?

- Can you describe them? - I just wanna sleep.

Can't you give me some pill?