American Woman

Open the door.

They tell me you won't have visitors.

Not even your own father.

Why did you ask for me?

Could you get this to her?

They're throwing the book at her, you know.

Her lawyer may try to see you.

Get your help.

I'd sure like to know why you girls are so goddamn mad.

...fire ricocheted

across the parking lot.

Store clerks recognized the shooter

as the kidnapped heiress,

whose conversion to a radical cause

has captivated the nation this year.

We're coming to you now live from East Los Angeles,

where local and federal law enforcement have surrounded

what is thought to be a safe house of the kidnappers

who call themselves the "PAL."

The People's Army of Liberation.

That's Los Angeles?

They broke into Match Game.

I mean, this is happening right this minute.

It's that Army of People's Liberation,

or whatever they call themselves.

Radicals.

And that poor, brainwashed girl.

"Brainwashed"?

Oh, Iris, read a newspaper once in a while.

They snatched her from her own home at gunpoint.

Next thing you know,

they got her running around with them robbing banks.

Surely, you've heard them on the radio? Their communiques.

"Mom, Dad, I'm joining the revolution!"

I'm alive.

God only knows what they did to her.

How do you know she doesn't really agree with them?

Do you know who her grandfather is?

Who her people are?

A girl like that doesn't really change.

Not a girl from that family.

I'm hearing explosions.

I'm hearing ammunition in the house blowing up.

What I presume to be ammunition.

The house is engulfed in flames.

No one is getting out of there alive, I'm afraid.

A tragic end to this very dramatic story.

Oh, I'm going to need a yellow croquet ball.

And I won't pay for a whole new set.

I just want the one.

You could go into the city if you have to.

I understand that they have everything

down in Chinatown there.

"Dear Michael,

"I love you.

"I miss you.

"It's hard hiding.

"Hiding who I am, holding my tongue...

"I don't know how much longer I can stand it.

"I never wanted to be in this alone.

"I need money or friends.

"I don't have either.

"Please write back."

Iris?

Iris, is that you?

I hope you got lemons.

Ah.

And I see you picked up my pills. Good.

What about my croquet ball?

You were right, they have them in Chinatown.

I knew it.

Oh, and, Iris,

somebody came by today looking for you.

I hope you recall our agreement

about room and board.

Of course.

No male visitors.

It must be a mistake.

What do you mean a mistake? How could it be a mistake?

How many Oriental girls are there

living in Upstate New York, do you think?

What's the matter with you?

Housekeeping.

I'm not wearing a wire.

Might be happy to see a friendly face.

All my friends are in prison. How'd you find me?

Some of those friends get letters from you.

I figured you must have a go-between.

Sharon sold me out?

All she did was give me a post office box.

And then only after I swore

that I just wanted to help you.

- I don't need help. - Why, because you have a plan?

You saw this.

- The safe house is burned. - Everybody saw it.

Those poor people.

They were good at getting attention,

but does anyone really know what they were fighting for?

Couple of those people weren't in the house.

That girl is alive. Pauline?

Her and a couple of the others.

I've got them stashed in a safe house

in the middle of nowhere up north.

Are you out of your mind?

Those are the most-wanted people in America.

Exactly. It's a sensational story.

They're gonna write a book.

And I'm gonna publish it.

They need someone to take care

of the everyday things while they write.

So, you know... Grocery shopping.

Someone who knows how to hide.

You came from them to me?

Come on, you believe in their principles

even if their tactics are a little far-out.

They kidnapped her!

Liberated her! And she calls it that.

Come on. You're broke, you're alone.

You can't go on like this.

You're lucky it was me who found you.

You know, as well as I do,

if the Feds kick down the door,

they won't bother to take you alive.

Think of the deal I could get right now

with what you just told me.

They'd drop all the charges.

I know you'd never sell anyone out.

Six weeks.

And then anything you want.

Their book could do what we always wanted.

How much does it pay?

President is going down.

Everyone knows he's a liar.

Everyone knows it was a disgraceful war.

A lot of people hated the war.

They wrote letters, they marched.

Not everyone did what I did.

Get yourself the right lawyers.

The right lawyers cost money.

Get the book done.

You'll have the best lawyers money can buy.

Pauline does that.

Keeps her calm.

I'm Jenny.

How long have you been underground?

Couple years?

I got a lot to learn.

News is the manhunt's still in California.

You've been spotted in Alberta, Tijuana,

but nowhere east.

Juan? Baby?

This is Jenny. Michael Fisher's girlfriend.

Did Frazer bring cigarettes?

Hey.

I'm Jenny.

You make bombs.

I used to.

Juan says you bombed an office building.

It was a draft office.

A government target.

It was the middle of the night.

What the fuck am I supposed to do with one gun?

This isn't one of your campus protests, man.

You can't leave us defenseless.

They murdered our comrades. This is a war.

There's a time to rise up,

there's also a time to lie low.

Folks want to get behind you.

Your book is gonna reach them.

And fund your struggle as a bonus.

He's right. We need to survive.

- Thanks, man. - Okay.

I'll take the pickup and leave the Beetle. It's clean.

I thought maybe they could dictate the book,

you could, uh, type it up.

Just get them writing.

You need to eat.

I'm too tired.

I can't sleep with all the mice.

Eat.

Our brothers and sisters all over the world

survive on only one bowl of rice a day.

Yeah, not like the fat pigs you grew up with,

gorging themselves.

Frazer brought newspapers.

He thought you might want to read

how they reported the fire.

We watched it on TV.

Our comrades burned alive

while America sat eating their TV dinners.

Search and destroy.

That wasn't just something that happened.

Let me tell you, that's a fucking policy.

Juan fought alongside his black brothers in Vietnam.

He saw things.

You could write about that.

About what?

About the war, how it changed your thinking.

You could write about how you grew up with so much

and how little you need now.