01x04 - And Still I Rise FICTION ANG

[bunniefuu]

Hey, Wendy. You know, I forgot it was

"Women's Appreciation Week."

You don't have to use air quotes,

it's an actual thing.

A whole week to appreciate women?

Cool! We finally caught up to sharks.

Wendy, we should be

appreciated every day, okay?

Not just for a week or

whenever the patriarchy decides.

No, this was home office's idea,

and at this branch, it

is for women by a woman.

Bought and built this my-shelf.

Six hours, four splinters,

one awesome shelf.

Did the patriarchy

I mean, home office,

send you a book list?

No, their only instruction was

to display books representing

all of the viewpoints

of the women in our area.

- (SCOFFING) In Parkdale?

- Mm-hm!

I just heard two women on

Cowan arguing about urban tree

planning in the middle of an

argument about The Bachelor.

Preeti and Yelena are

still going on about that?

Mm-hm.

All the more reason for the shelf.

I want women here to feel

heard and appreciated.

Girls, hi! Can you actually

help me unload my car?

You probably can't

carry the heavy stuff,

so just leave that to me, right?

So appreciated.

♪

And that's why Women's

History Month in October

is a different thing than

International Women's Day

right now, okay, Bryce?

I still don't understand.

(GROANING) Because you

don't understand women.

Who does? Am I right, Howard?

(CHUCKLING) Ah, look at that, Venus.

Wonder if they mean the

goddess or the planet.

It's a lady-razor.

Anyhoo, as an equalist

(ALL GROANING)

as an equalist,

I feel that men are just

as important as women.

Has anyone thought to

ask men if they might need

a Men's Appreciation Shelf?

Well, those are at every airport ever.

They're called the

James Patterson section.

Well, I for one think that

Women's Appreciation Week

is a fine time to showcase

some female authors like

Okay. No, no, no. You're

going to rattle off some

obscure women authors that this

branch doesn't have copies of,

aren't you?

No, I wasn't, I was going to talk about

some of the ones on this

shelf, like, um, Sam Atwell.

Oh, he's a man.

Oh, um, okay. Lyndsay Salter.

Also a man.

Oh, wow. Um surely Vivian Dermay

Surely is a big dude.

What?

Are the books written by disabled women

on the other side of the shelf?

Guys, I haven't slept.

The shelf took longer than anticipated.

I lost the instructions,

and then I found them stuck to my back,

and then there were two

stick men building it together

and I'm one woman,

and so I snagged this

list off the Internet.

Anyhoo, circling back to

my very valid question,

where is the men's shelf?

Right here, apparently.

For God's sake, Bryce,

if you feel so strongly,

why don't you start a

men's appreciation shelf?

Sorry to chime in on your staff meeting.

I can appreciate that there

are three whole books about

Black women, but why is

it only about their hair?

Our library's stock is limited.

Also, an often overlooked

aspect of herstory

Just to "Yes And" Sheila,

how come there's also

only one book about Indigenous women,

and it is written by a tohtineh?

We will change that.

Yes And-ing Jaq's Yes And.

Where are the books

about women who reject

forced housing structures?

Wendy, how are you

at this staff meeting?

Well, I thought there'd be pastries.

The other branches have

already started posting pics of

their displays on the MPL

website and our branch

(GASPING)

Listen up, I'm asking you as a friend,

go and find a great inclusive

book celebrating women

and bring it to me.

(ALL GROANING)

I'm also telling you as your boss!

Strong, strong. Forceful, too.

Okay.

You'll feel this in your arms tomorrow.

(LAUGHING) It's good for

the Good for the pipes.

Hey, Big Library. Why don't

you give me a hand, won't you?

Oh, what are we doing?

Well, that talk we had earlier

at the meeting really, uh,

resonated with me, so I want to

I want to help promote equality.

Really? That's great!

Yeah. Well, I mean, we're the

only men working today, right?

Well, I mean What

I mean, well, you're part

I'm full they.

Right! Terrific.

Well, everybody's gotta chip in.

Okay, well, I am on board.

Okay.

(GASPING)

What is this?!

I took your advice, Howard,

and I created my own shelf

in protest of the lady-shelf.

Sarcastically! I was being sarcastic!

"What Roger Feels, A

White Man's Journey"

by Derek Cockburn. Classy.

Thank you.

No, no, no. Sheila,

it wasn't I prom

You have to shut this down now!

Mm-hm.

Jaq, what is this?

Oh, Wendy let a local

artist sell her work

to promote Parkdale's

Oh, flowers! It's close-ups of flowers.

I totally get it now.

I mean, yeah, but

they're also paintings

You know what?

One of these will look

so great in my office.

One of these days someone's

going to b*at you to that room.

Well, today's not that day.

Another $150 in overhead saved, baby.

Come on, let me put these in my office.

Zhuzh it up a bit, what do you say?

No, no. They're for sale.

They gotta stay

displayed in the library.

I mean, if we're being technical,

my office is part of the library

and also, my client loves

art. He could purchase it.

Is that right?

Okay, well, you know, if you insist.

Um, I'll go get you a box.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Howard, what's up?

I just wanted to explain

that I was not helping Bryce

with that that Men's Appreciation Shelf.

Okay.

You could say that

from a very young age,

I was brought up on a steady

diet of feminist literature.

Mm.

And of course at Midtown,

I spearheaded and organized

the Women's Appreciation

Week guest speaker panel.

Cool.

And I'm not sure I mentioned this,

but my favourite quote of all time

is by the amazing Toni Morrison.

Yeah, you know, it goes like this. Um

"A good man is a good thing,

but there is nothing in

this world better than a good woman.

She can be your mother,

your wife, your girlfriend,

or your sister, or

someone you work next to.

Don't matter. You find one, stay there."

Although, I'm often

reminded of my favourite

Toni Morrison quote.

Oh, you've got one too.

"Be wary of those convinced

they know the plight of another.

It's often a mask used

for overcompensation."

(CHUCKLING)

Do you know that one?

- No, no.

- Oh.

You know, I must've missed

it on my Toni Morrison

quote-of-the-day calendar.

Yeah, that is her voice, though.

So strong, and so, so wise.

I (KNOCKING)

(SNAPPING FINGERS) Yeah.

Excuse me. I gotta

Interesting how quickly

you pulled that quote.

I made it up.

Sometimes it's Toni Morrison.

One time it was Dwayne

"The Rock" Johnson.

(CHUCKLING) Bitchin'. The Rock.

Toni, where are you?

Yes!

No, am I even a feminist?

Don't be ridiculous. Of course you are.

Okay! What do we have?

Howard?

Oh, um, "A Woman's

Worth" by Alex Douglas.

Double checked.

It is in fact a woman

writing about women.

Yeah, white women who

leave women of colour

from the discussion.

Didn't you read Deb Liu's rebuttal?

When was that published?

I don't know, I'm not Wikipedia.

It's okay. Room for all kinds

of points of view, right?

Jaq, what you got?

"Womyn Who Make the Devil Weep,

"A Guide to (BLEEP) Up the Patriarchy."

Oh, big language.

I'm sorry, 2017?

How did I miss this?

You cannot put an F-b*mb up there.

Why not? It's a public library.

You will get public

letters. Very angry letters.

Oh no, no, no, no. I

don't like angry letters.

It gives me agita.

And we don't want that.

Okay, well, we'll just put

this one in front of it.

"Do More, Women Helping

Men" by Jackie Cartwright.

That's disgusting, Bryce.

That's some faux-feminist

bullshit right there.

Language.

Okay, clearly there are books

written by women that

discount the experience

of other groups of women.

Wow. I mean, I am shook.

I'm going to need a minute here, guys.

So the shelf goes. That's my suggestion.

Your suggestion doesn't count.

- You're right! It doesn't!

- What?

I just mean that we are

asking the wrong people!

Wendy, I adore you,

and I can see how you

think this is a good idea,

but this is not gonna end well.

You're wrong, Jaq.

This is definitely going

to have a happy ending.

(CHUCKLING)

Ladies, come fill up my box!

(ALL MUTTERING)

(IMITATING FANFARE)

Doo-doo-doo-doo! ♪

Okay.

"Has anyone seen the

top half of my dentures?"

Uh, this is just a drawing of a cat.

Okay, "I hate shelves." Next.

"There should be more books

by men for men so men can "

(GROANING)

"This display is so early '90s

and not in a cool Boyz II Men way."

"My fries were cold."

Yeah, I told you that

this wouldn't end well.

There's just no way that

a shelf can fully represent

the women of Parkdale.

Hey, the shelf is great!

It's an impossible task, Wendy.

You should probably just get rid of it.

It's Loretta.

- (PHONE RINGING)

- Oh, boy.

JAQ: Hi, Toby.

Hi.

Alvin, maybe can I talk

to you for a second?

Yeah. Uh, just make

yourself at home, okay?

Okay.

Dude, that's Toby Gill,

the youth pastor from

the church on Queen!

Dude, I know. He's my

client. What's up with you?

Well, you should maybe

know that the paintings

that you hung up in your "office,"

they're not of flowers.

They're They're They're

They're vaginas.

What?

- They're vaginas, Alvin.

- No.

A cornucopia of cooters.

Which is awesome,

but maybe not the most

appropriate pieces of art

for a youth pastor.

Oh no. Okay, we are zooming in

two admins from the church later.

Are you sure that those

paintings are of

(WHISPERING) lady parts?

Positive. I mean, didn't you see it?

No, and you knew that!

I did, and it was hilarious at the time,

but now I feel, I don't know, like,

kind of obligated to tell you, um

So, I did,

and, um, peace be with you.

Right. Okay.

LORETTA: How's it going there?

I love the photos that the

other branches are posting.

but I notice that Jameson

hasn't posted any yet.

Is everything okay there?

Yes! I was going to post a

pic of our amazing display,

but patrons keep snatching

books off of the display

and so we have to keep

replenishing the display,

and I realize I'm saying

"display" too much.

All right, all right. Just make

sure you post one before close

otherwise it's gonna look like Jameson

doesn't care about women, and

we all know if anyone cares

a little too much it's you!

Okay, bye!

Oh, beagles.

I've failed the women of Parkdale.

Okay, that one's actually not bad.

Okay, women of Parkdale,

if this is what you want

(LAUGHING)

by golly, this is what you'll get!

What the fresh fedora hell is this?

I thought this was a joke.

Oh, it's real.

It's very real. I mean,

people are into it.

I even ordered some cookies

here to promote the shelf.

Why would you order cookies?

(LAUGHING) Yes!

Where did you get these?

Hold the box up. I need a pic.

How? I ordered "men's cookies"

from that bakery on Dufferin,

and they asked me am I okay

with peanuts and I said,

"Yeah, sure, I love peanuts."

Lil' Sugar?! They specialize

in bachelorette parties, dummy!

You didn't order peanut

cookies, you got penis cookies.

Oh, this is so good.

It's not my fault!

That lady had an accent.

Stop.

Hey, can I get one or four?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Ma'am, these were not meant

The shelf goes, Bryce.

No, no, no! Owen and I have

been working all morning on this.

Owen, Owen, Owen! Tell

her, tell her. Owen, Owen!

Well, then you wasted your whole life,

because this shelf

is the most tone-deaf,

dumbest display I have ever seen!

Bryce, you've got three

books about bow hunting!

Only three books on bow hunting!

(SHUSHING) Would you two knock it off!?

Patrons are staring! This is a library!

- Oh, is it? Is it?

- Oh, this is a library.

Come on, synchronized sarcasm? Charming.

Your shelf sucks, Bryce. Eat a (BLEEP).

Yup.

Great advice. These cookies are stellar.

Yeah, so, I have done a budget breakdown

for the new youth program.

Mm-hm. Alvin is great.

A man of the community

with a good business sense

and moral compass.

And what a nice office.

- (ALVIN CHUCKLING NERVOUSLY)

- Wow.

Look at the art.

PRIEST: Is that a bird of paradise?

Uh-huh. Sure. Sure.

So, if you would focus on the

section of the business plan

that actually, um

Can you move the computer a little bit?

Ah! We lost them.

You know what? We should move to

a different part of the office.

Maybe that corner can get

a better signal, you know?

Sophisticated brushstrokes.

Thank you!

I picked them out myself.

Picked! (LAUGHING)

Because flowers.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

That's clever.

Oh, wow.

All right! We did it!

Okay! Look at that. It's perfect.

Uh, Wendy?

Yes.

Did you take every book

suggested book out of the box?

Yes, I did, except I ignored

the staff's suggestions

who clearly did not

take this task seriously.

"The Old Cat and the Sea"

by Purrnest Hemingway,

might be a real book. You don't know.

Uh-huh.

Just calling Loretta.

(PHONE DIALING, RINGING)

- Hey, Wen

- Loretta, hi! Take a look!

It's fantastic, isn't it?

It's intersectional and inclusive

and diverse and it represents

all of the women in Parkdale!

Wow.

Hey, have you got the book by

my fave female poet River Wave?

Oh, it's, uh

Oh, it's right here!

- (GASPING)

- Oh, no, no, no, no!

What happened?!

- What happened?!

- It's fine!

LORETTA: Should I call someone?

Are you okay?

No, it's fine! Everything's fine!

(BRYCE CLEARING THROAT)

No offense, ladies,

but the shelf assembly

- instructions had a picture of two stick men.

- No.

UNHOUSED WENDY: I will.

I will speak my truth.

So, Sheila just told me

about the shelf collapsing.

Ever-sweet, that woman, but

the whole "celebrating women

for a week" thing is ridiculous.

There aren't enough

shelves to hold everything

that women have to carry.

That's why I travel light.

Mm-hm.

It was an impossible task. I warned her.

Didn't you tell Wendy

that a woman should be

appreciated every day?

Yeah. Every day.

Then why aren't you appreciating

and supporting Wendy today?

Her heart was in the

right place. Always is.

I know, but it It

was just It's a week.

(SIGHING) I was being laterally violent.

Mm, well, I don't know what that means,

but I think I made my point.

And you know, you really

stepped this budget out.

You were saying?

It's a really exciting project

with interesting wrinkles.

I'm sorry, are those paintings of

Gosh, no. No, they're flowers.

They're totally flowers.

Oh, I can see it. I can

really see it. Oh, wow.

I am so sorry, I didn't

realize when I put it up

that they were that.

Oh. Wow. Oh. Oh, wow.

You know what? No, no, no, no, uh!

We can move somewhere else.

Perhaps a table in the library?

Yeah, yeah. Okay, because I

Oh, no. I can't unsee it.

I, uh, have to

"Mm, look at us, we're

the Midtown branch,

our shelves defy gravity."

(KNOCKING) Hey, Wendy, you okay?

The other branches make it look so easy,

their oodles of books, and tidy shelves,

and their bigger budgets.

What did I do wrong?

No, Wendy, you did everything right.

Those other branches in

other parts of the city

service a different type of patron.

UNHOUSED WENDY: Yeah, she means rich,

snobby, elitist,

go to brunch type mother

SHEILA: Wendy, Wendy.

Oh, I'm sorry, I get worked up.

What we all know is

that Jameson is unique.

It's a mix of so many different

kinds of women and experiences.

JAQ: Yeah, the woman

who sees her stories

reflected back at her.

SHEILA: The woman

who's new to the country

and needs a reliable

place for information.

WOMAN: The woman who just

needs a safe place to nap.

The woman who needs a

quiet washroom to read

and a steady supply of soap.

You know, it's exhausting not

always having the resources

or the right answers,

but this library does help

the women in this area.

And I'm sorry I wasn't more supportive.

Thanks, Jaq.

Wait, Wendy, you've been

stealing all the washroom soap?!

Sweet Chihuahua, that

stuff is expensive!

Oh, I know.

It gets me a pretty

penny on the streets.

I hope this isn't going

to take long, Big Library.

I got a lot to do today.

No, it won't take long. Just, here.

Look at this shelf.

All of the authors are male,

and there's shelves like

this all over the library.

Mm-hm.

Okay. Well, what I'm

trying to illustrate is that

men's voices have had

the means to be published

since the beginning of time,

women's voices have not.

Hm.

So, historically there's

a bias, wouldn't you say?

Well, that's because historically

all the great achievements

have been by us.

- (CHUCKLING)

- Ow.

Ow. No, Bryce, the

staff is upset with you.

You brought penis cookies to work.

Your shelf has had its day.

It's time to take it down.

I just feel like it's

unfair that women can be

proud to be women,

but I can't be proud to be a man.

Be proud, man. No one's

telling you not to be proud.

I mean, I'm proud, you should be proud.

We're a couple of proud boys.

(STAMMERING)

I'm hearing it now.

Don't ever repeat that.

But look, be proud,

just don't do it by

taking up space from women.

Fine, I'll take it down.

Good.

And I guess you could say I just had

a come to Lady Jesus moment.

I'm tapped out. Tapped out.

Just joking, real Jesus.

It's fixed!

Did you all do this?

We did.

Bryce here even reinforced it.

You're welcome, female equals.

Wow. I have the best staff.

This is supporting

and appreciating women.

Our shelf d*ed a sad death

and you all brought it back to life

like a phoenix rising from the

JAQ: Please don't make it weird.

If you make it weird,

I'll knock over the shelf.

(CHUCKLING) Good luck with that.

I used double-threaded lag

bolts on this she-wolf here.

You could hump a hippo on that.

Why would there be a hippo in a library?

Shady.

But if they were going

to hump on anything,

why would it be the shelf?

Thing you need to understand

about hippos, Sheila

Okay, anyways, there's an open

spot on the shelf for you to

put your favourite book,

which I already know.

And Still I Rise.

JAQ: Please don't cry.

Oh, I'm not. It's shelf dust.

I still can't see it.

If you just un-focus your

eyes, and look past it,

and then back at it.

Maybe it's upside down?

I'm sorry, guys.

- This is beginning to feel extremely weird.

- Oh.

HOWARD: Yeah. There it

is. Take that home with ya.

- (COMPUTER DINGING)

- Very nice!

Yeah.

- Let's go home.

- Yeah.

JAQ: It'll be so

good to get home ♪

- (CRASHING)

- (GASPING)

- I'm tired.

- So tired.

We've done enough.

We'll fix it tomorrow.

Yeah. Good.

MAN: You happy now?