Welcome to the mini story for Bad Choices.
Let’s get started with the story.
David Beckham is a man who wants to have his cake and eat it too.
He wants to be a famous movie star and a famous football player.
So he moves to Hollywood.
He hooks up with Tom Cruise.
They hit it off immediately.
David likes Tom, Tom likes David.
Beckham says, “The bottom line is that I want to be a movie star just like you, Tom.
Can you help me?”
Tom says “Of course, my gut tells me you will be a big success in Hollywood.”
So Tom introduces Becks to a director who is very powerful.
The director makes a movie with Beckham, but it’s a terrible movie.
Everybody hates it and they hate Beckham.
The public feels a powerful animosity towards Beckham.
They can’t stand him.
They yell at him.
They throw things at him.
Beckham can’t deal with the public’s animosity.
He is a guy who is very sensitive.
He becomes scared.
He feels this is a dire situation.
Beckham is so scared he won’t leave his house.
He keeps the windows closed and the doors locked.
He becomes paranoid and he won’t leave the house even to play soccer.
Finally, his team manager calls and says, “This is a situation which is unaccept-
able.
You’re fired!”
Beckham cries, “No.”
He has no job and nobody can stand him.
Okay, let’s go back to the top.
This time with questions.
David Beckham is a man who wants to have his cake and eat it too.
Does Beckham want two things but really he can only have one?
Yes, that’s the exact meaning of to have his cake and eat it too.
What does he want?
What two things does he want?
Well he wants to be a soccer player and a movie star.
He wants both.
But actually he must choose.
He can only be one, either a movie star or a soccer player.
He doesn’t have enough time or talent or skill to do both.
But he wants both.
He wants to have his cake and eat it too.
Does Beckham want to have his cake and eat it too by being rich and good looking?
Well no, actu- ally, now.
It’s possible to be rich and good looking.
That’s okay, you can look good, you can be handsome and rich.
You don’t need to choose between those two things.
So that’s not the problem.
He wants to have his cake and eat it too because he wants to be a famous soccer player and
be a famous actor at the same time and this is not possible.
He wants to have his cake and eat it too.
He wants both things but he can only have one.
So he moves to Hollywood.
He hooks up with Tom Cruise.
Does he meet Tom Cruise?
Yes he does, he meets Tom Cruise.
Does he hook up with John Travolta?
No, he doesn’t hook up with John Travolta.
Does he hook up with Julia Roberts?
No, he doesn’t hook up with Julia Roberts.
Does he hook up with Tom Cruise?
Yes, he does of course.
Does he hook up with Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise?
Well he hooks up with Tom Cruise.
Does he hook up with The Spice Girls?
Well in the past he hooked up with one of The Spice Girls, right?
He hooked up with one of The Spice Girls.
Now this is a different meaning of hooked up.
Is he dating Tom Cruise?
Well no he’s not, no.
He hooked up with Tom Cruise means he just met Tom Cruise.
They met, they got together.
But if he hooked up with one of The Spice Girls then that means yea, he’s dating her,
he’s married to her now, etcetera.
So he hooked up with Tom Cruise and they hit it off immediately.
Did Tom hate David?
No, no, no, they hit it off immediately.
They liked each other immediately.
Did Beckham hit it off with Tom?
Yes he did.
Beckham liked Tom.
Did Tom hit it off with Beckham?
Yea, Tom also liked Beckham.
They hit it off, they both hit it off.
Did Tom Cruise hit it off with Ronaldhino?
No, no, no he didn’t hit it of with Ronaldhino in fact he hates Ronaldhino.
He hates him.
He likes Beckham because Beckham is cool and he looks good.
So he hit it off with David Beckham, he did not hit it off with Ronaldhino.
Who did Beckham hit it off with?
Well he hit it off with Tom Cruise.
Alright, so they liked each other and Beckham said, “The bottom line Tom is that I want
to be a movie star just like you.”
What is Beckham’s final point?
His most important point?
Well the most important thing he wants is to be a movie star just like Tom Cruise.
That’s the bottom line.
Is the bottom line that Beckham wants money?
No, no, that’s not the bottom line.
Money is not the most important thing for Beckham right now.
What is the bottom line for David Beckham?
The bottom line is he wants to be a famous movie star.
That’s his bottom line.
That’s his main point, his final point, his most important point.
What is Tom Cruise’s bottom line?
Well maybe Tom Cruise’s bottom line is Scientology, his religion.
That’s his bottom line; he wants to get David to join Scientology, to join his religion.
That’s Tom’s secret bottom line.
But Beckham’s bottom line is that he wants to be a movie star.
So he says, “The bottom line is that I want to be a movie star just like you.”
Tom Cruise says “Of course, my gut tells me you will be a big success in Hollywood.”
Does Tom know definitely, 100% that Beckham will succeed?
No, no, no, no.
He doesn’t know, not in his brain, not in his mind.
His gut tells him that he will be a big success.
He has a feeling, right?
A feeling in his stomach.
He has a deep feeling that Beckham will be successful, but he doesn’t really know;
he’s not sure, he just has a strong feeling.
His gut tells him that Beckham will be a big success in Hollywood.
Does his gut tell him that Beckham will be a great soccer player in Los Angeles?
No, no, his gut does not tell him he will be a great soccer player.
What does Tom’s gut tell him?
Tom’s gut tells him that Beckham will be a big success in Hollywood as an actor.
His gut doesn’t tell him that he’ll be a big success as a soccer player, maybe he
won’t be.
But his gut tells him that he’ll be a big success in Hollywood.
Whose gut tells him that Beckham will succeed?
Well Tom Cruise’s gut tells him that Beckham will be a big success in Hollywood.
And so Tom introduces Beckham to a director who is very powerful.
The director makes a movie with Beckham but it’s a terrible movie; everybody hates it
and they hate Beckham too.
The public feels a powerful animosity towards Beckham.
Does the public like David Beckham?
No, they feel animosity towards him.
Do they think Beckham is their enemy?
Yes, that’s right, they think David Beckham is their enemy.
He is the enemy of goodness, he is the enemy of good quality, he is the enemy of honesty.
He is their enemy.
They feel a powerful animosity towards him.
They feel ani- mosity towards Beckham.
Who feels animosity towards Beckham?
Well the public; the American public feels animosity towards Beckham.
Does Tom Cruise feel animosity towards Beckham?
No, no, no, Tom still likes David Beckham.
Tom does not feel animosity towards Beckham.
The public feels animosity towards Beckham.
Does Beckham feel animosity towards the public?
No, no, Beckham loves the public, he wants them to love him.
The public feels animosity towards Beckham but Beckham does not feel animosity towards
the public.
So the public feels animosity towards Beckham.
They can’t stand him.
Do they love him?
No, the opposite; they can’t stand him, they hate him.
Who can’t the public stand?
Well the public can’t stand David Beckham.
Can the public stand Tom Cruise?
Yea, yea, they still like Tom Cruise, but they can’t stand David Beckham.
Can Beckham’s wife stand him?
Yes, yes, his wife can stand him, she still likes him, she still loves him, but the pub-
lic can’t stand David Beckham.
They can’t stand him.
They don’t like him.
They hate him.
They can’t stand him so they yell at him and throw things at him.
“You suck, yea.”
Beckham can’t deal with the animosity.
Can Beckham handle the animosity, the bad feeling?
No he can’t handle it.
Can he survive it?
No, he can’t survive it.
He feels horrible, he feels terrible.
He wants to hide.
He can’t deal with the animosity.
He can’t handle it, he can’t survive it.
He can’t keep trying when everybody yells at him.
Why can’t he deal with the animosity?
Well Beckham can’t deal with the animosity because he’s very sensitive.
He’s a guy who’s very sensitive.
So Beckham can’t deal with the bad feelings.
Beckham can’t deal with the public’s animosity.
Can Beckham deal with his coach?
Yea, yea, Beckham can deal with his soccer coach.
If his soccer coach becomes angry Beckham can deal with it; he can deal with it, no
problem.
But he can’t deal with the public’s animosity.
He can’t deal with the public’s hatred.
Beckham can’t deal with the public not liking him.
He can deal with his coach, but he can’t deal with the public’s animosity.
He is a guy who is very sensitive so he becomes scared.
He feels this is a dire situation.
Does he think this is a dangerous and difficult and scary situation?
Yes exactly, he feels this is a dire situation.
Does he feel like it’s a risky situation, possibly danger- ous?
Yes, that’s right he feels it is a dire situation, a very, very risky situation.
What is the dire situa- tion?
Well the dire situation is the public’s animosity.
They hate him, that’s the dire situation.
Does he have a dire situation with soccer, with football?
No, no, no he’s still good at playing soccer.
He does not have a dire situation with soccer.
That’s not a dire situation.
But his movie career has a dire situation.
This is a dire situation.
It’s a dire situation that the public hates him.
Beckham is so scared, he won’t leave his house.
He keeps the windows closed and locked.
He keeps his doors closed and locked.
He becomes paranoid.
Does Beckham think that everyone wants to hurt him?
Yes, he’s paranoid.
He thinks everybody wants to hurt him.
Does he think Tom Cruise wants to hurt him?
Yes, he does.
He thinks that even Tom Cruise wants to hurt him.
He’s paranoid.
Does Tom really want to hurt him?
No, no, Tom really does not want to hurt Beckham.
Tom still likes Beckham, but Beckham’s paranoid.
Beckham thinks everybody wants to hurt him, even Tom Cruise, even his wife.
He thinks everyone wants to hurt him and everyone hates him, he’s paranoid.
Is he paranoid about his wife?
Yes he is.
He thinks his wife also hates him.
Is he para- noid about Tom Cruise?
Yes, he thinks Tom Cruise wants to hate him also and wants to hurt him.
Does he think that everyone in the world wants to hurt him?
Yes he does.
He’s very, very paranoid.
He thinks everyone in the world hates him and wants to hurt him.
He is super paranoid.
He is so paranoid that he won’t leave his house.
He won’t even go to play soccer.
Finally, his team coach, his team manager calls and says, “Beckham, this is a situation
which is unacceptable, you’re fired!”
Beckham loses his job and his movie career.
He starts to cry, “Oh, no, everybody hates me.”
He has no job and nobody can stand him.
Does anybody like Beckham now?
No, not anymore.
Finally nobody likes him.
Finally nobody can stand him.
Can Tom Cruise stand him finally, in the end?
No, even Tom Cruise can’t stand him in the end.
Why can’t Tom Cruise stand him anymore?
Well because he’s so paranoid right?
He’s always telling Tom, “You want to hurt me, you want to hurt me, you hate me.”
And so now even Tom cruise can’t stand him.
Can his wife stand him anymore?
No, even his wife can’t stand him.
Now she wants a divorce because Beckham is not famous anymore, nobody likes him.
So his wife wants a divorce.
She can’t stand him, Tom Cruise can’t stand him, his coach can’t stand him, the
public can’t stand him, nobody likes him.
Okay this one is a little long so no time to pause.
So what I would like you to do, go back, listen to each sentence then pause, then repeat the
sentence, copy my pronunciation.
Then listen to the next sentence, pause again, repeat my pronunciation, copy my pronunciation
and then play one more sentence and then pause and again, copy my pronunciation.
After you do that, finally, try to tell all of the story yourself.
Okay, go on to the Point of View Mini Stories Next.