Adaptation · written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman · 2002

Charlie tells his therapist he wants to be loved for himself, then catches himself staring at her body.

Scene 56 of 202 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act one

Kaufman

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 34 min into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 56

Unable to find a conventional story in The Orchid Thief, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman turns his own crisis into an increasingly self-referential adaptation.

Scenes 1–9
Charlie inhabits an isolated, self-condemning world while Orlean’s book supplies a distant model of obsession.
Scene 10
Valerie and Margaret give Charlie the assignment to adapt The Orchid Thief.
Scene 31
Donald’s rivalry and affection give Charlie a living counterpoint to his isolated view of himself.
Just before
Scene 53
Orlean types about the variety of orchids and their strange forms.
Scene 54
At the orchid show, Charlie sees women rather than flowers as Orlean describes people’s consuming passion for orchids.
Scene 55
Teenage Laroche photographs an orchid with his mother and continues his count toward cataloguing every Florida species.
Scene 56
This scene

56INT. THERAPIST'S OFFICE - DAY

Kaufman talks to the therapist.

KAUFMAN

I'm successful, right? I mean, I could

say to a woman, I'm a screenwriter and

she'd look at me differently. I could

get laid. But I want someone to like me.

For me. Y'know? The way I like them.

The way I'd do anything for that woman

walking down the street. A million women

walking down the street. I don't need to

know what their jobs are. No one will

ever love me like that. Like I love

almost every woman I see.

Kaufman glances down at his therapist's breasts. He does it fast and unintentionally. He quickly shifts back to her face. His therapist wraps her shawl around her.