“A SMALL FIGURE crouches, scratching aimlessly at the dirt with one hand. He is shirtless, dressed only in a pair of red overall shorts. He has enormous ears and bushy eyebrows, but besides that, his features…
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“A SMALL FIGURE crouches, scratching aimlessly at the dirt with one hand. He is shirtless, dressed only in a pair of red overall shorts. He has enormous ears and bushy eyebrows, but besides that, his features are completely human. All too human. This man is called MR. PEEPERS. This man is the missing link between human and ape.”
So begins "Peepers, a canticle" - the brilliant, unproduced screenplay by the acclaimed wit and seminal comic actor Christopher Kattan. Deemed too political by studio executives in the emotionally charged atmosphere of the early aughts, it is the story of Mr. Peepers, an enigmatic but deeply sexual creature who emerges from nowhere to become heir to the throne of a Wall Street tycoon, a trusted adviser to George W. Bush, and a media icon. Where did he come from? Why does he love apples so much? What does “Bah” really mean? Such are the questions that characters and readers alike must ask of themselves in this brilliantly satiric broadside against the callowness of American culture. Though the answers to some questions will never be forthcoming, one truth is made eminently clear within these pages: "Peepers, a canticle" is a moving tale, more trenchant now than ever.
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