Birdman Scene 12 Summary

  • Riggan's suiting up for the final scene of the final preview. He apologizes to Laura for being a jerk. They laugh about it.
  • Then he sees Sam kissing Mike and decides to take a little smoke break to cool down before he does something rash and stupid.
  • But when he steps outside the door closes on him, trapping the bathrobe he's wearing.
  • Unable to get back in and unable to pull out the robe, he has to walk around the block to the theater entrance in his underwear…carrying his wig.
  • People immediately notice him and begin asking for autographs and pictures and start filming.
  • When he gets in the theater he throws on the wig and gets right into the scene.
  • At first people laugh but then everyone is quieted and wowed by his performance—even though he's almost naked and using his hand for a gun.
  • The camera pans away and follows Jake who's still, somehow, dealing with Ralph.
  • We hear clapping and then Riggan comes down the hall, still wearing his wig. He sits down and starts dipping some lunchmeat in mustard. Yum.
  • Sam's there and asks how he's doing. Turns out that Riggan's not doing so well. We know: shocker.
  • He's feeling particularly meek today and apologizes to Sam for being a "fine" father.
  • She shows him her project: a toilet paper roll marked up with dashes. Each line represents a thousand years in the history of the universe.
  • Then she shows him the video of him running around the streets of New York in his underwear. He's already started racking up the views.
  • This, she says, is power.