[STREET AMBIENCE — busy sidewalk, traffic rolling past] REALLY HOOD: Lemme ask you something. WOMAN: Here you go. REALLY HOOD: [laughs] How can you tell when somebody actually knows you? WOMAN: When I don't have to keep correcting their version of me. REALLY HOOD: Hmm. Explain that. WOMAN: You ever know somebody for years and realize they've been interacting with a version of you they made up? REALLY HOOD: Absolutely. WOMAN: That's not knowing me. You know my name. You know what I do. You know some stuff that happened to me. But do you know what makes me quiet? Do you know the difference between when I'm angry and when I'm done? Do you know what I find funny? Do you know what I won't tolerate? Do you know when I need help without assuming I'm helpless? That's knowing somebody. REALLY HOOD: Okay, but people aren't mind readers. WOMAN: I didn't say they were. You teach people you. REALLY HOOD: Hmm. WOMAN: The problem is when I've taught you—and you keep choosing your version anyway. REALLY HOOD: There it is. WOMAN: Because now we're not talking about misunderstanding. We're talking about convenience. Your version of me works better for you. REALLY HOOD: Give me an example. WOMAN: Okay. Say I'm always the strong one. Everybody calls me when something happens. I solve it. I organize it. I figure it out. Then one day I say, “I'm tired.” And you tell me— “Girl, you'll figure it out. You always do.” REALLY HOOD: Oof. WOMAN: You see? You heard me. But you responded to Strong Me instead of the woman standing in front of you saying she's tired. REALLY HOOD: So what do you do? WOMAN: First? I clarify. I'm not one of these people who expects everybody to magically know what I mean. I'll tell you. REALLY HOOD: And after that? WOMAN: I watch. REALLY HOOD: Not argue? WOMAN: No. Why would I argue with data? [brief pause] REALLY HOOD: Here y'all go with this data again. WOMAN: [laughs] Because people tell you who they think you are all day long. Watch what they bring you. Watch what they expect from you. Watch what they forgive themselves for but won't forgive you for. Watch what they're shocked to see you accomplish. REALLY HOOD: That last one— WOMAN: Yeah. Sometimes somebody's surprise at your growth tells you how small they had you pictured. REALLY HOOD: Damn. WOMAN: And I don't have to hate them for it. I just need to know what room I'm standing in. REALLY HOOD: So what's the Viper rule? WOMAN: Don't spend your whole life auditioning for a better role in somebody else's imagination. [street noise — brief pause] REALLY HOOD: Yeah. WOMAN: Know yourself well enough that being misunderstood is information—not an identity crisis. REALLY HOOD: You been waiting for me to ask you something, haven't you? WOMAN: All week. [both laugh] [LOW STING] VOICEOVER: THE VIPER CODE. Being familiar with you is not the same as knowing you. Clarify yourself once. After that—observe.
