Corner of Beverly & Kilkea, 9/28/05

Fred: Maybe you could clarify something for me. While I've been waiting for the fleet to show up, I've read a lot, and-
Ted: Really?
Fred: - and one thing that keeps cropping up is about "subtext." Songs, novels, plays- they all have a subtext, which I take to mean a hidden message or import of some kind.
Ted nods.
Fred: So, subtext we know. But what do you call the meaning, or message, that's right there on the surface, completely open and obvious? They never talk about that. What do you call what's above the subtext?
Ted: The text.
Pause.
Fred: Okay. That's right. But they never talk about that.

                    - Whit Stillman's "Barcelona," 1991