“Maybe she died in [can’t remember the city]. Maybe Kansas City”
Conrad laughs.
Why?
The script for Ordinary People is online, in the URL below. The line is “I don’t know. Maybe she died in Idaho. Maybe Kansas City.” It’s on page 35 of the script. I couldn’t find this scene on YouTube, but maybe it’s there:
It is an odd exchange. Maybe it’s a family joke that’s left unexplained to the audience. My family had quote lines that had meanings that were only understood by us.
Maybe that Kansas City isn’t in Idaho? A way to signal her lack of interest in places like Idaho and cities like Kansas City, solidifying her classist mentality.
I’d also WAG that in the book there is some bit earlier about what state Kansas City is in (and how little she cares) that line evokes in shorthand.
I think the humor is that apparently the character Beth is fixated on Idaho for some odd reason that amuses the other person.
She could have just as well been fixated on Oklahoma.
The recently deceased woman was from Idaho and they mention that she liked to travel. There is some uncertainty about whether she died at home in Idaho or on one of her travels. I think the joke is that Kansas City is the sort of destination a person from Idaho would think is worth vacationing in.
She’s dead. What the hell is the difference? Not a statement by me, but a possible implication by Calvin that Conrad “got”.
ETA: wait, this is what I couldn’t come up with the other night: Calvin does not consciously make that implication. Conrad just realizes Calvin go to the heart of the matter without even knowing it.