The shooting script features a scene in Angela 's car in which Ricky and Jane talk about death and beauty ; the scene differed from earlier versions , which set it as a " big scene on a freeway " in which the three witness a car crash and see a dead body . The change was a practical decision , as the production was behind schedule and they needed to cut costs . The schedule called for two days to be spent filming the crash , but only half a day was available . Ball agreed , but only if the scene could retain a line of Ricky 's where he reflects on having once seen a dead homeless woman : " When you see something like that , it 's like God is looking right at you , just for a second . And if you 're careful , you can look right back . " Jane asks : " And what do you see ? " Ricky : " Beauty . " Ball said , " They wanted to cut that scene . They said it 's not important . I said , ' You 're out of your fucking mind . It 's one of the most important scenes in the movie ! ' [ ... ] If any one line is the heart and soul of this movie , that is the line . " Another scene was rewritten to accommodate the loss of the freeway sequence ; set in a schoolyard , it presents a " turning point " for Jane in that she chooses to walk home with Ricky instead of going with Angela . By the end of filming , the script had been through 10 drafts .