In the script that was sent to prospective actors and directors , Lester and Angela had sex ; by the time of shooting , Ball had rewritten the scene to the final version . Ball initially rebuffed counsel from others that he change the script , feeling they were being puritanical ; the final impetus to alter the scene came from DreamWorks ' then @-@ president Walter Parkes . He convinced Ball by indicating that in Greek mythology , the hero " has a moment of epiphany before [ ... ] tragedy occurs " . Ball later said his anger when writing the first draft had blinded him to the idea that Lester needed to refuse sex with Angela to complete his emotional journey — to achieve redemption . Jinks and Cohen asked Ball not to alter the scene right away , as they felt it would be inappropriate to make changes to the script before a director had been hired . Early drafts also included a flashback to Col. Fitts ' service in the Marines , a sequence that unequivocally established his homosexual leanings . In love with another Marine , Col. Fitts sees the man die and comes to believe that he is being punished for the " sin " of being gay . Ball removed the sequence because it did not fit the structure of the rest of the film — Col. Fitts was the only character to have a flashback — and because it removed the element of surprise from Col. Fitts ' later pass at Lester . Ball said he had to write it for his own benefit to know what happened to Col. Fitts , though all that remained in later drafts was subtext .