- Hey. - You came by.Auto Focus · 2002 — Chapter 12 of 16 · 1'39" · B2
Lenny Warns Bob About a Scandal, Explained: word gets around
Bob's agent drops by the set with bad news: Disney has called and a tabloid has pictures of Bob in a topless bar. Lenny warns him not to throw the opportunity away, pointing at the photo albums Bob shows around and telling him that "word gets around." Bob answers each charge the same way: he is a family man.
What happens
Lenny stops by Bob's trailer on the set to deliver a warning. Disney has called about a tabloid photograph of Bob in a topless bar, and Lenny tells him bluntly not to blow the opportunity. He adds that the photo albums Bob passes around put people off and that word travels; Bob insists he is a family man.
Listen for
word gets aroundturns people offa squarea family man
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Phrase of the scene
word gets around
news spreads quickly
伦尼警告鲍勃别再到处给人看那些照片，说 It turns people off, and word gets around，提醒他名声正在片场悄悄发酵。
Keep it quiet for now — word gets around fast in a small town.
Also in this scene
- turns people off
makes people lose interest or feel put off
- a square
老古板、不懂时髦的人
- a family man
顾家、把家庭放在第一位的男人
Everything marked in this scene
21 notes across 29 lines
They're turning around the lights. You want to go in my trailer?Uh, I got a call from Disney.Apparently some joker from The Enquirer took pictures of you in a topless bar.Bob, this is Disney. Don't fucking blow this.I'm a family man, a one-woman man. Always have been.What about the photo albums?Those pictures you show people, you know, not everyone thinks about things the way you do.makes people lose interest or feel put off
It turns people off, and word gets around, believe me.news spreads quickly
It turns people off, and word gets around, believe me.Don't be a square.Don't be a square.Is it true you showed them to Donna Reed and she ran out? Huh?I may be horny, but I'm not stupid.I may be horny, but I'm not stupid.There could be a very serious conflict here between your lifestyle and your career.- Sex is not the answer. - I know that, Lenny. It's the question.Bob, I'm just saying...just try to be a little discrete.Come on in for a minute.I got to get back to the office.Lenny Warns Bob About a Scandal, explained
What's really going on
The scene is a professional warning wrapped around a private problem. Lenny's real point is not the photograph but the pattern behind it: the albums, the bars, the need to show people. He puts it as plainly as he can, "There could be a very serious conflict here between your lifestyle and your career," and Bob simply refuses the premise, answering with the line he keeps ready, "I'm a family man, a one-woman man." The two men are not really arguing about facts; they are negotiating what Bob is willing to admit. Lenny wants a small change, a little discretion, and he gets nothing but denials. The scene sets up the rest of the film: the appetite Bob will not name, and the career that will eventually be asked to pay for it.
Theme
SecretsA tabloid photo and a box of albums threaten a public image that Bob insists is the real him.
AmbitionLenny frames everything as a career risk, and Bob answers as if the chance with Disney cannot be touched.
There could be a very serious conflict here between your lifestyle and your career.The warning in its plainest form: the private appetite and the public job are on a collision course, and one of them has to give.
It turns people off, and word gets around, believe me.His explanation of cause and effect: the behaviour offends people, and the gossip travels faster than any denial.
I'm a family man, a one-woman man. Always have been.Bob's stock defence, delivered as a fact rather than an argument, and the very claim the scene quietly undermines.
I may be horny, but I'm not stupid.A joke that admits the appetite while denying the bad judgment, letting him shrug off the warning without changing anything.
Questions about this scene
What is Lenny warning Bob about?
A tabloid photograph of Bob in a topless bar, which Disney has already heard about. Lenny is afraid the image will cost Bob the studio work he has been chasing.
Why does Lenny mention the photo albums?
Because they show a pattern, not a single mistake. Bob shares explicit pictures with people, and Lenny argues that this habit is what will damage his reputation.
Does Bob admit anything?
No. He insists he is a family man and a one-woman man, then jokes that he may be horny but is not stupid. He deflects the warning instead of answering it.
What does Bob mean by "sex is the question"?
He twists a solemn line into a joke: sex isn't a solution, it's the thing he is always thinking about. The quip shows how lightly he takes Lenny's concern.
Auto Focus · 16 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 13a complete professionalBob Goes Too Far on Live TV
Chapter 1a career-killerLenny Pitches Bob a Sitcom
Chapter 2get the messageAnne Confronts Bob About the Magazines
Chapter 3always been my thingBob Meets the VTR Salesman
Chapter 4copaceticBob and John's Party Night
Chapter 5light years ahead ofBob Crane's New Video Camera
Chapter 6clear enough for youBob Catches John on Tape
Chapter 7pull a stunt like thisThe Demo Fails Spectacularly
Chapter 8what went downJohn Carpenter Repairs Bob's VTR
Chapter 9go around onceBob's Wife Accepts an Open Marriage
Chapter 10dead airBob's Party and Career Blowup
Chapter 11Run it by meJohn's Wild Idea and Bob's Big Call
Watching · Chapter 12word gets aroundLenny Warns Bob About a Scandal
Chapter 13a complete professionalBob Goes Too Far on Live TV
Chapter 14get in circulationBob Asks His Agent for Work
Chapter 15take it for grantedBob Visits His Son
Chapter 16lower the boomBob and Carpenter's Falling OutChapter 12 of 16 · about 10 min to go