“But it looks like me and you got a problem.”
Why it's great
A threat delivered as small talk, which makes it land colder.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
It looks like we got a problem with the schedule.
00:00 / 03:08
00:00 / 03:08
Teacher Reads Lofgren's Footnote, Explained
Bad Boys · 1983
Chapter 8 of 9 · 3'08"
The teacher announces the whole class passed and turns Lofgren's report into a lesson on art. Then the footnote gets read aloud, and the room realizes the newspaper story is about one of their own: "That was Tweety." The laughter stops being about grades and starts being about who is next.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:44–1:35
The Teacher's Art Speech
51s - 1:51–3:06
❝ Monologue · 4 lines Tweety's Death Hits the Class
75s
Teacher Reads Lofgren's Footnote, explained
What happens
In the detention classroom, the teacher returns the latest reports and announces that everyone passed. He praises a hidden artist in the room, then reads from Lofgren's report: a newspaper clipping about a youth shot during a liquor-store holdup. When the boys ask who the dead youth is, Lofgren answers that it was Tweety.
What's really going on
The art talk is the teacher's way of giving the boys something to be proud of, but it backfires the moment he reads the footnote. The clipping describes a boy killed in a robbery attempt, and the class laughs it off — "So what? Who the fuck is Warren Jerome?" — until someone tells Lofgren to explain. His line, "That was Tweety, you assholes," lands like a verdict: the boy they joke about was one of them. Suddenly the betting talk from earlier isn't gamesmanship anymore; it is a countdown. Even the teacher's high-minded definition of art as "the creation of something beautiful from nothing" can't cover what just happened, and O'Brien's odds question makes the stakes explicit.
Key lines & what they mean
- “But it looks like me and you got a problem.”
- An inmate sizes up O'Brien and announces the conflict openly, putting the threat on the table before anyone throws a punch.
- “You know, they're betting on who's gonna kill who.”
- He explains that the other boys have turned the coming violence into a wager, treating life and death as a game.
- “And I'm happy to tell you, finally, you all passed.”
- The teacher announces the report results with formal pride, the closest the class comes to good news in the scene.
- “And there's a real artist in this class.”
- He reveals that one of the boys has genuine talent, raising the room's curiosity before turning it into a spectacle.
- “I didn't even know about it myself until this report.”
- He admits the talent only became visible to him through the written work, making the report the doorway to the reveal.
- “But first, for the record, let me give you my definition of what art is.”
- Before praising anyone, he stakes out his own authority on the subject, framing the praise that is about to follow.
- “Now, art is the creation of something beautiful from nothing.”
- His definition of art, which he then measures the boys against, and which the footnote will quietly undercut.
- “That was Tweety, you assholes.”
- The revelation lands: the dead youth in the clipping is a boy from the room, turning a joke into grief and fear.
Theme
- Identity — The footnote forces the class to see a newspaper victim as one of their own, not a stranger.
- Power — The teacher's art lesson tries to hold authority, and the boys' mockery tears it down.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level1/7
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“You know, they're betting on who's gonna kill who.”
Why it's great
Turning life and death into a betting line says everything about this place.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
They're betting on who's gonna quit first.
“And I'm happy to tell you, finally, you all passed.”
Why it's great
A cheerful announcement that only highlights how grim the room really is.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
I'm happy to tell you that your order shipped.
“And there's a real artist in this class.”
Why it's great
Praising a real artist in a room like this sounds both generous and absurd.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
There's a real chef in this office.
“I didn't even know about it myself until this report.”
Why it's great
Crediting the report makes the discovery sound like it surprised even him.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
I didn't even know about it until you told me.
“But first, for the record, let me give you my definition of what art is.”
Why it's great
The mock-formal framing of a definition makes the whole speech feel staged.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
For the record, let me give you my definition of teamwork.
“Now, art is the creation of something beautiful from nothing.”
Why it's great
A lofty definition of art that lands right on top of a boy's death notice.
Register
literary
Use it yourself
Cooking is the creation of something warm from almost nothing.
“That was Tweety, you assholes.”
Why it's great
The slur and the name together turn a news item into a death in the room.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
That was my brother, you idiots.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ the obituary read aloud
"Youth killed in robbery attempt. "A youth died Saturday from gunshot wounds "received in an attempted holdup of a liquor store. "Police said Warren Jerome of Chicago was shot twice in the abdomen "by the proprietor of the High Jay liquor store on Kimball Avenue, "after brandishing a pistol and demanding money. "Jerome died undergoing surgery at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Hospital."
The flat newsread turns a death into a cold, official announcement.
Up next · 09ready to blowThe scene: Horowitz Gets Called the Wrong NameTakeaways
What you walk away with- Odds-on favorite started as a horse-racing term.
- The fuck adds anger, not meaning.
- Nothing personal makes a cruel line sound neutral.
- The obituary turns a stranger's death into a classmate's.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does the teacher read the footnote out loud?
He thinks the page is genuinely beautiful and wants to share it with the group, without realizing that the clipping names a boy the class knows.
Who is Warren Jerome?
He is the youth in the newspaper clipping, shot by a liquor-store owner during an attempted holdup. Lofgren reveals that he was Tweety, a boy from the class.
Why do the boys say "So what?" when the clipping is read?
They treat the death as a stranger's story and do not connect the name to anyone they know. That reaction is exactly what the reveal shatters.
Why does O'Brien ask about the odds again?
He wants to know how the room now rates his chances against Moreno. The answer, three-to-two against him, tells him he is still the underdog.