Where do you think...?
Where do you think Mom is tonight?Blue Jasmine · 2013 — Chapter 12 of 15 · 2'42" · C1
Jasmine Tells the Boys Her Story, Explained: swept me off my feet
A babysitting chat turns into a life story: a wealthy marriage, charity work, a husband whose success seemed too good to be true, and a breakdown. "But a cheat is a cheat" lands like a verdict, while the closing "I'm a new person" tries to close the door on everything before it.
What happens
A woman babysitting two boys turns a casual question about their mother into a monologue about her past: a wealthy marriage, charity work, infidelity, a breakdown, and treatment. The boys interject with blunt family gossip, and she keeps steering the story toward her own reinvention.
Listen for
make extra moneyswept me off my feetI won't say I dislikeEdison's Medicine
00:00 / 02:42Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
Phrase of the scene
swept me off my feet
charmed me completely
Telling the boys about Hal, she reduces their courtship to a song and a dizzy spell, trying to reclaim some dignity.
The way he remembered every tiny detail totally swept me off my feet.
Also in this scene
- make extra money
earn a little on the side
- I won't say I dislike
a coy way of admitting you like it
- Edison's Medicine
a grim nickname for electroshock therapy
- aboveboard
honest and open
- too good to be true
suspiciously perfect
Everything marked in this scene
26 notes across 40 lines
have a date
Oh, she's got a date tonight.wonder where...
Oh, that's cool. I wonder where she is.Keep gonna light and quick; land the beat on babysit.
I'm gonna babysit you. I'm a good babysitter.earn a little on the side
She turns babysitting into a small lesson in self-reliance, with the tone of a wealthy woman handing down wisdom.
It's how you make extra money.charmed me completely
Telling the boys about Hal, she reduces their courtship to a song and a dizzy spell, trying to reclaim some dignity.
And Hal, my husband, he swept me off my feet.make something of one's life
Yeah, but I always wanted to do something with my life.attend afternoon shows
I didn't just shop and lunch and go to matinees.run charities
You know, I ran charities for poor people and, you know, raised some money for museums and schools.raised money for
You know, I ran charities for poor people and, you know, raised some money for museums and schools.with X comes Y
You know, with wealth comes responsibilities.inversion: The normal order is responsibilities come with wealth; the inversion makes it sound like a proverb.
You know, with wealth comes responsibilities.Stress wealth and responsibilities; let comes pass quickly.
You know, with wealth comes responsibilities.so-called friends
I wasn't just some mindless consumer like so many of my so-called friends.depend on tips
Tip big, because you get good service and they count on tips.inherit or acquire great wealth
You know, someday when you come into great wealth, you must remember to be generous.went crazy — Casual and blunt; avoid it when speaking to someone with mental illness.
Mom said you used to be okay, but you got crazy.go out into the streets here: breakdown, not organized protest
Well, there's only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming.until-clause: The 'only so many X' frame sets a limit; the until-clause shows what happens once it breaks.
Well, there's only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming.make you think clearly
Because they use electricity to get you thinking straight.nervous breakdown
You know, I had nightmares and a nervous breakdown.completely aboveboard literal 'on the table'; here, financially clean
Of course, you know, I probably did suspect that not everything Hal did was always 100-percent aboveboard.suspiciously perfect
She laughs that Hal’s success was too smooth to be clean, using self-mockery to excuse herself and blame common sense.
Christ, I mean, you'd have to be an idiot not to think his phenomenal success was too good to be true. Heh, heh, heh.rhetorical conditional: The rhetorical conditional means only a fool would fail to see it, turning suspicion into common sense.
Christ, I mean, you'd have to be an idiot not to think his phenomenal success was too good to be true. Heh, heh, heh.Let the end of flipped slide into out as one burst.
And when he had other women, I just flipped out.one thing led to another
You know, and one thing led to another and...Jasmine Tells the Boys Her Story, explained
What's really going on
The scene works as a performance of respectability. The talk starts with a date and extra money, then slides into a defense of a life that no longer exists: charity work, museums, schools, and the line "with wealth comes responsibilities." The self-portrait is carefully edited. She admits she likes buying pretty clothes, but only after insisting she was not "some mindless consumer." When the boys repeat what their mother said, the mask slips into open talk of breakdown and "Edison's Medicine." The key turn is "But a cheat is a cheat": it sounds like a moral verdict, yet it also lets her place the blame outside herself. By "I'm a new person," she is asking to be seen as rewritten rather than exposed.
Theme
ClassCharity work, matinees, and "mindless consumer" talk turn money into a test of taste and moral worth.
IdentityThe final "I'm a new person" asks whether a new romance can cancel the person the monologue has just described.
Listen for
- gonna babysit you — Keep gonna light and quick; land the beat on babysit.
- with wealth comes — Stress wealth and responsibilities; let comes pass quickly.
- flipped out — Let the end of flipped slide into out as one burst.
Well, there's only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming.There is a limit to how much trauma someone can absorb; past that point, public breakdown looks less like a choice than an overflow.
But a cheat is a cheat.A neat moral formula: whatever the charm or success, dishonesty remains dishonesty.
You know, with wealth comes responsibilities.Having money is framed as creating duties, not just privileges—her defense of her charity work and generosity.
I wasn't just some mindless consumer like so many of my so-called friends.She distinguishes her own spending from empty consumption and distances herself from friends she now calls fake.
I met someone. I'm a new person.The two short sentences link a new romance to a claimed reinvention, asking the listener to accept the break from her past.
Questions about this scene
What does "Edison's Medicine" mean?
It is a dark nickname for electroshock treatment. The line explains it directly: "they use electricity to get you thinking straight." The joke makes the treatment sound like a brand name.
Why does the monologue keep bringing up charity and generosity?
It builds a self-portrait: "with wealth comes responsibilities," and she insists she was not "some mindless consumer." Charity and tipping let her present her money as a duty, not just privilege.
Why does the line "But a cheat is a cheat" land like a verdict?
It turns a messy betrayal into a clean verdict. After admitting she suspected not everything Hal did was "100-percent aboveboard," the line lets her condemn him without dwelling on her own part.
Is the speaker confessing or defending herself?
Both. She admits anxiety, nightmares, and a nervous breakdown, but frames them as the cost of what happened: "there's only so many traumas a person can withstand." The closing "I'm a new person" asks for a fresh judgment.
Why close with "I'm a new person"?
It is less a fact than a request: after calling her past "all history," she pairs a new romance with a new identity. The two short sentences want the listener to stop identifying her with the old story.
Blue Jasmine · 15 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 13put something behind youAugie Confronts Jasmine on the Street
Chapter 1splurge from habitJasmine Arrives Dead Broke
Chapter 2flushGinger and Augie Visit the Family
Chapter 3make a killingLottery Winners Get a Pitch
Chapter 4looking the other wayJasmine Hears About Hal and Raylene
Chapter 5on top of the worldJasmine's Awkward Blind Date
Chapter 6find my feetHouseguest Pressed on Length of Stay
Chapter 7I don't mean to pryBoss Asks Her for a Drink
Chapter 8slick operatorJasmine Can't Study During the Fight
Chapter 9beat around the bushDr. Flicker Hits on an Employee
Chapter 10hit the jackpotJasmine Meets Dwight at the Party
Chapter 11by all rightsParty Fight Over a Phone Call
Watching · Chapter 12swept me off my feetJasmine Tells the Boys Her Story
Chapter 13put something behind youAugie Confronts Jasmine on the Street
Chapter 14tap danceAffair Confession Turns Ugly
Chapter 15let sleeping dogs lieChampagne Celebration Turns Into a FightChapter 12 of 15 · about 9 min to go