Chapter 16 of 23 · 2'38"
Isaac and a friend lie in bed watching TV, mocking a stranger's toupee and a face stretched by surgery, before the talk turns to Mary. The friend insists she is right up Isaac's alley and tells him to call her. Isaac protests that Tracy is too young, then starts asking what Mary actually said about him.
They Wish People Would Age Naturally
Isaac and his friend are lying in bed watching television, making fun of a bad toupee and a surgically tightened face. Then the friend changes the subject to Mary and starts pushing: she likes Isaac, she finds him attractive, and he should call her. Isaac says he has just ended things and that Tracy is too young, but he keeps asking for more details about what Mary said.
The bed scene is a comedy about a man being talked into his own desire. Isaac has just cut things off with Mary and declared himself finished with affairs, and his first line is a boast about getting his life together. His friend wastes no time dismantling it, calling Mary "screwed up, but great" and adding, "Right up your alley." From there Isaac does the opposite of refusing: he asks what she said, when she said it, and whether she really found him attractive. When he claims he could be a good influence, the friend reminds him of the last woman he tried to fix, which ended badly. The joke is that Isaac never wanted to be talked out of calling her; he only wanted permission.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“Why can't they just age naturally instead of putting all that junk on?”
It flips the fear of aging into a plain demand to let faces be old.
Neutral
“I think that under my personal vibrations, I could put her life in a kind of good order.”
He sells self-help nonsense with total confidence, which is exactly the joke.
Informal
“That's what you said about Jill, and she went from bisexuality to homosexuality.”
One old example quietly demolishes the whole promise of being a good influence.
Informal
“Yeah, but I gave it the old college try there for a while.”
An old idiom for trying hard is a wry way to admit defeat without bitterness.
Informal
Up next · 17hung up onThe scene: Isaac Finally Kisses MaryHe thinks Mary likes Isaac and that they would suit each other. He also enjoys pushing Isaac, who keeps protesting while clearly wanting to hear more.
Yes. Isaac says he cut it off and that he is not the type for affairs, though he admits he still thinks about her. The phone call is a way back in.
The phrase means something is exactly the kind of thing you like. The friend is saying that Mary, with all her complications, is precisely Isaac's type.
Jill was a previous woman Isaac tried to help or change. The friend mentions her to deflate Isaac's claim that he could put Mary's life in order.
It means a sincere, full effort, even when failure is likely. Isaac uses it to defend his past attempt, saying he at least committed to it for a while.
