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The Mask · 1994 — Chapter 6 of 8 · 4'05" · B2

The Mask Cornered by Police, Explained: written in the stars

On a landfill at sunset, ridiculous compliments about methane and pink-green light slide into a destiny flirt. "Is it written in the stars that we are destined to fraternize?" sounds romantic until backup is called and a pocket search turns the routine into a stall.

What happens

At landfill park, talk of a garbage heap and methane sunsets flips into a flirt about fate and the stars. Someone identifies himself as Kellaway and calls for backup. Police order a freeze, then hands up. The man answers with a one-armed-man excuse and a fake confession. A search produces a bazooka he claims to have a permit for. Someone else takes the story.

Police questioningTeasingTeasingConfessing lovePolice & suspectB2american
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Listen for

written in the starsI have a permit for thatdivide and conquerI owe you one

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Phrase of the scene

written in the stars

destined by fate

面具人见到蒂娜就摆出浪漫腔调，问她俩的重逢是不是 written in the stars。

They met again in another city, as if it were written in the stars.

Also in this scene

  • I have a permit for that

    a deadpan excuse for the obviously illegal

  • divide and conquer

    to defeat or control others by splitting them apart

  • I owe you one

    I am indebted to you and will repay the favor

Everything marked in this scene

34 notes across 93 lines

Phrase · B1come byUh...I--I just wanted to come by and make sure that you two got together all right.
Phrase · A2make sure that ...Uh...I--I just wanted to come by and make sure that you two got together all right.
Grammar · B2wanted to come by

past-tense politeness

Uh...I--I just wanted to come by and make sure that you two got together all right.
Phrase · B1hardly everYou know, I hardly ever stop by here.
Phrase · B1stop byYou know, I hardly ever stop by here.
Phrase · B2pick up the colorsThe methane emissions really pick up the colors.
Phrase · B1be along any minuteMy friend'll be along any minute. I better go.
Phrase · A2had better goMy friend'll be along any minute. I better go.
Slang · C1chèrie

French for darling, used here to flirt

Hello, chèrie.
Phrase · B2be meant to beIs it meant to be?
Phrase · B2be written in the stars

destined by fate

Is it written in the stars that we are destined to fraternize?
Grammar · C1Is it written in the stars

passive question

Is it written in the stars that we are destined to fraternize?
Phrase · B2would like to think soI'd like to think so!
Phrase · B2divide and conquer

to defeat or control others by splitting them apart

I will divide and conquer.
Slang · C1Merde

French for shit, a swear word

Merde!
Phrase · A2put your hands upPut your hands up.
SoundPut your hands up

liaison

Put your hands up.
Grammar · B1you told me to freeze

tell someone to do

But you told me to freeze.
Phrase · A2be under arrestYou're under arrest.
Phrase · A2it wasn't meNo! It wasn't me.
Slang · B2sarge

an informal name for a sergeant or superior

What are they gonna do to me, sarge?
Phrase · B2that's not my departmentSorry, son. That's not my department.
Grammar · B1when you need one

time clause

Where's a camcorder when you need one?
Grammar · B1gonna be a long night

informal future

Looks like it's gonna be a long night.
Soundgonna be

weak form

Looks like it's gonna be a long night.
Phrase · B1someone is gonna kill someoneMy wife's gonna kill me.
Phrase · B2cover somethingI'll cover it. I need this story.
Phrase · B1take care of someoneI'll take care of Ramsey.
Phrase · B1owe someone one

I am indebted to you and will repay the favor

Thanks a million. I owe you one.
Phrase · B1thanks a millionThanks a million. I owe you one.
SoundThanks a million

liaison

Thanks a million. I owe you one.
Phrase · B1a sense of humorJeez, I figured you had a sense of humor.
Grammar · B2I figured you had a sense of humor

reduced object clause

Jeez, I figured you had a sense of humor.
Phrase · B1that's got to hurtThat's got to hurt. Eh-eh-eh.

The Mask Cornered by Police, explained

What's really going on

The performance is the point. Sunset compliments are ridiculous on purpose: methane, pinks and greens, a garbage heap dressed up as romance. The register then jumps to destiny. "Is it written in the stars that we are destined to fraternize?" is not a shy question. It is a bit, stacked with croissant, paté, and vichyssoise jokes, daring the other person to play along or shut the window. The arrest works the same way. Freeze, then hands up, and the reply "But you told me to freeze" treats the orders like a bad script. "It wasn't me" becomes "It was the one-armed man," then a movie confession. "Sorry, son. That's not my department" stays procedural and refuses the bit. The pocket search is prop comedy until a photo of Kellaway's wife makes the joke personal. In another exchange, "I need this story" and "I owe you one" turn the arrest into a favor between colleagues.

Theme

AbsurdityDestiny talk over a methane sunset, a freeze order taken literally, and a permit claimed for a bazooka turn the arrest into a cartoon.
DeceptionThe fate speech, the one-armed-man excuse, and the line about having a permit are performances. None of them is offered to be believed.

What you'll learn

  • Use any minute in the same situation
  • Hear written in the stars as pressure, not small talk
  • Catch who the line is aimed at

Listen for

  • Put your hands up — liaison
  • gonna be — weak form
  • Thanks a million — liaison
Is it written in the stars that we are destined to fraternize?

Someone piles on the destiny talk, asking if the stars scheduled this flirt. It is a joke, not a question about astronomy.

Sorry, son. That's not my department.

Asked what they will do to him, the reply shrugs it off: whatever comes next is somebody else's job, not part of this arrest.

I will divide and conquer.

Just before the police close in, someone borrows Napoleon: split them and take them one at a time. In this spot it is swagger, not a plan.

Where's a camcorder when you need one?

Right as the search starts, someone wishes a camera were there. The arrest is being treated as a show they failed to record, not as a scare.

Questions about this scene

Why are they flirting at a landfill?

The lines call the place a former garbage heap and credit methane with picking up the pinks and greens at sunset. The sweet talk is a performance on a dump. A later line places the arrest at landfill park.

Why does he answer hands-up with a complaint about freezing?

He is told "Freeze!" and then "Put your hands up." "But you told me to freeze" pretends the orders conflict. The next line gives in with "Unfreeze," and only then comes "You're under arrest." He is buying time by being literal.

Is the confession serious?

He says "It wasn't me," blames "the one-armed man," then immediately "All right, I confess" and "I'm glad, glad, I tell ya!" Denial and a movie confession cancel each other. "Sorry, son. That's not my department" refuses to treat either line as real.

Why does Kellaway's wife's photo end the joke?

The search pulls props: sunglasses, a rubber chicken, a bazooka he claims a permit for. Then comes "Picture of Kellaway's wife," a shout of "Margaret!" and a crack that he married her. That one is about a real person, and the scene ends on "Get him!"

The Mask · 8 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 7I'm historyStanley Confesses He's the Mask
Chapter 1crème de la crèmeStanley Hands Over the TicketsChapter 2school is outArguing the Plan Against NikoChapter 3put downStanley Becomes the MaskChapter 4you can quote mePeggy Questions StanleyChapter 5beat him to the punchPolice Grill Ipkiss Over PajamasWatching · Chapter 6written in the starsThe Mask Cornered by PoliceChapter 7I'm historyStanley Confesses He's the MaskChapter 8one hell of a timeStanley at the Police Station
Chapter 6 of 8 · about 8 min to go