“How far does a girl have to go before you'll notice her?”
Por qué es buena
A half-teasing question carries both hurt and boldness in one breath.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
How far does a worker have to go before anyone notices?
00:00 / 02:29
00:00 / 02:29
Jeff Ignores Lisa to Spy on Thorwald, Explained
Rear Window · 1954
Capítulo 6 de 13 · 2'29"
Lisa arrives dressed to be noticed and asks, "How far does a girl have to go before you'll notice her?" — but Jeff's attention is fixed on the neighbor he suspects of murder. The flirtation and the crime theory run side by side until Lisa says he's scaring her.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–0:28
Lisa Asks Jeff to Notice Her
26s - 1:04–2:13
Jeff's Murder Theory Spooks Lisa
69s
Jeff Ignores Lisa to Spy on Thorwald, explained
What happens
Lisa comes to Jeff's apartment in a new dress, hoping for his attention, but he can't stop watching the salesman across the courtyard. He lists the clues — a suitcase on a rainy night, a butcher knife, a small saw wrapped in newspaper — and even asks how you'd start to cut up a body. Lisa grows uneasy.
What's really going on
The scene plays as a duel for attention. Lisa has dressed up and crossed town to be looked at, and she says it plainly: "I'm not exactly on the other side of the room." Jeff, though, can only look at what he can't have — the private lives behind the windows across the way. His detective patter about the knife and the saw is partly real suspicion and partly a way of dodging her. The murder theory is horrifying, but it also keeps him comfortably behind glass, safe and detached. Lisa names the cost: 'You're beginning to scare me a little.' The irony is that she is scared for him, while he is scared of what she wants from him.
Key lines & what they mean
- “How far does a girl have to go before you'll notice her?”
- Lisa's complaint that Jeff still won't look at her no matter what she does; it's both flirty and genuinely hurt.
- “And when I want a man, I want all of him.”
- She tells Jeff she wants complete commitment and attention, not a distracted half-relationship.
- “Just how would you start to cut up a human body?”
- Jeff follows his murder theory to its gruesome practical question, showing how far his imagination has gone.
- “Why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase, and come back three times?”
- The clue that starts Jeff's suspicion, framed as a riddle Lisa is meant to help him solve.
Theme
- Romance — Lisa dresses up and asks to be noticed, while Jeff keeps turning his attention to strangers in other windows.
- Deception — Jeff reads the neighbor's odd behavior as murder, and his suspicion doubles as a way to avoid Lisa.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel5/6
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“And when I want a man, I want all of him.”
Por qué es buena
It states desire and demand together, with no room left for half measures.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
When I take a job, I want all of it.
“Just how would you start to cut up a human body?”
Por qué es buena
The horror is in the calm, practical phrasing, as if it were homework.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
Just how would you start a project like that?
“Why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase, and come back three times?”
Por qué es buena
Repeated comings and goings turn a plain question into the clue that drives the scene.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
Why would she leave at midnight and come back twice before dawn?
Siguiente · 07jump at the chanceLa escena: Jeff Calls Doyle About a MurderIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- Jeff notices the window, not the dress.
- The knife and saw turn talk into fear.
- Lisa names her fear instead of hiding it.
- The hush at the end resets the whole scene.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhy does Lisa ask if she has to go far to be noticed?
Because Jeff keeps ignoring her, even though she has dressed up and is sitting right in front of him. She wants his full attention, not the half he gives her.
Why is Jeff suspicious of the salesman?
He has watched the neighbor leave with a suitcase three times on a rainy night, skip work, and handle a butcher knife and a small saw wrapped in newspaper.
What does 'cut up' mean here?
It means to cut something into pieces. Jeff uses it in the grim sense of dismembering a body while he works through his theory about the neighbor.
Why does Lisa get scared?
Jeff's murder theory grows more graphic — he asks how you would start to cut up a body — and she tells him he is beginning to frighten her.
What happens at the end of the scene?
Jeff spots the neighbor returning and shushes Lisa: 'He's coming back!' The argument stops as he turns back to the window.