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American Beauty · 1999 — 第 6 / 14 章 · 3'39" · B2

Lester Quits His Job, Explained：pick your brain

Everyone in this chapter wants something from someone else. A tipsy competitor insists he isn't "even in the same league" as his rival, then Lester answers a boss's scolding with "I quit," and Ricky treats the exit as something worth filming.

あらすじ

At his new job, Lester Burnham is scolded for not working. Rather than apologize, he quits on the spot. Ricky Fitts, the teenager who just moved in next door, watches the exchange and calls Lester his personal hero.

Criticism & layoffsTalking to the bossSaying noComplimentingBoss & employeeB2slowamerican
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注目の表現

assholeget highpick your brainin awe of

00:00 / 03:39
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このシーンの表現

pick your brain

ask for your expert advice

Lester flatters a senior figure and asks to sit down and pick his brain.

Can I buy you coffee and pick your brain about grad school?

このシーンの他の表現

  • asshole

    a contemptible jerk

  • get high

    take drugs to feel high

  • in awe of

    filled with deep admiration

  • hands down

    without any doubt

  • in the same league

    on a comparable level

このシーンのメモ一覧

46 行のセリフに 34 件のメモ

スラング · B1party

go out and get high — Fine between party friends; not for formal settings.

Do you party?
スラング · B1get high

take drugs to feel high — Blunt drug talk; never use it at work or with strangers.

- Excuse me? - Do you get high?
表現 · B2be in awe of someone

deeply admire someone

I probably wouldn't even tell you this if I weren't a little tipsy but... I'm in complete awe of you.
文法 · B2if I weren't

subjunctive mood: Were, not was, marks the condition as unreal: he is actually a bit drunk.

I probably wouldn't even tell you this if I weren't a little tipsy but... I'm in complete awe of you.
発音a little tipsy

In American speech little's t turns to a d: a-liddle.

I probably wouldn't even tell you this if I weren't a little tipsy but... I'm in complete awe of you.
表現 · B2hands down the best

without any doubt

Lester calls the firm hands down the Rolls Royce of local realtors.

I mean, your firm is hands down the Rolls Royce of local real estate firms and your personal sales record is...
表現 · B2pick someone's brain

ask for your expert advice

Lester flatters a senior figure and asks to sit down and pick his brain.

You know, I'd love to sit down with you and just pick your brain.
表現 · A2sit down with someone

have a proper talk with

You know, I'd love to sit down with you and just pick your brain.
発音with you

Link with and you into one unit: wi-thyou.

You know, I'd love to sit down with you and just pick your brain.
表現 · B1be willing to do something

be ready to do it

If you'd ever be willing.
表現 · C1be in the same league as someone

be on the same level

You know? I suppose, technically, I'm the competition but, I mean, I don't flatter myself that I'm even in the same league as you.
表現 · C1flatter oneself that ...

kid oneself into thinking

You know? I suppose, technically, I'm the competition but, I mean, I don't flatter myself that I'm even in the same league as you.
表現 · B1schedule a lunch or meeting

set up a lunch

Call my secretary. Have her schedule a lunch.
文法 · B2Have her schedule

causative have: Have plus a person plus a bare verb means get that person to do it.

Call my secretary. Have her schedule a lunch.
表現 · A1walk around

move about

Did you see that movie where the body is walking around carrying its own head and then the head goes down on that babe?
文法 · B1where the body is walking around

relative clause: Where introduces a clause that describes which movie he has in mind.

Did you see that movie where the body is walking around carrying its own head and then the head goes down on that babe?
スラング · C1goes down on

performs oral sex on — Crude sexual slang; not for polite conversation.

Did you see that movie where the body is walking around carrying its own head and then the head goes down on that babe?
表現 · B1leave someone alone

stop bothering me

So you don't have to pay me. Now leave me alone.
発音leave me alone

Stress leave and alone; let me slip by quickly.

So you don't have to pay me. Now leave me alone.
スラング · B1Asshole

a contemptible person — A real insult; do not use it casually or in public.

Asshole.
表現 · B1someone's personal hero

the hero of one's life

I think you just became my personal hero.
表現 · B1make someone nervous

make someone uneasy

Doesn't that make you nervous, just quitting your job like that?
表現 · A2quit one's job

leave one's job

Doesn't that make you nervous, just quitting your job like that?
文法 · B1Doesn't that make you nervous

negative question: The negative question frames surprise or challenge, not a plain request for facts.

Doesn't that make you nervous, just quitting your job like that?
表現 · B2as a cover

used as a disguise

Ricky admits his catering gigs are only a cover for his real income.

I just do these gigs as a cover.
スラング · B1gigs

short-term paid jobs — Casual talk about odd jobs, looser than job.

I just do these gigs as a cover.
表現 · B1source of income

ways to earn money

I have other sources of income.
表現 · B2interfere in someone's life

meddle in someone's life

But my dad interferes less in my life when I pretend to be an upstanding young citizen with a respectable job.
表現 · A2pretend to be something

act as if you are

But my dad interferes less in my life when I pretend to be an upstanding young citizen with a respectable job.
表現 · A2move into a place

settle into a place

I'm Ricky Fitts. I just moved into the house next to you.
表現 · A1next to someone

right beside you

I'm Ricky Fitts. I just moved into the house next to you.
表現 · A2go to school with someone

attend the same school

I go to school with your daughter.
表現 · A2be ready to go

be set to leave

Hi. I'm ready to go.
表現 · A2be in trouble

be in serious trouble

I'm in trouble!

「Lester Quits His Job」を読み解く

What's really going on

What looks like a small spat at work is really a fight over who gets to define Lester. His boss treats him as hired help; Lester refuses the part: "I quit. So you don't have to pay me." Around him, everyone else is performing too. A tipsy rival hands his competitor the script — "I'm in complete awe of you" — while Ricky admits his odd jobs are just "a cover" so his father will "interfere less" in his life. Every character here is acting a role, faking respect, ambition, or normalcy. Lester is the only one who steps out of character, which is exactly why Ricky — who films other people's lives — crowns him a personal hero.

Theme

IdentityLester and Ricky both refuse the roles handed to them — quitting a job, faking a normal life to buy freedom.
CourageQuitting on the spot reads as a small act of defiance that awes the kid who only watches others.

このチャプターで学べること

  • I quit ends a job in two flat words.
  • Pick your brain asks for expertise without sounding needy.
  • Not in the same league lowers you to lift them.
  • Hands down settles a ranking with no debate.

発音のポイント

  • a little tipsy — In American speech little's t turns to a d: a-liddle.
  • with you — Link with and you into one unit: wi-thyou.
  • leave me alone — Stress leave and alone; let me slip by quickly.
You know? I suppose, technically, I'm the competition but, I mean, I don't flatter myself that I'm even in the same league as you.

A tipsy flatterer admits they are rivals, yet insists he isn't on the other person's level at all — a boast wrapped in self-deprecation.

I think you just became my personal hero.

Ricky's verdict on Lester quitting: he admires someone who actually does the thing everyone else only daydreams about.

But my dad interferes less in my life when I pretend to be an upstanding young citizen with a respectable job.

Ricky's reason for keeping up a fake normal life: posing as a respectable working kid buys him the freedom his strict father would otherwise take away.

I probably wouldn't even tell you this if I weren't a little tipsy but... I'm in complete awe of you.

Drink is the excuse for saying the admiration out loud — being "a little tipsy" lets him admit he is in complete awe of the other person.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Lester quit on the spot?

His boss tells him he isn't being paid to goof around, and Lester decides the paycheck isn't worth the humiliation. Instead of apologizing, he ends the job with two words.

Why does Ricky call Lester his personal hero?

Ricky spends his life filming people stuck in roles they hate. Lester, in one breath, simply walks out of his — the thing Ricky usually only watches from behind a camera.

What does Ricky mean by "party" and "get high"?

He is asking, bluntly, whether Lester smokes weed. "Do you party?" is 1990s slang — not about a celebration, but about getting high.

Why does Ricky pretend to be an upstanding young citizen?

It keeps his strict father off his back. If he looks like a normal kid with a respectable job, Colonel Fitts interferes less, leaving Ricky free to earn his real money elsewhere.

アメリカン・ビューティー · 全 14 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 7 章make your head spinCarolyn Confronts Lester
第 1 章cut cornersBrad Warns Lester to Save His Job第 2 章come right out and sayThe Burnhams' Cold Dinner第 3 章cut to the chaseJim and Jim Welcome the Fitts第 4 章take something out on someoneJane Meets Ricky at School第 5 章sell an imageCarolyn Demands Lester Attend the Party再生中 · 第 6 章pick your brainLester Quits His Job第 7 章make your head spinCarolyn Confronts Lester第 8 章cut a dealLester Meets the Neighbors第 9 章nothing to loseLester Blackmails His Bosses第 10 章drive someone nutsLester Applies at Mr. Smiley's第 11 章whatever happened toLester and Carolyn's Couch Fight第 12 章put him out of his miseryRicky and Jane Share Their Secrets第 13 章so bustedLester Catches Carolyn at the Drive-Thru第 14 章sit back and watchColonel Fitts Confronts Ricky
第 6 / 14 章 · 残り約 23 分