on my way now
Be right there.American Beauty · 1999 — 第 3 / 14 章 · 2'45" · B1
Jim and Jim Welcome the Fitts, Explained：cut to the chase
Two neighbors bring a garden salad and a welcome, and Colonel Fitts treats them as door-to-door salesmen: "Let's cut to the chase, OK? What are you guys selling?" The misunderstanding is ugly, and when the door closes he gets uglier, calling them shameless for being open about who they are.
あらすじ
The Fitts family has just moved in. Jim Olmeyer and Jim Berkley, two doors down, stop by with vegetables from their garden to welcome them. Colonel Fitts assumes they are selling something and asks what their business is. Ricky watches his father turn a friendly visit into an insult.
注目の表現
go straight to hellpartnerrub it in your faceforgive me for speaking so bluntly
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このシーンの表現
cut to the chase
skip straight to the point
Frank is done with pleasantries and uses the phrase to force the visit toward one question: what are you selling?
Let's cut to the chase and talk about the price.
このシーンの他の表現
- go straight to hell
getting worse fast
- partner
life partner or business partner
- rub it in your face
to flaunt it in your face
- forgive me for speaking so bluntly
mock apology before an insult
- fags
a slur for gay men
このシーンのメモ一覧
33 行のセリフに 21 件のメモ
modal perfect: It marks a confident guess about the past, not an obligation: I must have forgotten.
I'm sorry. I must've forgotten.The 've in must've reduces to a schwa and nearly disappears.
I'm sorry. I must've forgotten.what's the latest
Ricky tests his father's mood with a light opener, and Frank answers with doom, showing the gap between them.
What's new in the world, Dad?getting worse fast
At breakfast Frank reads the paper and declares the country beyond saving, in a flat military tone.
This country is going straight to hell.grown at home
Just something from our garden.two houses away
Jim Olmeyer. Two doors down. Welcome to the neighborhood.everyone calls me
- Nice to meet you. This is my partner. - Jim Berkley, but people call me J.B.Blend cut to the into one run; the t's soften between vowels.
Let's cut to the chase, OK? What are you guys selling?you all, casually — Common in casual talk; switch to everyone in formal settings.
Let's cut to the chase, OK? What are you guys selling?greet someone briefly
Nothing. We just wanted to say hi to our new neighbors.only meant to
Nothing. We just wanted to say hi to our new neighbors.In fast speech wanted to collapses toward wanna; listen for the reduced t.
Nothing. We just wanted to say hi to our new neighbors.why, informally
How come these faggots always have to rub it in your face?a gay slur — Extremely offensive; never say it to anyone.
How come these faggots always have to rub it in your face?that's the crux
That's the whole thing, Dad.feel shame about
They don't feel that's anything to be ashamed of.object clause: Feel takes a whole clause here, and a negative sentence switches something to anything.
They don't feel that's anything to be ashamed of.like-clause: Like introduces a full clause here, close to as if, naming the role he refuses.
Don't placate me like I'm your mother, boy.drives me to
Forgive me, sir, for speaking so bluntly: Those fags make me want to puke my fucking guts out.to vomit violently — Coarse and exaggerated; only among people you know well.
Forgive me, sir, for speaking so bluntly: Those fags make me want to puke my fucking guts out.「Jim and Jim Welcome the Fitts」を読み解く
What's really going on
The welcome visit is a test the Colonel cannot pass. Jim and Jim are polite, specific, and unbothered; Fitts answers with suspicion, asking what they are selling and then, when he hears the word "partners," deciding they must be in business together. His mistake is not innocent: "You said you're partners, so what's your business?" is less a question than a way to keep them foreign. What disturbs him is not what they sell but how openly they live, which is why he tells Ricky, "How can they be so shameless?" Ricky tries the opposite, saying "They don't feel that's anything to be ashamed of," and it only makes his father angrier. The scene shows bigotry as a family inheritance, taught at the breakfast table and repeated until the son recites it too.
Theme
IdentityFitts punishes the neighbors for being open about who they are, and Ricky hides his own views to survive the table.
Family conflictA friendly visit becomes a fight, and the son is forced to agree with his father's hatred.
このチャプターで学べること
- Frank uses a polite phrase to end small talk.
- Partner hides two meanings and one fight.
- Ricky answers anger with calm, exact facts.
- Slurs land hard; understand them, never reuse them.
発音のポイント
- must've forgotten — The 've in must've reduces to a schwa and nearly disappears.
- cut to the — Blend cut to the into one run; the t's soften between vowels.
- wanted to — In fast speech wanted to collapses toward wanna; listen for the reduced t.
Let's cut to the chase, OK? What are you guys selling?Fitts' blunt opener, treating a friendly visit as a sales pitch — the first sign that he has already decided who these neighbors are.
Don't placate me like I'm your mother, boy.He catches Ricky trying to calm him with agreement and rejects the flattery, demanding real loyalty instead.
They don't feel that's anything to be ashamed of.Ricky's quiet defense of the neighbors: they simply do not share his father's shame about who they are.
This country is going straight to hell.Fitts' breakfast-table verdict on the world, the grim mood he carries into every encounter.
このシーンについての質問
Why is Colonel Fitts so hostile to the new neighbors?
He reads their friendliness as an insult. When he hears they are partners, he turns it into a business question, and their openness about being a couple is what actually offends him.
Why does Ricky agree with his father?
He is placating him. When his father attacks the neighbors, Ricky echoes the hatred to avoid a fight, then says exactly what his father wants to hear.
What does 'cut to the chase' mean?
It means to skip the small talk and get to the point. Fitts uses it to accuse the visitors of hiding a sales pitch.
Does Ricky actually share his father's views?
His words say yes, but they are performance. Ricky repeats his father's line to keep the peace, which is why the scene reads as a lesson in how prejudice gets passed down.
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 4 章take something out on someoneJane Meets Ricky at School
第 1 章cut cornersBrad Warns Lester to Save His Job
第 2 章come right out and sayThe Burnhams' Cold Dinner
再生中 · 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
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 3 / 14 章 · 残り約 32 分