Is Elvis Still Alive?, Explained：take it out on

What's really going on

The scene is a perfect example of how Slacker builds meaning out of talk. The Elvis theory is absurd and it is also, in its own way, a real argument about ageing and self-parody: "I really, honestly believe that this guy is still alive." The man means every word, and the film never winks. The conversation then keeps going with the same energy through ants that eat through Styrofoam, a life spent crashing on couches, and a bitter theory that women exist to make men suffer. The film does not endorse any of it and does not punish it either: it just listens. Later, at the club door, the guest list does not have his name, and he sums it up as "Universal sadness all around us." That is the quieter joke underneath: everyone here thinks they are inside something, and mostly they are not.

Theme

このチャプターで学べること

• A door snub gets inflated into cosmic tragedy for a laugh.
• Elvis conspiracy talk hides a joke about growing old.
• Being on the list is social currency at the club door.
• Casual profanity marks who feels at home and who does not.

発音のポイント

• seen Elvis — The n in seen slides onto Elvis, so it sounds like see-nelvis.
• except for — In fast speech for weakens to a bare f sound after except.
• all the time — All the runs together as alla, then time is stressed.
• end up with — End up links into en-dap before with.