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The Man from Earth · 2007 — 第 18 / 18 章 · 4'45" · C1

John's Story Is Called a Hoax, Explained：chasing our tails

The surface argument is whether the story is a hoax; underneath, the room is weighing whether to trust a man they cannot verify. A voice announces, "End of the line. Everybody off." A question follows, and only then is the account called a story. The close is anger and a demand for a real name.

あらすじ

Voices say this has gone too far, call it a hoax and a lie, and warn that someone can be committed for observation. After "End of the line. Everybody off," someone asks what, and then the account is called a story. Shock, anger, and a rubber room joke follow, and the exchange ends with a demand for a real name.

ArgumentsAccusationsConfrontingConfessingC1mediumamerican
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

gone much too farcommitted for observationend of the lineI'd prefer you were

00:00 / 04:45
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  11. ❝ 独白Committal ultimatum6 行練習ページ ↗
  54. ❝ 独白The perfect audience4 行練習ページ ↗
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このシーンの表現

chasing our tails

circling uselessly and getting nowhere

Someone says they were chasing our tails around the maypole: circling the mystery, enjoying it, and stretching the analysis.

We spent the meeting chasing our tails around the maypole and called it brainstorming.

このシーンの他の表現

  • gone much too far

    already way past the line

  • committed for observation

    forcibly held for psychiatric watch

  • end of the line

    the ride is over; everyone out

  • I'd prefer you were

    I wish you really were

  • old man

    an old man; an elderly man

このシーンのメモ一覧

87 行のセリフに 33 件のメモ

表現 · B1gone far enough

already too much; time to stop

This has gone far enough.
表現 · B2admit something is a hoax

confess the whole thing was faked

The time has come when you must admit this is a hoax...
表現 · B2a great deal of something

a large amount of care Not kindness; you need to be looked after.

If you don't drop this now - If you can - I'll be convinced that you need a great deal of attention.
文法 · C1If you can

inserted condition: The aside threatens him and doubts he can stop.

If you don't drop this now - If you can - I'll be convinced that you need a great deal of attention.
表現 · C1have someone committed for observation

forcibly held for psychiatric watch

The line is delivered like a notice: stop, or someone can have you held and watched.

I can have you committed for observation.
文法 · B2I demand it

parenthetical demand: The dashes turn a request into an order.

I ask you now - I demand it - that you tell these people the truth.
表現 · B2end of the line

the ride is over; everyone out

Pressed for an ending, someone answers with a conductor's call and tells the whole room to get off.

End of the line. Everybody off.
表現 · B2have someone wondering

kept people anxiously unsure

John, you had us wondering whether you were sane or not, and it's just a story!
表現 · C1where does someone come off with something

where did that idea come from

Where'd you come off with such a half-baked, asinine idea?
表現 · C1a half-baked idea

a crude and foolish plan Not undercooked food; an unfinished idea.

Where'd you come off with such a half-baked, asinine idea?
発音not a nut

In shadowing, keep not a close and let the t pass lightly.

At least you're relieved I'm not a nut.
スラング · B2a nut

a crazy person — Casual word for crazy; keep it out of formal talk.

At least you're relieved I'm not a nut.
発音prefer you were

For practice, hit prefer and cut were off quickly.

I'd prefer you were!
スラング · B1Come again

say that once more — A blunt spoken request to repeat; it can sound rude.

Come again?
表現 · B2if something could speak

if even stones had a voice

Dan, you spotted the burin and you said, "if stones could speak."
表現 · B2run something past someone

test an idea on someone first

I got the notion, I ran it past you to check your reactions, and I took it too far.
表現 · C1chase one's tail

spin in a circle and get nowhere The maypole is a circle dance, not a pole in the room.

We were chasing our tails around the maypole, enjoying the mystery, the analytical stretch.
表現 · C1an analytical stretch

the fun of stretching analysis Not a physical stretch; this puzzle pulls the analysis further open.

We were chasing our tails around the maypole, enjoying the mystery, the analytical stretch.
表現 · B2have someone going

fooled people into going along

Oh, man, you know, you had us going, right?
表現 · B2Chinese boxes

boxes nested one inside another

You know those Chinese boxes, one inside the other inside the other inside the other?
表現 · B2the last box

the innermost box The last box is how trapped he feels, not a real box.

I feel like I'm in the last box.
スラング · B2bitch

the curse in son of a bitch — A direct curse; humiliating in public.

bitch!
スラング · B2cop out

back out to dodge the mess — Spoken blame for quitting; rare in formal prose.

I know, I was tempted to cop out many times, But I couldn't resist seeing whether or not you could refute what I was saying.
発音I'm outta here

Let the middle of outta drop and keep here close.

I'm outta here. You wanna come? Let's go.
スラング · B1outta here

I'm leaving right now — A casual exit; do not write it in a resignation.

I'm outta here. You wanna come? Let's go.
表現 · C1absolutely certifiable

clearly fit to be committed Not a diploma; mad enough to be committed.

You are absolutely certifiable.
発音sounded pretty

Try a light t in pretty instead of a hard stop.

I thought it sounded pretty good.
表現 · B2abuse someone's goodwill

exploit someone's kind trust

But the one thing that I know about you is that you would never use people or abuse their goodwill and intelligence like they think you've just done to them.
文法 · B2the one thing that I know about you

relative clause: The clause narrows the claim to one trusted fact.

But the one thing that I know about you is that you would never use people or abuse their goodwill and intelligence like they think you've just done to them.
スラング · B2Psych 101

intro psychology, textbook level — Campus shorthand that mocks a shallow reading.

Psych 101?
表現 · B2one-on-one

a private face-to-face reading Not a sports matchup; a judgment made face to face.

No, it's woman, one-on-one.
表現 · B2a pretty fast liar

someone who lies quickly and smoothly

So you're a pretty fast liar, Mr. Ugg, But I wanna know: What's your real name?
表現 · A2someone's real name

the name you actually have

So you're a pretty fast liar, Mr. Ugg, But I wanna know: What's your real name?

「John's Story Is Called a Hoax」を読み解く

What's really going on

Someone says it has gone much too far, these people are upset, and the only explanation left is a hoax. Being committed is waved as a threat if the story is not dropped, along with a demand to tell the truth and "Give them closure." After "End of the line. Everybody off," a question lands, then a story. A line calls the idea a "half-baked, asinine idea." The next lines are "At least you're relieved I'm not a nut" and "I'd prefer you were," with a nut unspoken. Lines then name a fake Van Gogh, never aging, a book on early man, and "if stones could speak." "I ran it past you to check your reactions, and I took it too far" frames a test that went too far. The maypole line says they enjoyed the mystery while circling it. Someone later asks, "How could you do this to us?" One line says this person would never abuse their goodwill. A later line asks, "What's your real name?"

Theme

DeceptionA voice calls the account a hoax, then the room hears it was only a story told to see if anyone could refute it.
IdentityThe closing line asks for a real name, after a pun has already split Dr. Oldman into "old man."

発音のポイント

  • not a nut — In shadowing, keep not a close and let the t pass lightly.
  • prefer you were — For practice, hit prefer and cut were off quickly.
  • I'm outta here — Let the middle of outta drop and keep here close.
  • sounded pretty — Try a light t in pretty instead of a hard stop.
I can have you committed for observation.

The speaker warns that refusing to drop the story will look like a need for forced psychiatric observation. It is leverage to end the tale, not a calm clinical judgment.

John, you had us wondering whether you were sane or not, and it's just a story!

Spoken to John: the group doubted his sanity, and now hears the whole thing was only a story. The sting is the wasted worry.

We were chasing our tails around the maypole, enjoying the mystery, the analytical stretch.

The speaker remembers the group circling the puzzle: they liked the mystery and the stretch of the analysis, and they were not getting anywhere.

Where'd you come off with such a half-baked, asinine idea?

Pure disbelief. The speaker cannot see how anyone produced an idea this unfinished and this foolish, right after being told the whole thing was a story.

I'll interview you in the rubber room for further details.

A joke, not an appointment. The speaker offers to ask more only once the other person is in a padded psychiatric room, echoing the earlier talk of being certifiable.

So you're a pretty fast liar, Mr. Ugg, But I wanna know: What's your real name?

The speaker grants that the lying is quick, addresses the man as Mr. Ugg, and still wants the real name behind it.

このシーンについての質問

Why does someone threaten to have him committed?

The threat sits inside a demand to admit a hoax and drop the story. The speaker says that if it continues, they will believe he needs "a great deal of attention," and that commitment for observation is available. The same stretch also asks for "the truth" and for closure. It is pressure to force an ending, not a scene of someone actually filing papers.

Why are people angry that it was just a story?

One line tells John he had them wondering whether he was sane, and that it is just a story. Another calls the idea half-baked and asinine. After "I'm not a nut," a line says "I'd prefer you were." Some lines are lighter: "you had us going," and "You were good." Later someone asks, "How could you do this to us?" The anger is worry that now feels wasted, and not every line stays angry.

What does "rubber room" mean here?

It is slang for a padded room used to hold someone in a psychiatric crisis. The speaker offers to ask for further details only in that room, after another line has already called the person absolutely certifiable. Heard here, it is a jab, not a plan to meet.

Does everyone accept that it was only a story?

No. Some lines treat the telling as a trick that worked: "you had us going," and "You were good." Others stay angry. Near the end one line says, "They believe you because they have to." A later line asks for a real name. The exchange stays split.

Why does someone ask for a real name?

The same line calls him 'a pretty fast liar' and 'Mr. Ugg,' so the asker wants the identity behind the story, not the alias. An earlier line says the others 'believe you because they have to,' and that he would never abuse their goodwill the way they think. The lines do not give the name.

ザ・マン・フロム・アース · 全 18 章

すべて見る →
第 1 章itchy feetJohn Gets Itchy Feet第 2 章itchy feetJohn Oldman's Farewell Toast第 3 章pan outJohn's Caveman Hypothetical第 4 章a day overNot a Day Over 900第 5 章just happenedI Just Happened, Not a Mission第 6 章You can't go home againJohn's Farewell Talk第 7 章almost wish it were trueNever Told the Buddha第 8 章no way to disproveNo Way to Disprove John's Story第 9 章So much forJohn's Caveman Claim Under Fire第 10 章I never saidJohn Says He Is Only Old第 11 章survivor's guiltJohn on Dying and Survivor's Guilt第 12 章on the ropesWill's Wife Just Died第 13 章a touch of senilityJohn Recalls Losing a Man in Brussels第 14 章no need of that hypothesisPressing John About the Bible第 15 章have something in mindJohn Implies He Was Jesus第 16 章the jury is still outSo You Were Jesus第 17 章If I said noJohn Won't Confirm He Was Jesus再生中 · 第 18 章chasing our tailsJohn's Story Is Called a Hoax
この作品の 18 章はここまでです