in private
We don't see what goes on behind the closed doors.The Thin Blue Line · 1988 — 第 19 / 20 章 · 3'25" · B2
The Scales Are Not Balanced, Explained：tore my head off
A witness admits he left a detail out of his story — another woman was in the car — and jokes that his wife "would've tore my head off" if she knew. Then he turns on the system itself: "That's why they call it the Hall of Justice, the scales are not balanced."
あらすじ
A witness explains why he kept quiet about the woman in his car the night of the killing — his wife would have 'tore my head off.' He suspects the D.A. puts words in witnesses' mouths and that the whole story could be prefabricated. Then he describes the courthouse as the 'Hall of Justice,' where the scales tip whichever way the prosecutor wants.
注目の表現
blindfoldtore my head offprefabricate a storypaid for lying
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いま
このシーンの表現
tore my head off
would have been furious
Randell hides the woman in his car because of what his wife would have done.
My mom tore my head off for coming home late.
このシーンの他の表現
- blindfold
a cloth over the eyes
- prefabricate a story
invent a story in advance
- paid for lying
were paid to lie
- scales are not balanced
justice is not even-handed
- certified as an adult
tried as an adult
このシーンのメモ一覧
47 行のセリフに 25 件のメモ
out with someone else
She would've tore my head off if she knew I was out with another woman.unreal conditional: Would have plus a verb imagines a past that never happened.
She would've tore my head off if she knew I was out with another woman.slightly unwell
the lady was a little sick. She needed some air.quite drunk
Because she was pretty drunk.reported speech: The clause after said reports someone else's words in normal order.
They said I was going with.... The reason I was over that night...fooling around with
I was over there messing with this man's wife.The t in ain't often drops while never is stressed.
And I ain't never gone with her in my life. She was too old and ugly.never at all — Nonstandard; keep it out of formal speech.
And I ain't never gone with her in my life. She was too old and ugly.feed someone their words
Like I said, the D.A. will put something into their mouth.what one witnessed
But what I saw is just what I saw. That was it.decide how to handle
They already decided what to do with you in the hall.rising and falling
The scales are in the hall, and they go up and down.serve a long sentence
So if the D.A. wants you to hang 15 or 20 years, you're hung.Wants you blurs into want-chu, and to is weakened.
So if the D.A. wants you to hang 15 or 20 years, you're hung.be sentenced — Slang for being sentenced to years in prison.
So if the D.A. wants you to hang 15 or 20 years, you're hung.charges not yet settled
I had all these charges still pending in Orange County.modal perfect passive: Could have been plus a participle marks a possible past treatment that did not happen.
I could have been certified as an adult...be anxious about
That District Attorney told me, "Don't worry about them charges."see someone clearly
My husband, he didn't get that good a look at him.The t in didn't drops and get that runs together.
My husband, he didn't get that good a look at him.hair combed flat
but he had his combed down, different to what it was in the killing.with thick bushy hair
because I picked out this bushy-haired man.with thick bushy hair — Casual description; common in witness accounts.
because I picked out this bushy-haired man.back then
Evidently they did at that time.「The Scales Are Not Balanced」を読み解く
What's really going on
The film keeps returning to what can't be verified — testimony. Here a witness admits his own account came with an omission: he didn't tell police he had another woman in the car, because his wife 'would've tore my head off.' That admission is also a small confession about how testimony is shaped by what a witness wants to hide. He then says the state does the same thing deliberately: 'the D.A. will put something into their mouth,' and 'they could have prefabricated the whole story.' Around the same time a sixteen-year-old with charges pending describes being told exactly how to answer — 'Don't answer that "Yes." Answer it "No."' Against that, the witness's own line sounds fragile: "But what I saw is just what I saw. That was it."
Theme
JusticeThe chapter is built around the image of blindfolded Justice and unbalanced scales — the claim that a verdict has little to do with what actually happened.
DeceptionWitnesses describe testimony as something manufactured — words put in mouths, whole stories prefabricated, charges traded for answers.
このチャプターで学べること
- A blindfold on justice can hide more than it protects.
- A witness can lie simply by leaving a person out.
- Paid testimony is a business, not an accident.
- The scales tilt before anyone enters the room.
発音のポイント
- ain't never — The t in ain't often drops while never is stressed.
- wants you to — Wants you blurs into want-chu, and to is weakened.
- didn't get — The t in didn't drops and get that runs together.
We don't see what goes on behind the closed doors.About Lady Justice's blindfold: the public can't see what happens inside the system, so its fairness has to be taken on faith.
And I ain't never gone with her in my life. She was too old and ugly.The witness denies the rumor that he was seeing the other man's wife, insisting he never would have — and adding a blunt, unflattering reason.
But what I saw is just what I saw. That was it.His defense of his own account: whatever others may have invented, he can only report what he personally witnessed, nothing more.
So if they got paid, they got paid for lying.If the witnesses were paid, in his view they were paid to lie — the payment and the lie are the same act.
That's why they call it the Hall of Justice, the scales are not balanced.His reading of the courthouse's name: the scales of justice are supposed to weigh fairly, but in practice they tip against the defendant.
So if the D.A. wants you to hang 15 or 20 years, you're hung.The prosecutor's preference decides the sentence: if he wants fifteen or twenty years, that is what you get.
I'm 16 years old. I know I don't want that.A teenage witness with charges pending says plainly that he doesn't want to be tried as an adult or face a life sentence.
このシーンについての質問
Why didn't the witness mention the woman in the car?
Because he was out with another woman and feared his wife — she 'would've tore my head off.' He admits it only in the interview, which shows how witness accounts leave things out.
What does 'the scales are not balanced' mean here?
It's a metaphor from the scales of Justice: the system is supposed to weigh both sides fairly, but the speaker says the prosecutor's preference decides the outcome.
Why does the 16-year-old say he couldn't answer honestly?
He had charges pending and feared being tried as an adult. He says the D.A. coached him on what to say — 'Don't answer that "Yes." Answer it "No."' — so he went along.
Who picked Randall Adams out of the lineup?
The testimony is muddled. One witness says she picked a bushy-haired man and wasn't sure, while another says she 'picked out Randall Adams just like that' — an inconsistency the film lets stand.
Were the witnesses paid to lie?
The film doesn't prove it, but a speaker raises the possibility — if they were paid, he says, 'they got paid for lying.' It's left as an open suspicion about the Millers' reward motive.
The Thin Blue Line · 全 20 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 20 章point-blank rangeDavid Harris Confesses in the Bayou
第 1 章meant to beRandall Meets David at the Gas Station
第 2 章give a damnDetective Forces Adams to Sign
第 3 章graveyard shiftOfficer Wood Shot at Traffic Stop
第 4 章swear up and downDavid Harris Brags About the Killing
第 5 章come to find outRecounting the Night of the Shooting
第 6 章acting strangeRandall Recounts the Motel Night
第 7 章went blankAdams's Statement Labeled a Confession
第 8 章under the impressionThe Car With No Bullet Marks
第 9 章scot-freeDavid Harris Gets Off Scot-Free
第 10 章cover forWhy the Story Was Two Hours Late
第 11 章refreshed her memoryMrs. Miller Changes Her Story
第 12 章hinge onA Couple Witnesses the Shooting
第 13 章wheels start rollingWitnesses Testify for Money
第 14 章without remorseDr. Grigson's Prison Test
第 15 章put food on the tableDr. Death Takes the Stand
第 16 章hard-nosedRandall Adams on Death Row
第 17 章set the wheels of justice in motionThe Case the Supreme Court Reversed
第 18 章came over meDavid Harris's Same M.O.
再生中 · 第 19 章tore my head offThe Scales Are Not Balanced
第 20 章point-blank rangeDavid Harris Confesses in the Bayou第 19 / 20 章 · 残り約 4 分