too curious about others
"You're too nosy. You don't even know what's going on."The Thin Blue Line · 1988 — 第 12 / 20 章 · 5'03" · B1
A Couple Witnesses the Shooting, Explained：hinge on
A husband and wife are driving home when they hear what sounds like backfire or firecrackers. He wants to keep going — "Come on, we're getting out of here" — but she turns and looks anyway, and later picks Randall Adams out of a courtroom. The film follows the look, and then the doubts cast on it.
あらすじ
A couple driving through West Dallas hear gunshots they take for backfire or firecrackers and keep going. The husband tells his wife to shut up and not look; she looks anyway and gets a clear view of the driver's face and the dark-blue car. At trial she identifies Randall Adams from that passing glance. Later testimony questions her job history and her honesty.
注目の表現
get involveddishwater blondsee nothing or hear nothingcome forward
00:00 / 05:03Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
このシーンの表現
hinge on
depend entirely on
The defense argues the whole case hung on one witness whose credibility was already broken.
The whole case hinges on one witness.
このシーンの他の表現
- get involved
take part
- dishwater blond
dull greyish blond
- see nothing or hear nothing
double negative for emphasis
- come forward
offer information to authorities
- ho
a slur for a woman
このシーンのメモ一覧
71 行のセリフに 28 件のメモ
be quiet, rudely — Very rude; fine in a fight, not with strangers or at work.
He wanted to go on. He told me to shut up and turn around. Don't look.did it regardless
I turned around and looked anyway.start to wonder
And so we drove over the bridge, and I got to thinking.modal deduction: Couldn't be marks a negative deduction about what was happening.
I was thinking to myself: "That couldn't be somebody shooting."The t in couldn't often drops in fast speech.
I was thinking to myself: "That couldn't be somebody shooting."very dark
It was real dark, and it was cold.Link got such a so it runs together.
This is how I got such a good look.be clearly visible
But when he rolled down the window, what made his face stand out so.Kind of weakens into kinda.
kind of dishwater-blond hair.very different
But, like I said, when he was in court, he sure looked a lot different.an area with much crime
because West Dallas is a high-crime neighborhood.double negative: Standard English would use anything; the double negative adds emphasis.
Like here, nobody wants to see nothing or hear nothing.Wants to often collapses into wansta.
Like here, nobody wants to see nothing or hear nothing.struggle to do something
That's why they were having such a hard time there...nonstandard clause: Standard English needs if and a present-tense verb before the clause.
She believe in, see somebody done something wrong she should tell it.report someone's wrongdoing
'Cause she told on me...finally did something
So I ended up opening it, but there was nothing in it.a slur for a woman — A heavy slur; never use it, only learn to recognize it.
She's a ho, but she find out you done something, she turn you in.leave work early
that she had gotten off early from her gas station job...be dismissed from work
because she had been fired from her job two weeks earlier...relative clause: The that-clause modifies reason and explains why something happened.
The reason that they were talking to the police at all...offer information willingly
When they were at the police station, they suddenly decided to volunteer...time clause: The when-clause sets the moment they chose to speak up.
When they were at the police station, they suddenly decided to volunteer...a vehicle driving past
who had testified and identified Randall Adams from a passing vehicle.hard to believe
and give this evidence that this woman was not believable.depend entirely on
The defense argues the whole case hung on one witness whose credibility was already broken.
If their case hinged on this testimony, this was not believable testimony.worthless people — A strong insult; only in private anger.
They were scum. They were just...「A Couple Witnesses the Shooting」を読み解く
What's really going on
The scene is about a glance that could decide the case, and how little everyone involved wanted to give it. The husband's instinct is to keep moving: "You're too nosy. You don't even know what's going on." Within a neighborhood described as a high-crime area, the film notes, "nobody wants to see nothing or hear nothing." Then it turns on the witness herself. She was fired two weeks before the trial for till-tapping, and a caller tells the defense that "this woman had never told the truth in her life." "If their case hinged on this testimony, this was not believable testimony." The conviction may rest on the eyes of someone the film is about to discredit.
Theme
TrustThe conviction leans on an eyewitness the film then shows to be unreliable, turning the whole question into who can be believed.
LiesA neighbor's call insists the witness "had never told the truth in her life," and the defense argues the case can't hinge on her.
このチャプターで学べること
- 'Get a good look' means to see clearly for a moment.
- Come forward means reporting what you saw.
- 'Hinge on' means everything depends on one thing.
- Locals stay quiet to avoid trouble.
発音のポイント
- couldn't be — The t in couldn't often drops in fast speech.
- got such a — Link got such a so it runs together.
- kind of — Kind of weakens into kinda.
- wants to — Wants to often collapses into wansta.
I had no idea that somebody was gonna get killed or shot.The witness says the shots meant nothing at the time; she had no reason to think anyone was being killed, which is why she kept driving.
So we heard something, like backfire or firecrackers.What she heard was ambiguous — a car backfiring or fireworks — so an ordinary driver would have had no reason to stop.
This is how I got such a good look.She explains how she managed to see the driver clearly: the window was down, the car was dark blue, and the man's face stood out against it.
Like here, nobody wants to see nothing or hear nothing.In this neighborhood, the double negative means people deliberately avoid noticing anything, because coming forward is dangerous.
This woman had never told the truth in her life.A caller tells the defense the eyewitness is a habitual liar, an attack on the testimony the conviction rests on.
If their case hinged on this testimony, this was not believable testimony.If the prosecution's case depends entirely on this one witness, the speaker argues, then the case is built on something no one should trust.
このシーンについての質問
Why does the film attack Mrs. Miller's credibility?
Her testimony is what puts Randall Adams in the car. To undermine it, the film notes she was fired two weeks earlier for stealing from the till and that a caller said she 'had never told the truth in her life.'
What does 'till-tapping' mean?
It's an old term for stealing money out of a cash register. The film uses it to explain why the gas-station worker had actually lost her job, contrary to what she told the court.
Why did the husband tell her to look away?
He didn't want to get involved and was, she says, more scared than she was. He told her to shut up, turn around, and not look, because the neighborhood was known for crime.
Was the eyewitness actually lying?
The film never proves it. It just stacks up reasons to doubt her: a disputed job history, a neighbor's claim that she lied constantly, and testimony that didn't match her first statement.
Where was the shooting?
It happened in West Dallas, described in the film as a high-crime neighborhood, in a mostly Black area where residents were reluctant to come forward.
The Thin Blue Line · 全 20 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 13 章wheels start rollingWitnesses Testify for Money
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
再生中 · 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.
第 19 章tore my head offThe Scales Are Not Balanced
第 20 章point-blank rangeDavid Harris Confesses in the Bayou第 12 / 20 章 · 残り約 32 分