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The Thin Blue Line · 1988 — 第 4 / 20 章 · 4'46" · B1

David Harris Brags About the Killing, Explained：swear up and down

David Harris tells anyone who will listen that he shot the Dallas officer — at a friend's house he "starts swearing up and down" that he is the killer. Friends wave it off with "Sure you did, David. Sure." Only later, facing the case against him, does the story change and the bragging stop.

あらすじ

A month after a Dallas officer is killed, police get a break in Vidor, Texas, and trace David Harris to a stolen car. Meanwhile, friends say David kept bragging that he had shot the officer, swearing up and down until everyone dismissed it as another story. Facing prison, he changes his account and admits he was there.

InvestigationPolice questioningConfessingExplainingPolice & suspectB1fastamerican
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注目の表現

fucking pigswear up and downin over my headmake a big scene

00:00 / 04:46
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このシーンの表現

swear up and down

insist with oaths

The moment the news mentions the shooting, David starts swearing up and down that he did it.

He will swear up and down that he was never there.

このシーンの他の表現

  • fucking pig

    a very offensive term for a cop

  • in over my head

    beyond one's depth

  • make a big scene

    create a public fuss

  • third-hand rumor

    gossip many times removed

  • came clean

    finally tell the truth

このシーンのメモ一覧

79 行のセリフに 24 件のメモ

表現 · A2close to a holiday

near Christmas time

It was getting awfully close to Christmas.
表現 · B2clear a case

solve a murder case

We'd never gone that long in Dallas without clearing a murder of an officer.
文法 · B1had gone a month

past perfect: The past perfect shows how long the case had already dragged on.

And this case had gone a month, or nearly a month...
表現 · B2get a break

get a lucky lead

We finally got the break that cleared it. It came out of Vidor, Texas.
表現 · B1commit a crime

carry out the offence

We felt as though David had committed that crime.
表現 · B1on foot

on foot, walking

David abandoned the vehicle and ran on foot.
表現 · B1bits of information

scraps of information

We started getting little bits of information, though...
文法 · B2little bits of information

noun phrase: Little bits of softens the amount, and the that-clause later says what it was.

We started getting little bits of information, though...
表現 · B2comrades in crime

partners in crime

So we went back to a few of his other comrades in crime, we could call them.
スラング · B1bragging

boasting — Everyday word for boasting; slightly negative.

They said, "We thought he was just bragging.
表現 · A2watch the evening news

the night news broadcast

Sitting down, watching the evening news, well, the night news.
発音swear to God

Swear to links up, and to weakens to a schwa.

He says, "I swear to God, I shot that fucking pig."
スラング · C1pig

a slur for a police officer — A hostile slur for police; never use it.

He says, "I swear to God, I shot that fucking pig."
表現 · B1check out a car

look into, verify

I think he said because they were checking out a stolen car.
表現 · A2roll down the window

lower the car window

When the cop came, he rolled down the window...
発音big scene

Both big and scene are stressed to underline the size of the fuss.

He made a big scene about it. Jumped up and down...
スラング · B2son of a gun

a mild or rough insult — A casual insult that can be playful or rough depending on tone.

to listen to him. "Yeah, I shot that son of a gun."
表現 · B2be consistent with

in keeping with

Which is fairly consistent with David. Even if he had some involvement...
文法 · B2Even if he had some involvement

concessive clause: Even if concedes the possibility before the main point lands.

Which is fairly consistent with David. Even if he had some involvement...
表現 · B1lead someone to a place

guide someone to

He led me to a swampy area...
表現 · B2retrieve a weapon

recover the gun

When we retrieved the gun...
表現 · A2take good care of something

look after well

So he had taken pretty good care of it, even though he did put it under water.
発音didn't do it

The t in didn't drops and do it runs together.

"I didn't do it, but I was there, and I know who did do it."
表現 · B2hide the facts

withhold nothing

He tried to hide no facts.

「David Harris Brags About the Killing」を読み解く

What's really going on

The bragging is the whole case in miniature. David tells a friend, in front of the TV, that he killed the officer: "I'm the one that killed him." His friends treat it as noise — the room answers with "Sure you did, David. Sure." — because David was always claiming things, and the truth usually came out only when he felt cornered. That is exactly the pattern here: asked whether he had been to Dallas or involved in a shooting, "he denied that to the end," then, sensing he was in over his head, he changed his story, led someone to a pistol and a sock hidden in a swamp, and admitted he was present. The police take the lesson quietly: what David knew "was the facts of the case, and it matched with what we knew." The kid who would not stop bragging turns out to be the most reliable witness in the room — as long as someone listens.

Theme

LiesDavid's friends cannot separate his boasting from the truth, so his confession reads as just more talk until the details prove exact.
GuiltThe story he keeps telling — that he is the killer — is the one he later has to take back, and his friends' disbelief is what lets it stand.

このチャプターで学べること

  • The confession that freed one man sent another to prison.
  • A witness's certainty can rest on a rumour.
  • Bragging about a killing became a boy's way of being seen.
  • The film shows how differently the law treats a sixteen-year-old.

発音のポイント

  • swear to God — Swear to links up, and to weakens to a schwa.
  • big scene — Both big and scene are stressed to underline the size of the fuss.
  • didn't do it — The t in didn't drops and do it runs together.
We'd never gone that long in Dallas without clearing a murder of an officer.

The pressure behind the case: an unsolved killing of an officer is unusual for Dallas, and the delay is what pushes investigators toward David's story.

He says, "I swear to God, I shot that fucking pig."

David's account, quoted by a witness: he insists, with an oath, that he fired the shot. The profanity is part of how hard he is selling it.

And everybody said, "Sure you did, David. Sure."

The reaction of everyone listening: they answer his confession with flat, mocking agreement, treating the claim as a joke he keeps repeating.

We felt as though David had committed that crime.

This is what the police believe before they can prove it — that the crime belongs to David, which is why they keep working the case around him.

"I didn't do it, but I was there, and I know who did do it."

The reversal: he takes back the confession and offers an alibi that keeps him close to the crime without being the shooter.

He just seemed like a friendly kid.

How the police describe him after everything — not a monster, just a friendly kid, which is what makes the whole story so unsettling.

このシーンについての質問

Why did nobody believe David Harris when he confessed?

He told the same story over and over, and his friends had heard him brag before: "We thought he was just bragging." The details were real, but the delivery made it sound like more of his usual talk.

How does David Harris's story change?

First he swears he shot the officer himself. Later, facing a long sentence, he says, "I didn't do it, but I was there, and I know who did do it," and leads someone to a pistol hidden in a swamp.

What breaks the case open?

A burglary and a stolen car in Vidor, Texas, point police to David Harris. Once they find him, the rumors he had been spreading about the Dallas shooting turn into evidence.

Why do the police describe David Harris as "a friendly kid"?

It is what makes him hard to read: he talks to police calmly, chats for fifteen or twenty minutes, and seems ordinary. The unsettling part is that this friendly kid is describing a killing in detail and knows facts that match the case.

Did David Harris eventually take responsibility?

Only in his own terms. He admits he was present and identifies the shooter, and the police find his account matches what they know, but he still denies firing the shot himself.

The Thin Blue Line · 全 20 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 5 章come to find outRecounting the Night of the Shooting
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再生中 · 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.第 19 章tore my head offThe Scales Are Not Balanced第 20 章point-blank rangeDavid Harris Confesses in the Bayou
第 4 / 20 章 · 残り約 65 分