Hanji
As Good As It Gets. Melvin's line. ( Question # 6) The scene goes like this. Carol is at the door of Melvin's place. She came here to say something about that Melvin had sent the doctor to Carol's son and he had arranged the bill to pay. Carol wanted to ask why Melvin did this. Melvin: Are you waiting for me to say something? Look...I'll be at the restaurant tomorrow. Carol: I don't think this can wait until tomorrow. I need to be clear this up now. Melvin: Clear what up? Carol: I'm not going to sleep with you! I will never sleep with you! Never ever! Not ever! Melvin: Well, I'm sorry but, we don't open for no-sex oath until 9 a.m. I understand the contents because Carol seemed to feel relieved. But I don't understand what Melvin said at the end. Japanese subtitle says, "We don't welcome the customers at late night" so that I get the meaning of his saying that he doesn't want to sleep with her either. But what does his line exact mean? Should not I ask deeply about that here? Should not I mind the line? If it's ok, please explain to me. Thank you.
Oct 31, 2019 4:13 PM
Answers · 2
2
Melvin has a habit of making jokes that treat normal human interactions like business transactions. Earlier in the movie, when Nora asks him for a favor, he says "go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all socked up here." Here, Carol knows that she is breaking normal social conventions by refusing so blatantly, and she might even be endangering her son's treatment by making Melvin so angry that he stops paying for it. Melvin, strangely enough, shows a lot of social awareness by defusing the situation with a joke. If a business is doing well, it won't open early--if a customer comes to them at 8:45, the people at the business will say "sorry, we don't open for customers until 9." By using that phrase, Melvin seems like he encounters so many people refusing to have sex with him that he has to establish business hours, and she needs to wait in line with all the other people refusing to have sex with him. It sends the message--"well, of course you don't have to have sex with me. That wasn't my goal."
October 31, 2019
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