Daily Dialogue — December 12, 2016

WOMAN: Mr. Harris?

BOB: Yes?

WOMAN: : Mr. Kazu sent me.

BOB: Oh?

WOMAN: May I enter? Thank you. Do you like massage?

BOB: I don’t think l — I like massage anymore.

WOMAN: Mr. Kazu sends premium fantasy. My stockings — “lip” them. “Lip” my stockings.

Yes, please. “Lip” them.

BOB: What?

WOMAN: “Lip” them. Hey! “Lip” my stocking!

BOB: Hey! “Lip” them? “Lip” them? What?

WOMAN:”Lip” them. Like this. “Lip” them.

BOB: Rip them?

WOMAN: “Lip,” yes.

BOB: You want me to rip your stockings?

WOMAN: Yes, “lip” my stockings, please.

BOB: Rip your stockings. You want me to rip your stockings.

WOMAN: Yes. Please? Please? Please?

BOB: All right, I’m gonna rip your stockings, and you tell Mr. Kazu we had a blast.

WOMAN: Oh, no! Mr. Harris! Oh, my God! Don’t touch me! Mr. Bob Harris, don’t touch me Just “lip” my stocking! Oh, no, Mr. Harris! Oh, no! Help! Help!

BOB: Yeah — Yeah.

WOMAN: Help, please! Help, please!

BOB: Okay.

WOMAN: Mr. Harris, help, please.

BOB: Careful with those.

WOMAN: Oh! Help, please! Help, please!

BOB: Come on. Come on.

WOMAN: Let me go, Mr. Harris! Oh, no! Let me go!

BOB: Come on. Come on.

WOMAN: Ohh! Let me go! Let me go.

BOB: Oh, crap.

WOMAN: Please let me go.

BOB: With pleasure.

WOMAN: Oh, no, Mr. Bob Harris, don’t let me go! No! No! Oh, no, Mr. Bob Harris! Ohh! Oh, please. Let me go, please!

— Lost in Translation (2003), written by Sofia Coppola

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Fish-Out-Of-Water, suggested by Will King. Today’s suggestion by Gisela.

Trivia: Writer-director Sofia Coppola remembered the inspiration for that scene: “That came from a story of a friend of mine who was working in Japan and had this story of, I don’t know if it was a prostitute or a co-worker, and thought she wanted some bondage thing, but it was a misunderstanding. And I was looking for stories of misunderstandings.”

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Gisela: “Sex seems to be an universal language, but as you can see within this scene it isn’t. Bob is totally lost in this unfamiliar society, but though he tries to understand, what the woman tries to tell him. But the cultural codes are way much too far away that he can understand. When he tries to act upon the woman’s wishes (to rip the stockings), the misunderstanding is clear. We feel with Bob while this embarrassing scene is going on, and whatever he could say is wrong (let me go — don’t let me go).”