A single green asparagus spear lies diagonally across a white plate over crumpled paper on olive ground.

Original artwork, not a still

Lester Burnham

Janey, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go fuck himself, and blackmailed him for almost sixty-thousand dollars. Would you please pass the asparagus?

— American Beauty

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

A report of quitting, insulting a boss and blackmailing him is followed by a request for asparagus. The abrupt return to table manners supplies the comic contrast. Extraordinary behaviour is placed beside an ordinary dining request, as though both belonged naturally in the same conversation.

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