When the Theresa Russell character asks why she can't go with him, I always thought Max said "Because I'm gonna get caught." On the DVD subtitles, the caption says the line is "Because I wanna get caught." It's hard to tell which it is from listening to it (he kind of mumbles the line). Anybody know for sure what it's supposed to be?
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Of course he says, "I'm gonna get caught." You think he WANTED to get caught???? Right, that makes perfect sense. As far as subtitles go, they're written by morons who listen literally and not with their brains, kind of like automatic language translators...
I've seen the most absurd and idiotic translations of dialogue and especially song lyrics from movies that made me think the subtitle writers were retarded. And maybe they were.
Actually, what he says is: ”You don't wanna get caught” (pronounced: ”edunwannagecaut”). Which makes perfect sense: he cares, and he knows what he is talking about. For him to state either a latent desire to get caught or expressing the obvious fatalism of the movie would have been a bit obtrusive, I think.
(Already posted the gist of this down below, but reposting here to cut a long discussion short.)
The subtitles of my DVD say 'wanna,' and it makes total sense to me: Max needs to punish himself for what happened to Willy and Schue, but he doesn't have the courage to surrender, so he'll just continue to drive until he's eventually caught. And he doesn't want Jenny to be there when it happens, he loves her too much for it.
This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
Wow. A little pop psychology courtesy of The Shawshank Redemption goes a long way on this thread, I see. While I'm sure it's true that some "institution men" prefer prison (Max Dembo even addresses this at one point), everything about Max's character says that he would say "I'm gonna get caught" as opposed to "I wanna get caught." He's a career thief. He likes the thrill of robberies and, unlike his pal Jerry, doesn't really know how to do anything else. He wanted to pull off a couple of big scores so he could ride off into the sunset for a while with his girl and take it easy. He did *not* want to get caught so that he could go back to prison. He simply knew it was a matter of time before the police tracked him down, and being a fairly decent guy he did the right thing by abandoning his girlfriend Jenny to minimize her subsequent troubles. After Jerry was killed, Max murdered that same cop so that he could stay out of prison!
shareClosed captioning said "wanna"
shareFor what it's worth, I heard and saw "wanna," too.
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Viewed it on TCM. "Wanna" seems to carry the day.
"It's the system, Lara. People will be different after the Revolution."
Closed captioning said "wanna"
That's true I'm sure, but it still doesn't make any sense. Nothing about Dembo's character suggests he enjoys being an institutional man, too intimidated by life on the outside to hack it in his own way.
thesnowleopard: your argument is reasonable, but I still think it's conjecture. In support of your view, the film is at best neutral on whether Max wants to get caught. You basically have to take a psychiatrist's perspective in explaining Max's motivations (the "all hardcore gamblers want to lose" sort of thinking), when there are simpler explanations for Max's apparent self-sabotage that are rooted in basic human nature. Namely, Max has a low tolerance for humiliation and taking $hit. This explains the arguing with the PO from the get go, and his later decision to beat the crap out of the PO and leave him nude and handcuffed on the freeway. This is tied into his "my way or the highway" mentality and his refusal, for example, to adhere to the robbery time clock to which he and Jerry had agreed upon. Max doesn't go overtime because he secretly wants to get caught. He simply wants more loot and "knows" he has the time to spare. That's greed and arrogance, not an entry in Freud's patient book.
Max does not accept the Faustian bargain most of us have to stomach in making it in the normal free world: having to be some place at certain times, having to pretend to be something you're not to get ahead, having to bite your lip and remain quiet when someone in a position of power is insulting you and treating you unfairly, etc. Couple that low tolerance for shabby treatment with a hair-trigger temper, and you've got Max. He wants to be free. He doesn't want to be under anyone's thumb. The only way he knows how to attain this freedom is through crime. No subtle psychological explanations necessary. The subtler aspects of this film, in my opinion, have more to do with the difficulties ex-cons face in going straight, even when they initially intend to do so in earnest, and to remain on the outside.
thesnowleopard: your argument is reasonable, but I still think it's conjecture. In support of your view, the film is at best neutral on whether Max wants to get caught. You basically have to take a psychiatrist's perspective in explaining Max's motivations (the "all hardcore gamblers want to lose" sort of thinking), when there are simpler explanations for Max's apparent self-sabotage that are rooted in basic human nature.
The subtitles say "Because I wanna get caught." However, Hoffman kind of mumbles the line so he MIGHT have said "Because I'm gonna get caught." I really don't know. Either line makes sense as pointed out in the posts above.
Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.
Alvin Sargent’s script is available on line. Here’s what it says re the final lines between Max and Jenny:
Jenny: Please, Max, I don't want any money.
Max: I want you to have it.
Jenny: What are you gonna do? Will you call me?
Max: Gotta go.
Jenny: Forgot my sweater. Why can't I go with you?
Max: Because I wanna get caught.
https://www.scripts.com/script.php?id=straight_time_18947&p=26
The book it's based on says "gonna."
I heard it as "Imonna get caught." Definitely heard and saw him say the "m," which rules out "wanna." Watch the lips and you can see an "m" not the "O" shape for "wanna."