你们不是应该抓坏人的吗？
“Why didn't you stop this happening?”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
你们警察都在干什么的？
“What is the police force for?”
你们 不是应该 抓 坏人 的吗？
“Why didn't you stop this happening?”
“Aren't you supposed to bring criminals to justice, huh?”
“You are completely useless and failing at your job.”
In Chinese social interactions, framing a critique as a violation of fundamental moral duty (抓坏人) intensifies the accusation against public servants.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
aren't (you) supposed to
A rhetorical construction used to challenge someone by highlighting the discrepancy between their duty and current behavior.
catch bad guys / apprehend criminals
Common everyday phrase referring to catching wrongdoers or lawbreakers.
Converts the statement into a sharp rhetorical question expecting an obvious affirmative response.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Aren't you supposed to bring criminals to justice, huh?”
“Tell me, has that criminal been caught yet?”
“and let them decide how it should be handled. Exactly. Don't worry.”
“Are you really not a bad person?”
“why would the police want to arrest you?”
“That was also meant to frame you?”