Picturing Bianca

[Joe Varo]

Steven Maas says:

> [...]
> I guess if I was to picture Bianca it would maybe be as Brooke Shields
> in _Pretty Baby_--a ...

To which Henry M responds:

> Brooke Shields! Bianca is described as not having fully outgrown her
> babyfat; Brooke was bred and raised to never have any. Maybe you like
> the way she looks, but she was never "cute." Brooke was never a child
> and she was never sexual. I think part of what people find disturbing
> about Bianca is that she Is a child A-and is sexual.

At first I thought that Steven had a better image (Brooke Shields in Baby
Face) of Bianca than I did, the little girl from the Art of Noise video.

Then Henry pointed out that Bianca isn't fully grown up looking...her face
is still "round with baby fat" (p 469).  But at the same time, Bianca's
bottom is described as being "perfectly shaped" (p 469) and on p 463 we're
told that "...that Bianca's a knockout, all right...".  I don't think that
you'd describe a cute kid as being a knockout with a perfect ass.

There's definitely a problem here and Henry hit it on the nose:  Bianca
"is a child A-and is sexual".  Hell, she's the one who initiates the
interlude with Slothrop!

This has also gotten me thinking about the appearance of the "baby beauty
queens" which have gotten so much press here in the US as of late.  Maybe
this is a more accurate image of Bianca?

Joe