VLVL2 (3) Zoyd and Hector: Ricardo Montalban

[jbor]

on 15/8/03 11:32 PM, jbor wrote:

> Beyond the question of why Hector chose Montalban as his role model over,
> say, Ramon Novarro, Fernando Lamas, Cesar Romero, Alejandro Rey, or even
> Desi Arnaz, perhaps Pynchon saw something in Ricardo's personality, or the
> trajectory of his career, which matched up with what he was trying to
> capture and convey in the backstory and characterisation of Hector.

Sloppy, this. It was late. The primary question, which precedes both of
these, is why Pynchon decided to make Hector a Mexican, rather than a Cuban,
Colombian, Argentinian, Puerto Rican, or simply an American?

And the example of "impersonation" given in the text seems to be his witty
and facetious rejoinder to Scott's racist mockery and Zoyd's attempt to
explain it away:

      "In the parking lot at the Taco Bell in Hermosa, yes a memorable
    series of evenings, much celebrated in the folklore of my people."
                                                            (23.19)

Which, from what I've read, might match up with the character played by
Ricardo in _Mystery Street_ (1950).

best