VLVL2 (2) Notes and commentary, pp14-15

[Paul Nightingale]

(14.23-24) "a chair-high bag of Chee-tos ..."

http://www.fritolay.com/consumer.html
http://www.current.org/cm/cm703c.html

(14.24-25) "... and a six-pack of grapefruit soda from the health-food
store."

The juxtaposition of junk to health food. The first reference to food in
this chapter. Each reference will have a different function. Here, the
instant snack, sitting in front of the Tube, establishes the informal
nature of domestic arrangements chez Wheeler.

(14.25-26) "baseball highlights, commercials and weather"

This, it seems, is what "the news" amounts to.

(14.26) "kissoff story"

The word "kissoff" means final, or parting; in another context, it might
simply mean 'death'. On this occasion, it is the final story on that
newscast; we might also speculate that this is the last time Zoyd will
perform "his now familiar yearly leap".

We should also consider the importance of "the kissoff" within
TV-narrative generally (ie as a pause or transitional moment in the
flow, an example of which Pynchon has given here). More on TV-narrative
elsewhere.

(14.27) "news anchor"

The studio talking head who both personalises news presentation and
seems to guarantee the objective (ie truthful) nature of what is
presented. See John Fiske, Television Culture (1987).

(15.2-3) "... almost featured on 'Good Morning America'."

The juxtaposition of local to national news. A reminder that news values
are a construct: as a news item, Zoyd "almost" made it on to a higher
plane. The programme title, furthermore, is a wake-up call.

(15.4) "On the Tube ..."

This paragraph offers, firstly, a reading of the 'finished product' (ie
the televisual representation, or packaging, of the action described in
the previous chapter); and then expert discussion from "a physics
professor, a psychiatrist, and a track-and-field coach". Hence the
importance of the anchor who 'pulls it all together'.

(15.10-13) "the dress ... came across as a real attention-getter."

For the first time the text describes in detail the dress Zoyd is
wearing. Cf "a number of colors that would look good on television"
(4.16-17).

(15.13-14) "Over on one of the San Francisco channels ..."

Fiske describes zapping as "another form of 'writing' by the active
viewer".

(15.16-17) "a number of positions he didn't remember being in"

The passage as a whole, from Zoyd's POV as a spectator, gradually
distances him from the performance.

(15.21-22) "the Olympics down in L.A."

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (July-August). Perhaps notable as one of
the two Cold War Games (the previous Games in 1980 had been held in
Moscow).

(15.28) Prairie: "Give you a nine point five, Dad, your personal best
..."

Another sporting reference to the Olympics. Another example of Prairie
adopting the language of television. Another persona, the judge.

(15.28-29) "... too bad the VCR's busted, we could've taped it."

But in the next breath she returns the conversation to the real world:
money, groceries, fat talk.

(15.35-37) "cakes and pies ... candy bars in the freezer, Nestles Quik
instead of sugar"

Another reference to junk and/or convenience food: as on the previous
page, this signifies their informal domestic relationship. However, on
this occasion, it leads quickly to the introduction of Isaiah.