VLVL2 (2): Film as Metaphor -- Made-for-TV Movie Theory

[Tim Strzechowski]

If I'm not mistaken, Pynchon consistently uses fictitious names for his made-for-TV movies in Vineland, which is significant.  Thinking back to my own TV-viewing youth during the '70's I can recall watching a ton of made-for-TV movies, but I can't recall specifics for a single one.  They all sort of blend together as a genre, mass consumer "movie lite" for a CBS evening with Mom and Pop.

Pynchon is undoubtedly aware of this, too.  So many movies were made during this time period, usually about events or personalities that may have been immediately important but were historically insignificant (kidnappings, spousal abuse cases, automobile accidents, local intrigues, etc.), that most of the genre can be said to fulfill the needs of mass consumption amongst TV viewers while possessing little artistic value. There's a faceless quality to the genre: we've all seen 'em, but we're hard pressed to name any by title (I know I can't, although I can remember plots to a couple).

Had Pynchon used any actual titles of existing made-for-TV movies, part of the humor would have been lost and the reader would likely have not had any reference point for why that particular movie was used.  It's to Pynchon's credit that he chooses, therefore, to fashion his movie titles as parodies of many of the old made-for-TV movie titles -- The Stan Musiel Story, Young Kissenger (which sounds remarkably similar to Young Frankenstein) -- and uses celebrities (as subject matter) whose names not only possess cultural significance, but also uses celebrities (in the title roles) whose associations with that subject matter will enhance the humor of this device (i.e. Woody Allen as a young Kissenger, for example).

So, with that in mind, why Clara Bow?

Why Pia Zadora?




Tim


(By the way, I recall a made-for-TV movie starring Buddy Ebsen that centered around a massive automobile pile-up on a highway (a true-story?), initiated when Buddy's elderly wife began suffering a heart attack while they were driving.  He reached over to grab her, lost control of his car for a sec, thus causing a major multi-car pile-up that concluded the movie.  The preceeding 90 minutes of the movie were spent following several of the folks in the ensemble cast as they went about their day, only to have all their lives converge at this moment in the accident.  Anyone else remember this one?)


  Why does Pynchon use a fictitious made-for-TV film in the opening scene for Chapter Two?  Why Clara Bow?  Why Pia Zadora to portray her?  (I have a theory on this, which I'll post later, but by all means dig into the question now if you like.)  

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