VLVL(5) At the Movies and on the Tube

[jbor]

on 10/9/03 12:46 AM, Toby G Levy wrote:

> Finally, a couple of pages later in describing the inadequacies of
> Kahuna Airlines, Pynchon cites "the failure of Jack Lord to show up, as
> promised in the brochure, for photo opportunities."

It's another example, perhaps, of the narrative filtering Zoyd's pov. It's
Zoyd who makes the two other cheesy quips relating to _Hawaii Five-O_, and
it seems to be his flip way of acknowledging and relating to the Hawaiian
setting. There's a characteristic facetious tone to many of these
descriptions and recounts which (appear to) embrace Zoyd's perspective.

But, again, for Zoyd to be able to make the allusions, *Pynchon* has to have
known the show.

Zoyd's analogy with the jilted husband in the movie _Mildred Pierce_ (57.9)
seems an unusual opening gambit in the context. The reference is one which
Frenesi immediately understands, and it seems to me it's one which Zoyd
knows she'll understand. Perhaps it was a movie they had watched together,
and talked about, back when they were still a couple?

best