VLVL2 (13) 3: Round wire rims with ND-I filters for lenses

[Paul Mackin]

On Wed, 2004-02-11 at 21:17, Bandwraith at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 2/11/04 11:43:05 AM, vmaeder at cycn-phx.com writes:
> 
> << How else is this small yet astonishing detail symbolic of Ms. Gates'
> character?  What of the fact that ND filters do not affect colors yet reduce
> brightness?  What of the fact that the normal limitations of the lens (here
> Ms. Gates' vision) in achieving certain depths of field are overcome by the
> very same filters she is wearing?  And in the context of her liaison with
> Mr. Vond >>
> 
> Good questions. These lenses and this scene form a key passage that
> needs to be examined in order to understand Frenesi's complex role
> in the novel. Specifically, I think, there is a relationship here to the 
> Oklahoma tryst between these two "alpha" specimens of their respective 
> sexes:
> 
>     She entered into a brief time-out in the struggle, from which,
>     if she'd chosen to, she could have seen most, maybe all the way
>     to the end, of what she could lose for this- OK, there he was,
>     the whole package- for what? The fucking? Anything else? (213)
> 
> Frenesi's vision has extraordinary depth of field. She is also very powerful, 
> certainly more than any of the other women in her surroundings- potential 
> competitors- that might challenge her feminine dominance. DL, her closest 
> second, eats out of her hand. But Frenesi recognizes her responsibility to 
> her sisters, and to the world, er, The World, which she instinctively knows 
> is maintained in anything close to a civilized state by women, like her.

this is tongue in cheek I presume

> 
> It is the responsibility of Alpha Women to find and select alpha men with
> whom to mate. Humanity, for as long as its been human, depends on this. 
> It is hard wired. In our species, however, in order to reproduce itself, both 
> materially and spiritually, it is only the ability of women- every bit as com-
> petitive with eachother as men- to overcome their mutual competitiveness, 
> which allows civilization to continue.
>  
> 
> Frenesi, god bless her, leads with her pussy, which directs her attention
> toward dominant alpha males. Brock, whether anyone wants to admit it, 
> is the most dominant male available. Clearly, even with his Lombrosian 
> quaintness, his homophobia and his marxist mini-state rubbish, he knows 
> the score better than any of the other male characters which are available- 
> and she could have any of them, except, maybe, Rex, and he's damaged. 
> It's natural that Brock and Frenesi are paired off. Unfortunately, Brock 
> doesn't quite measure up to what Frenesi needs or deserves, but given the 
> current "stretch of the river" and her equally strong feminine instinct- her 
> pussy is her guide- for an ordered world, Brock will have to do. And so she 
> does see this, does understand at last, what's required of her- certainly 
> "not for him, unhappy fucker" but for her sisters, and for the world, and, 
> because this is all TV anyway- especially for buddhists- for the plot of this 
> fictional reality.

In the human species, mating preferences as they apply to perpetuating
the species and mating as it applies to sexual gratification can be two
distinct things. Frenesi doesn't have children with Brock (the presumed
type A) but with Zoyd and Flash (horses of a different color).

Isn't there a danger here of trying to analyze these youth as mature
adults, or even adults at all? Pynchon provides a kinds of mock gravity
to their revolutionary undertakings but surely the reader is not
deceived. (occasionally even they are referred to as children)