VLVL 24fps and "the Movement"

[Paul Mackin]

On Thu, 2004-01-15 at 10:33, Richard Romeo wrote:
> --- davemarc <davemarc at panix.com> wrote:
> > I think that, in Vineland, Pynchon establishes a
> > tragic motif of how the US
> > government used anti-labor, anti-Communist, and
> > anti-drug hysteria to
> > advance nondemocratic agenda. Pynchon shows how
> > government agents use their
> > power to exploit weaknesses in popular movements,
> > undermining them by
> > deliberating creating "failures and sellouts" in
> > their ranks. There's an
> > element of satire throughout Vineland, but this
> > motif prevails (in
> > accordance with Pynchon's belief that power is a
> > sworn enemy of writers).
> > Everyone's a caricature, but the caricature of Brock
> > is that of a
> > manipulative, powerful predator. Recall that in
> > 1984, Orwell (through his
> > predator O'Brien) is in a position to toy with
> > Winston and Julia, getting
> > them to pledge to do all kinds of despicable harm.
> > Yet it's O'Brien who,
> > like Brock, is the actual agent of despicable harm,
> > the government agent who
> > succeeds in entrapping and victimizing Winston and
> > Julia like Brock entraps
> > and victimizes his victims.
> ______________
> on a certain level this is true but I would argue in
> addition is that Brock's motivation is also personal,
> a very dangerous impulse for someone with his power. I
> never got the impression that O'Brien in 1984 had any
> personal motivation in getting winston and julia, but
> was a firm believer in big brother. which one is the
> more frightening I can't say though Brock seems to me
> to be pretty pathetic in his quest to destroy Zoyd and
> in his comeuppance--erased because of budgetary
> considerations.


I'd say a budget cut is a terribly jocular resolution to a Big Brother
problem. Brock is presented as pure danger, then at the end this
portrayal is thrown into extreme doubt. Surely, we say to ourselves, a
REAL Big Brother or Big Brother functionary could have found the money
somewhere. The Big Brother danger vaporizes before our very eyes. 

Far be it for me to say there is no BB problem, but . . . .