VLVL2 (14) A generic longhair, 280-287

[Paul Mackin]

Just guessing of course but I always thought the term "cute meet" might
have been coined by Pauline Kael during her many years of movie
reviewing.

Not saying Paul is wrong but to me the phase sounds a little bit too
colloquial-American-English for Billy Wilder to have invented. But like
everyone else he could use the term once it became standard.

And while Wilder's male/female meets are deftly portrayed they don't
seem quite cute enough to fit the standard Hollywood Romantic Comedy
'cute-meet' mold. For example, in Double Indemnity, Fred MacMurray's
being called to Barbara Stanwyck's house in order to solicit his
participation in a life insurance scam is too sinister to be called
cute. 

My idea of the quintessential cute meets is when the male and female
lead meet for the first time at the pajama counter at Macys at the
precise moment he wishes only to purchase a bottom and she is in the
market for just a top.

Another thing often characteristic in a cute meet is that the boy and
girl start off hating each other, if only momentarily. Like Roger and
Jessica.

Perhaps I'm being too arbitrary. 


On Thu, 2004-03-04 at 08:06, Paul Nightingale wrote:
> Yes indeed, on 38, and very screwball, of course. The text offers it as a
> retrospective judgement, so the auspicious nature of their first meeting is
> made apparent with hindsight. The same would be true of the (admittedly
> lesser) examples in VL. The Hollywood version would operate differently,
> usually, because the meeting came early in the film: here, the audience
> would bring their prior knowledge of conventions, the star system etc, to
> bear. Pynchon's cute-meets occur in flashback, because the novel is read
> differently.
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Heikki Raudaskoski [mailto:hraudask at sun3.oulu.fi]
> > Sent: 04 March 2004 09:35
> > To: Paul Nightingale
> > Cc: 'Dave Monroe'; 'Pynchon-L'
> > Subject: RE: VLVL2 (14) A generic longhair, 280-287
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Having a cubicle lunch, don't have GR near me, but wasn't
> > Roger's and Jessica's witty first encounter in Kent "what
> > Hollywood likes to call a 'cute meet'"? (Tried to comb GR
> > for R&J passages as thoroughly as possible way back when,
> > so the phrase has, so to say, been engraved on my mind).
> > 
> > 
> > Heikki
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On Wed, 3 Mar 2004, Paul Nightingale wrote:
> > 
> > > I'm familiar with it from Billy Wilder's comments about his films, so I
> > > assume he's the author. He said he liked to come up with a cute-meet
> > > situation for his hero and heroine. I've seen him quoted to this effect
> > on
> > > more than one occasion, and I think he discusses it in the interview
> > book
> > > with Cameron Crowe a few years back. It implies a screwball dimension to
> > the
> > > relationship, which is perhaps, and admittedly, more accurate in VL with
> > > regard to DL and Takeshi; and there is something stagey about the
> > meeting
> > > and the way mutual attraction develops (DL and Frenesi, or Frenesi and
> > > Brock). More specifically, in Wilder's films there is usually a con,
> > perhaps
> > > a mutual con involved, with one or both parties being economical with
> > the
> > > truth, and then having to invent more elaborate scenarios to keep up the
> > > charade. I did say perhaps ...
> > >
> > > Yes, Billy Wilder is one of those people who are greatly missed.
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
> > > > Behalf Of Dave Monroe
> > > > Sent: 03 March 2004 15:15
> > > > To: Paul Nightingale; 'Pynchon-L'
> > > > Subject: Re: VLVL2 (14) A generic longhair, 280-287
> > > >
> > > > Pardon my ignorance, esp. having seen this phrase so
> > > > many times here, but ...
> > > >
> > > > --- Paul Nightingale <isread at btopenworld.com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > a cute-meet
> > > >
> > > > ... but I gotta axe, what does this mean?  And where
> > > > again does it enter the Pynchon lexicon?  I've seen it
> > > > elsewhere, I'm assuming it's not necesarily of his
> > > > coinage, but ... well, let me know, thanks ...
> > > >
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> 
>