ST Squeezita Thickly

[Mark Kohut]

Besides Fatty Arbuncle where was a darker (pedophilia) side of movie world
"being regularly exposed"
at the time?

Fatty's story---which I may not know fully---seemed to me Pynchon's shadow
synecdoche connection to the
present.

On Mon, May 4, 2026 at 8:52 AM Joseph Tracy via Pynchon-l <
pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:

>
>
>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject:        Re: ST Squeezita Thickly
> Date:   Sun, 3 May 2026 21:44:27 -0400
> From:   Joseph Tracy <coypoet at mailfence.com>
> Organization:   www.brooksideglassworks.com
> To:     Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
>
>
>
> Good stuff. The novel revolves intensely around the mythologies of
> Hollywood, mostly film noir, all at a time when the darker side of movie
> world , including the Pedophilia implied with Bruno "dating" his
> daughter, is being regularly exposed .
>
> Shirley Temple was always fixing things between people with one song and
> dance after another, filling some kind of psychological need in the
> depression.  One is not sure such a reconciliation is the best thing for
> the Airmonts.
>
> On 5/3/26 10:03 AM, Robin Landseadel via Pynchon-l wrote:
> > Starting on 218, continuing through 222, Daphne catches up with her
> > dad, Bruno Airmont. "Have you been to the movies lately? We used to do
> > that a lot. How about a date?"
> > "Sure, April 23, 1928, that good?"
> >
> > Shirley Temple was born on April 23, 1928. This scene is set in the
> > winter of 1932, by then Shirley started her "Baby Burlesks" shorts,
> > her first movies.
> >
> > What follows is a trip to the "Mozik" (cinema) to watch Squeezita
> > Thickly (an obvious parody of Shirley Temple) in "Bigger Than Yer
> > Stummick (1931)". Squeezita sings a song about eating that, lyrically
> > speaking, shares a strong resemblance to "On the Good Ship Lollipop".
> > This sequence rhymes with the sequence on pg. 473 of Gravity's Rainbow
> > (I've got the 2000 edition) where young Bianca Erdmann grunts "The
> > Good Ship Lollypop". This is reinforced later on page 241 when a
> > Mangalica pig is described as "One of the more loveable pig faces,
> > surrounded by ringlets and curls. Squeezita Thickly should only look
> > half this adorable."
> >
> > Shirley Temple "saved" Fox Films after William Fox was kicked out.
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>