That "Have a Nice Day" Face
The story has definitely taken a turn toward being more coherent, with all the recurring characters and their geographic proximity, and is beginning to seem anything but anticonfluential (which is what I believed it be after that one note about JOI's film making). So now rather than trying to keep track of an influx of new characters, plot points and choatic settings, I feel more like I'm looking at a highly organized scene and trying to find all of the connections to the parts we've already read (I'm convinced there's all kinds of hidden things going on, either because I'm paranoid or because of the way DSW writes {too many details}).
Two things have leaped out at me in particular. The first concerns the use of "proto-Fascist" to describe both Schititt and the AA groups' outlook (there might have been one more use of "proto-Fascist" that I can't think of). The second are these weird resonances I picked up regarding Gately's "epiphanic" dream. His description of the "low-rent church basement" made me think of how the AA group is related to religion (which ties back to the notion of temple) and then description of (what I took to be) the personification of the Disease ("from behind a mask that was simply the plain yellow smiley-face circle that accompanied invitations to have a nice day" {p. 359}) brings me back to the medical attache and the "Entertainment" (pg 36), which is described as having "another of these vapid U.S.A.-type circular smiling heads embossed upon it". This (kind of weakly) connects the tow main themes we've been addressing, addiction and Entertainment, seeing as how they're both embodied by the same face. (Looking back this probably doesn't make much sense)
Just a few general I-just-don't-know type questions: What's a fin? It kind of seems like a currency and when it's mentioned it seems worth more than a dollar. And again, who is narrating? From Notes 137 and 142 it seems like someone with a well-developed vocabulary, and even though it's from Gately's perspective, not Gately (unless he likes to not use his own terms).
Two things have leaped out at me in particular. The first concerns the use of "proto-Fascist" to describe both Schititt and the AA groups' outlook (there might have been one more use of "proto-Fascist" that I can't think of). The second are these weird resonances I picked up regarding Gately's "epiphanic" dream. His description of the "low-rent church basement" made me think of how the AA group is related to religion (which ties back to the notion of temple) and then description of (what I took to be) the personification of the Disease ("from behind a mask that was simply the plain yellow smiley-face circle that accompanied invitations to have a nice day" {p. 359}) brings me back to the medical attache and the "Entertainment" (pg 36), which is described as having "another of these vapid U.S.A.-type circular smiling heads embossed upon it". This (kind of weakly) connects the tow main themes we've been addressing, addiction and Entertainment, seeing as how they're both embodied by the same face. (Looking back this probably doesn't make much sense)
Just a few general I-just-don't-know type questions: What's a fin? It kind of seems like a currency and when it's mentioned it seems worth more than a dollar. And again, who is narrating? From Notes 137 and 142 it seems like someone with a well-developed vocabulary, and even though it's from Gately's perspective, not Gately (unless he likes to not use his own terms).
posted by Jerry at 9:44 PM
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