Exploratory Draft

In my exploratory draft I am trying to explore Wallace’s use of transvestism and homosexuality in the novel Infinite Jest.  The character of Steeply, our US agent dressed as a woman, is one prime example.  What does Wallace gain from making Steeply crossdress?  How does that connect to the other examples in the novel, Poor Tony, U.S.S. Millicent Kent’s father?  Wallace’s uses humor throughout the novel and my contention is that he is using transvestism as a source of comedy.  I see the fact that *Spoiler Alert* most of the characters believe Steeply is actually a woman as the kind of low-brow humor we see in Mrs. Doubtfire and Big Momma’s House.  He may be aiming for Shakespeare, but I clearly disagree.  Then the representation of transvestism through Poor Tony and Millicent Kent’s father is even more damaging.  Poor Tony’s situation only gets worse and worse.  Wallace’s attempts to write homosexual characters seem to veer to the sterotypically butch (Ann Kittenplan, Millicent Kent) or to sexual violence.  At times, the character and characterizations seem pointless.  At one point a homosexual character is introduced, he flashes back to being violated by his father, and then the character is never mentioned again.  Is the scene a sucker punch to the gut?  An easy shock?  That is the essence of what I am exploring.  I am hoping to include other writing by Wallace.  He examines sexual relationships and compulsions in a lot of his short stories.  Also, to perhaps include other white heterosexual male writers of his generation.  My hope would be his uses of sexuality are part of a trend amongst that select circle of writers.  That would be ideal.  Any suggestions/questions/directions?

 

Infinite Jest #1

I am amazed how much reading Infinite Jest reminds me of the experience of watching Lost.  The reader is dropped seemingly at the end of the story, and we do not know how we got there.  Instead of focusing solely on Hal we are introduced to many other characters whose importance we do not yet know.  Also, Wallace seems to leave little clues, clever winks to the reader, that can clarify or frustrate.  Now, reading this for the second time, I continue to find new access points to better understand the novel.  Or, attempt to understand the novel.  The names of the characters, as in Lost, may provide the reader with more knowledge.  On page 17 Hal is concerned about defeating Dymphna.  Dymphna (according to the great Wikipedia) is the patron saint of mental illness and nervous system disorders.  This is particularly relevant as Hal has been whisked away to yet another hospital.  We do not know his experience at the hospital, but instead we are given the story of Kate Gompert.  If this were Lost, Hal and Kate would pass each other in the hallway or something.  Infinite Jest differs from Lost in that the common experiences that are shared by the characters are not meant to shock or surprise, but instead to illuminate.  Hal is a part of many systems, his family, his academy, the drug community and he acts against them in both obvious and unique ways.  He was raised to believe that he was exceptional, and is now finding that to be less true.  He can be defeated.  Infinite Jest taps into that common lie that parents often tell their children, that you are special and can grow up to be anything you want to be if you work hard enough, and shakes it apart.  The novel points out that there are great forces in the world influencing decisions from the government to your own father.  These forces can lead you to a tennis academy or to a life of crime.

Dr. Horrible

Dr. Horrible gives us some interesting representations of masculinity through the production.  Dr.  Horrible is the emasculated wimpy villain who can barely speak to the woman with whom he claims to be in love.  Instead he tries to impress her and us with his guns.  His nemisis, Captain Hammer, on the other hand, is the exaggerated macho superhero who is able to impress Penny with his (sort of ) heroics.  Dr. Horrible reacts by singing and posting his frustration on his blog rather than confronting Hammer.  The doctor demonstrates a real naivete, and immaturity, to the male/female relationship as he stews over the fact that Penny and Hammer are “probably going to French kiss or something.”  He is given the opportunity to fight for Penny at the laundromat, but instead cowers away from Hammer.  He allows himself to fall into the role of sympathetic friend sharing fro-yo over the spin cycle.  Meanwhile, Hammer demonstrates his dominance and alpha maleness through his threats to Horrible and by even describing his own “hammer.”  How does Horrible respond?  First by imagining himself as a giant and crushing Hammer.  Then, by whipping out an even bigger gun and threatening Hammer’s audience with it.  It is through this fight over the gun that Penny, the person they are supposedly fighting over, is pierced with shrapnel from the gun.  The shrapnel also hurts Hammer who becomes infantilized begging for his mommy or “someone maternal.”  He is shown later speaking to a therapist and has been emasculated.  Horrible achieves everything he has wanted, demonstrating strength and power at the end but is still the same sad, pathetic figure he was from the start.

Lost

What sets Lost apart from so many television shows, well one of the things that sets it apart, is its use of flashback to provide the audience background on a character that the other characters never have access to.  Yet, it is never clear if the characters are recalling these events at the time they are presented to the audience.  Perhaps these survivors are so tormented that they often recall their past mistakes.  It appears that everyone on that plane had a pretty dark past, and all of them, had a opportunity to start over.  This is most obviously true for Kate who is revealed to be a criminal although for much of the season it is unclear what she did.  However through flashbacks we see that Locke gained the most from the do-over of the island.  How did he regain the use of his legs?  This brings us to the mysteries of the island itself, and how it exists as its own character.  It even has it own dark history, according to Rousseau.  Perhaps the island brought the people there to allow it its own restart.