4.2 The political implications of television 
in Vineland

In Vineland, Pynchon is interested less in perceptual processes than in the ideological underpinnings of film and television. Therefore, he not only represents the consumption-side of images, but also the production process, similar to Wallace in "Little Expressionless Animals". The failure of the revolutionary film collective 24fps, of which Frenesi was a part, allows him to investigate some of the ideological complexities surrounding all visual media. Zoyd's curious transfenestration which opens up the book is also concerned with the production side of television and its controlling power over individuals and reality in general. As will become clear in this chapter, the filming of Weed's death can be understood as the starting point of a development leading directly to Zoyd jumping through a window made of clear sheet candy. Both instances show how reality is not simply mirrored in the filming of it, but actually shaped and controlled. Ultimately, the managed version of reality serves Brock Vond and no one else which again indicates that Pynchon's book is concerned with questions of power and politics.