![]() This idea can be applied to more subjects in Inherent Vice, the decline of hippie culture is another often-named example, and many characters talk about the way things used to be and how things change. Inherent Vice - as it relates to classic Pynchon themes: compare with entropy. According to the Pynchon wiki (apparently there is such a thing) it's a recurring theme in his work: ![]() Inherent Vice stands for the natural decay of things. Your first explanation is also how I understood the title, aside from the literal meaning. I've even read the book because I couldn't get enough of it. Nice to see some other people loving the movie as much as I did (and perhaps more). Shasta does say something about 'I was just visiting family up north', right? Or have I dreamt that? I'm not sure if this is even halfway true or not, but since this whole movie/book is shrouded in fog I think it's at least a nice story. In my mind at least, this makes her a very 'un-gullible' Golden Fang cult member (they risk her betraying the cult, also is that even a word?), which is why she is 'inherent vice' to them and why they let her go again. But in an interview with Katherine Waterston, she says that in the book there's a line about Shasta (who is an actress apparently) and her friends being very concerned about the whole Manson cult+murders situation, which I suspect makes her very suspicious of the whole Golden Fang thing (this is probably part of the reason why she comes to Doc in the first place 'there is some shady stuff going on help me'). So the Golden Fang has this kind of cult feel to it, and I think I read somewhere that they tried to 'convince'/brainwash Shasta into joining. (remember this is the guy that suddenly wanted to give everyone free housing). I can't remember where atm, but somewhere I have read that in the book there is a connection between that weird mental hospital/'spiritual healing retreat' Chryskylodon where (with FBI pressure) they un-communistified (by brainwashing) Mickey Wolfmann. There is also something vague about how she just happens to show up out of nowhere. So the term 'inherent vice' (when applied to (ex) girlfriends) means something like 'sometimes it just doesn't work out, and no one is to blame, some things just happen, sometimes eggs break, sometimes chocolate melts, and sometimes it just doesn't work out between people'. So Shasta is Doc's ex girlfriend, but they have fallen out of touch (the scene with the postcard on the doorframe and the memory of running in the rain together). Also, the narration says something like 'Doc wondered what it meant when it applied to ex old ladies'. I think no thing can be used as inherent vice, I think inherent vice is more a fancy legal term for '(unforeseeable) shit happens'. Inherent Vice is, at the moment, my all time favorite film and no kidding I had this very same question a couple of days ago. (Note: I'm no native speaker and I'm having a hard time articulating what I mean, also I haven't read the book) So, my question is why would Shasta be used as inherent vice? What does her presence on the boat do for the people involved? It seems like inherent vice is a negative thing, so why is it something they would want? Legally, as seen on the Wikipedia page for the term: "Inherent vice can be used as a justification for refusing to insure an item, as its intrinsically self-destructive nature may make it unacceptable risk to a carrier or insurer." There is a scene in which Shasta is telling Doc that she was taken on the boat as a form of "inherent vice." The term inherent vice is used to denote the natural tendency for a thing to fall apart. That being said, there is one thing that I have yet to wrap my brain around. It is funny, irreverent, emotionally gut-wrenching, completely confusing, and at the same time makes perfect sense. Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice is still one of the best films I've seen this decade.
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