I reread V by Thomas Pynchon earlier this year, and after rewatching The Master directed by Paul Thomas Anderson shortly after, I knew I had to explore the connections between these amazing stories.
It's well known that PTA is inspired by Thomas Pynchon, having adapted Inherent Vice in 2015 and stating in interviews that he planned to use the scene from V where Benny Profane hunts alligators in the sewers of New York City for The Master, but the scene was eventually scrapped.
That said, there are far more similarities between this film and Pynchon's debut novel than a scene that didn't make it into the film. I describe a few connections between the respective premises and themes, and there are many more that I didn't have time to get into in the video. I'm sure there are still more that I missed.
I'm by no means saying that every connection I make between The Master and V is intentional, but given the similarities between these stories, it is an extremely rewarding experience to analyze them in tandem. Beyond comparing the film and the novel, I think this video essay serves as a general overview for the major themes in V.
In researching for this project, I came across a video essay called Saurian Cinema: Colonialism & The Lost World, and it helped me connect some of the ideas of Pynchon's intertextual conversation with the lost world genre and the history of European colonialism. You can watch it here:
https://youtu.be/lyczktZVbzA?si=k83LqYiq4PfTMl8_
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