The Environment of L.A. in Less Than Zero

One thing I found funny about Less Than Zero is that when Clay describes things, he seems to be speaking in a very sleazy, Hollywood-style way that's very detached from what he's actually describing. Every time he speaks, I can almost imagine him laying out on a lawn chair by the pool, chatting nonchalantly with his hands to some companion next to him and gesticulating a lot with his hands while staring up into the sun (and all the while failing to come close to any sort of tan).

I found extremely interesting the paradox because the inner states of characters and the external environment (namely, the weather). The heat is described over and over again in keeping true to the stereotype of sunny Los Angeles, and yet Clay is anything but vibrant. There are two different conceptions of the California beach culture at play, the first being the excited beach-going sort who play volleyball and surf and are very excitable and outdoorsy, and the other being how I have described Clay above (the lazy, apathetic tanner). It's a tad ironic that he's absorbing so much sun and yet he seems cold as ice on the inside, almost meaninglessly drifting through life.

I find it interesting what others have said about SoCal stereotyping in the novel and it not quite being true for one who has truly experienced Los Angeles. Surely, no hyperbolic stereotype can truly live up to its reputation, but the book definitely takes advantage of a lot of the stereotypes that I had believed as a resident of the bay area before moving to L.A. As unrepresentative of the whole population as these stereotypes are, I've definitely met people in L.A. who embody them. I wonder if people are sometimes compelled to become the stereotype placed upon them. Might someone who has lived in L.A. their whole life feel a compulsion to act a certain way because of conceptions others have of them? I also find it interesting to view this behavior taken out of its context. When someone from SoCal leaves the area, will they adapt to their new surroundings or will they embody where they come from to an extreme?

But I digress.