I find it intreguing how many people worry about Madame Psychosis and her radio show after Joelle has "vanished". Several sections of this book are dedicated to the steps that the MIT radio station takes in the wake of madame psychosis- first Madame diagnosis (who reads scripture in pig-latin, and was generally ill-received. as she should have been), then just playing the background music on loop for an entire hour. People call in, even forge to the basement of the recording studio to inquire about her. the engineer answers phone calls "at once denying and encouraging rumors of suicide, institutionalization, spiritual crisis, silent retreat, pilgrimage to the snow-capped East." People just refuse to let het it go- her show someone captivated them like none of the cartridges or other entertainment did. some "have this firm conviction that Madame was still actually still showing up and sitting there by the mike but not saying anything."
Mario is our only main character that is distraught by the lack of Madame Psychosis on the radio- he loses sleep, and starts wandering the night on insomniac walks. I thought the scene in which he listens to the recorded Madame show was very haunting.
What attracted all these people to Madame Psychosis's show and why are they having such a hard to giving it up? What it because it was a breath of fresh air from the commercialized world? (because it was- and it was also very very weird)
does Joelle know what a strong following her show had?
I have no idea, honestly. When we read segments of Madame Psychosis's show, I thought it was disjointed and extremely hard to follow. I actually really didn't get it. It seemed so intellectual, except for the fact that many of its listeners were not academics (Gately for instance). I do not understand the following, or the engineers distress when she is gone, unless maybe he had a crush on Joelle? In response to your second question, I don't think we know yet. When Gately has been shot and she is kneeling over him and he tells her that he knows that she is Madame Psychosis, Joelle does not respond. She is still a quandry.
What would happen in our own society if Oprah, or Dr. Phil, suddenly upped and disappeared? Madame Psychosis appealed to a certain demographic--fellow outcasts, the horribly disfigured, loners, eccentrics, nerds, etcetera etcetera. And so much of our lives revolve around routines--meal --> class or work --> meal --> class or work --> unwinding / homework time. Like a cigarette break or calling home twice a week or Blah TV show in the late evening elements of our routines become second-nature. Skip a meal, leave your smokes at home, sleep through a class... maybe you're not psychologically scarred, but the schedule becomes a bit... off. Now what happens when you're routine involves an icon? I don't think it's "Love" or a particular attraction to this particular breath of fresh air. Madame Psychosis' show was the AA's gin, the NA's coke, tennis practice, what have you. And Madame Psychosis, for her particular audience, represents a break in a "harmless" element of their schedule ([sarcasm]because it's not addiction if it's sanctioned by the status quo [/sarcasm]), and one that can be attributed to something physical... Try to quit smoking and you can't beat up Phillip Morris, but Oprah disappears and we can certainly form a candle-light vigil... or something...