I have to preface this by saying that I didn't come up with this. Unfortunately, I forget who did. Step up and take credit!
We mentioned, in our group discussion, the bit about Roger and Jessica sharing the initials of the most famous star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet. Someone brought up another, perhaps more well-known Roger and Jessica pair:
Just the nominal comparison is interesting. Someone in our group wondered if one was inspired by the other. I've been looking around, but it's hard to tell. Definitely the couple from GR came first; Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released in 1988, based on the 1981 novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary Wolf. But was Wolf inspired by Pynchon? It's entirely possible. Though I haven't seen the film in a little while and I haven't gotten even halfway through the book, there are a few comparisons to be drawn. Both Jessicas are pretty inscrutible, and both Rogers are romantic schlubs. Are there more parallels to be had? Perhaps. Then again, I haven't been getting much sleep lately, so perhaps it's best to just ignore me.
Yea, I asked the prof about this, since I thought it was interesting that Roger and Jessica are better known as cartoon characters. She said that their names probably derive from this book.
consider this the official stepping up to credit, though i guess someone else had already noted it and asked the prof,
have people found other instances of GR in pop culture? ive heard lots of authors and people entrenched in the literary establishment cite pynchon as being important to them but how much of GR has trickled down to the masses...
Wikipedia has a short list of these.