Nobody in Thalia has ideas, or even warmed-through opinions. Worry over money has sucked away the population's mental energy. Nobody wonders about anything any more. In ''The Last Picture Show,'' people puzzled and brooded and tried to make sense of their lot. Once they did, their outlook was often cruelly pessimistic.
Life's too damn hard here.
The land's got too much power over you. Being rich here is a good way to go insane. That's all people around here ever have on their minds.'' Being rich is a good way to go insane. We see the town's collapse through Duane's eyes, through conversations he overhears or rumors that are brought to him. IN ''The Last Picture Show,'' the quest was not only for sex, but sex linked to tenderness and mystery, to love.