The portly plainclothes cop never broke his stride, barely acknowledging the runner and producing no ID or warrant as he crossed the lot in a more or less direct line to where Manny, Doc, and a handful
of loiterers were already turning around and placing their hands on the hood of Manny's car.
Conversely, the seeds
of Carangi's singular impact on an industry that had become a glorified assembly line are sown in haste: The film puts forth a few poignant images — Gia's colleagues mistaking her for a
loiterer, Gia the only brunette in a pool
of blondes (a tableau that really shows the novelty
of her ethnicity)-- but mostly treats Gia not as a model with a drug habit, but as a junkie who models, one
of Paul Schrader's born addicts.