the lineless figurant, straight from Himself's set
James O. Incandenza had hired the officers as lineless figurant background-extra cops for both Dial C for Concupiscence and Three Cheers for Cause and Effect
Context
The theme's key term surfaces at its source: Himself staffed his films with "lineless figurant background-extra" people — humans hired precisely to be present and voiceless, scenery with pulses. That the two Enfield Marine cops are ex-figurants is the figurant doctrine leaking off the screen into the world, and the small grace note is that Hal is "the only E.T.A. who seems truly interested" in listening to them talk — the boy who can't be reached is the one who reaches for the voiceless extras.