Update 7 - Blue Velvet and Relativity

I’m a fan of David Lynch. I say that, but I’m familiar with little of his work past Twin Peaks, which I loved, and his adaptation of Dune, which was not exactly my favorite Frank Herbert-derivative work. But I get why. Lynch uses a kind of ‘language of dreams’ in his films from what I understand. Blue Velvet very much felt like it was communicated in that same fashion. I finally sat down and watched it, home sick with a stomach bug.

I enjoyed Blue Velvet. I went into the film not knowing the first thing about it except for the two leads and the director. The characters were these kind of exaggerations of human personality in many cases, like something that’s supposed to move at a particular pace instead shaking violently. I enjoyed the acting, the way it was shot and that familiar 50’s veneered sickliness that permeates much of Lynch’s work. Dennis Hopper’s role as Frank stood out in particular. His character is bundle of rage and mommy issues.

After finishing the film, I went and looked up how it was received. Very well, as it turns out. For the most part. It premiered at film festivals and then got a wider release. Some people were actually nauseated by the events of the film and had to leave the theater. Others felt the film was brave and artistic. I thought it was an enjoyable David Lynch film. I enjoyed it, but didn’t feel any of that initial kick in the head that it seemed to be to so many people who originally saw it. The answer as to why seemed obvious.

The film at this point is thirty-five years old. I wonder how much intervening media has flooded our culture in that time. David Lynch becomes a known quantity, so long as you understand his dream language perspective on things. The fact that it might not shock audiences as hard today says much about the changes we’ve experience as a culture over the intervening decades. I still loved the film. I can see how someone might look at a film like this and dismiss it out of hand because of it’s age, the difference between the original target audience and the modern viewer. Still, this should not detract from the film. I believe a degree of relativity is necessary when consuming any type of media from outside the current landscape.