David Lynch 1946 - 2025
Only the Coen brothers hold a candle next to this disturbing flamethrower.
Fall, 1984. It was a double feature at Ron Shapiro’s Hoka Theatre in Oxford, MS. On the bill was David Lynch’s Eraserhead (Libra Films, 1977) and John Waters’ Pink Flamingos (New Line Cinema, 1972). This is an epic combo by any cultural measure.
I had completed my pharmacy degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, took a year off, and then set forth studying for a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry. The college night life beckoned, and I found myself often at The Hoka, in the company of my colleagues meeting local celebs like the writers Willie Morris and Larry Brown and blues royalty like Dick Waterman and Jim and Amy O’Neal. It was an easy assimilation.
The double feature began at midnight, and Eraserhead played first. I already knew David Lynch's work, having watched and fallen in love with his brilliant period film, *The Elephant Man* (Brooksfilms, 1980). The Academy nominated Lynch for Best Director for the biographical drama for Elephant Man. I gave m affinity for the film to my special needs brother, Normie, in whom I saw many similarities with Joseph Merrick (and those between my mother and Dr. Frederick Treves).
Eraserhead was something else altogether. Lynch’s first feature-length film, Eraserhead was like an exposition of state-of-the-art filmmaking techniques applied to a dystopian seizure suffered in black and white. I thought at the time, “This is what Lynch practiced on.” Wikipedia introduces the film thusly:
“Henry Spencer's face appears superimposed over a planet in space. He opens his mouth and a spermatozoon-like creature emerges. A man inside the planet moves a set of levers, and the creature swims away.1”
That clearing up the plot of the movie just dandy.
Suffice it to say that this and my introduction to the 300 lb drag queen, Divine was that special christening one must have in the basement of the Ivory Tower. I pursued the movies of both Lynch and Waters until I had seen them all. Let’s leave Waters for someother time.
David Lynch passed away 15 January 2025 from emphysema at his home. He was 78 years old. He redefine American Cinema with movies like the profoundly disturbing Blue Velvet (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, 1986), Wild At Heart (The Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1990), Lost Highway (October Films , 1997), and Mulholland Drive (Universal Pictures , 2001). During 1991-92, Lynch directed the television serial Twin Peaks (Lynch/Frost Productions) which spawned the uniformly terrible Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (New Line Cinema, 1992). I thought his production of Dune (Universal Pictures, 1984) was equally bad. Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive remain film classics
But, when he was on, he was on. Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive remain film classics.
Eraserhead, Wikipedia, (2004, January 13). 1977 film by David Lynch. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraserhead. Accessed 20250119.