Slice of Lynch: Eraserhead (1977) David Lynch’s Masterpiece Still Enthralls

Let’s Rock! Decoding David Lynch, One Film At a Time – Part One

It’s been a few weeks since David Lynch passed, and this is the first time I have been able to bring myself to watch one of his films. I mulled it over for a long while, trying to figure out the best way to approach his oeuvre. Which to watch first? I decided that, although I have done it before, going in order of release will not only provide context but also serve as a road map from this film to Twin Peaks: The Return.

Watching Eraserhead again, I noticed a significant number of tropes and imagery that reappear in later films – particularly in the era that begins post-Wild at Heart. The idea of small things spouting impossible amounts of fluid, imagery suffused with tension and terror, moments of seeming weirdness that nevertheless follow their own internal logic – these are all hallmarks of Lynch’s visual language. His work is so vast and layered that one can approach each film from a different perspective and find an endless variety of interpretations and reactions.

Just today, viewing Eraserhead for the first time in a couple of years, I found that certain scenes that had previously evoked a sense of disgust or revulsion now gave me a feeling of elation. I noted how many elements in this film correlate with the Black Lodge mythology of Twin Peaks, and an idea started to form. It was nothing new – I have often supposed that many, if not all, of Lynch’s films are connected. If not part of the same universe per se (Dune, The Elephant Man being outliers), then at least elementally and thematically aligned.

Of course they would be, as Lynch directed them all – but I mean on a deeper, more subconscious level. Just as Lynch states that while he does have a specific meaning for why and how things happen in his films, he leaves it up to the viewer to provide their own answers and famously refuses to elaborate. He is, however, willing to discuss where ideas (or the seeds of ideas) come from, which allows audiences to connect them with possible intended meanings. Lynch has also been known to indicate when an interpretation is incorrect – for example, he flatly denied that Eraserhead is about fatherhood and fears of such.

But we also know that what a person says is sometimes the opposite of what they think or believe. So who’s to say? Personally, I do view this film as a commentary on fatherhood – but it goes beyond that. It also seems to explore the idea that, no matter what a parent does, there is a world outside full of forces (often oppressive) that will shape a child beyond their control. There may also be innate forces beyond the parent’s comprehension.

Several scenes in Eraserhead feel thematically linked to The Return. The film opens with a sequence where we hover over a planetoid, upon which sits a figure looking out a window. He pulls a lever, and a sperm-like object is hurled through a void, landing in what appears to be a small puddle of water. In The Return, we see several sequences where people in industrial settings pull a lever or turn a dial, sending something (or someone) through a void to land on Earth. Beyond being repeated motifs, these events feel connected.

Repeated imagery in Eraserhead is also consistent with the Black Lodge – from red curtains to the black-and-white chevron floor pattern, even a sculpture that resembles The Evolution of the Arm (which itself has a head that looks quite a bit like The Baby).

The Lady in the Radiator dances as sperm-like objects drop from above. She steps on them, causing various fluids to squirt out, and smiles. In the end, after The Baby has ascended and Henry is encompassed by bright white light, The Lady comes to him and they embrace. Could this be Henry giving in and releasing his garmonbozia for her to consume? Could The Lady in the Radiator be Judy?

These are just a handful of possible connections I noticed, and as I work through Lynch’s body of work, I’ll continue looking for more. Next on my watchlist is The Elephant Man, where Lynch, backed by Mel Brooks, was given free rein to present the life of John Merrick as he envisioned it.

Stay tuned, kiddies!

Peter’s Archive – Slice of Lynch: Eraserhead