Essays

David Lynch vs. David Lynch

David Lynch is known for making unconventional films with a unique touch. In Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man, Lynch's signature style employs the auteur theory that the film is the artistic vision of the director rather than the writer of screenplay.

David Lynch's style can be summed up in three words: gloomy, slow, and strange. This description does not necessarily have a negative connotation. Lynch's artistic style dips into the film noir, with sexual attitudes and motivations coupled with uneasy feelings that gradually broadcast from the back of your mind to the entirety of your body. "Gloomy" can be defined as cynical and shadowed due to the low lighting and subterranean evil that lurks under the serene surface. The strangeness of a Lynch film is simply that the plotline and camera directions are unorthodox and deeper than the face-value meaning.

Although Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man are very different films, considering that The Elephant Man can almost be labeled as inspirational and that the films are set in completely different time periods, their similarities are prevalent throughout. Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man reek with Lynch's signature aspects, such as the eerie lighting, close-up shots of lips and eyes, and pauses between dialogue.

The opening scenes of Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man are nearly identical in style. Both films start with focus on something set and sacred—for The Elephant Man, it is John Merrick's mother; for Blue Velvet it is a quaint view of a white picket fence with striking red roses gently swaying in the breeze. Both images are supposed to be the epitome of beauty for the film realities. In The Elephant Man, John Merrick's idea of beautiful stems from his mother's physical appearance. Women who resemble her are equally attractive in his mind. In Blue Velvet, the town of Lumberton gives a façade of American perfection, and the white picket fence is from the 'American dream' ideal. Roses also are symbolic of beauty. These opening scenes are aesthetic, however there is an unsettling sensation lurking behind them. At the end of each film, this scene is replayed exactly.

From the standard perception of beauty, the opening shots pan away and slowly descend into a strange chaos. In Blue Velvet, flashes of squirming beetles creep on the screen. In The Elephant Man, enormous elephants fade in and out over Merrick's mother. After creating a paused tension, a character falls in a state of shock. In The Elephant Man, Merrick's mother falls to the ground screaming, presumably at Merrick's deformity. In Blue Velvet, Jeffery Beaumont's father falls to the ground with an ailment, moaning. Both parents play roles in the main character's lives, and although the story does not focus on the parent-child relationship, the character's personality and situation is largely due to the attitude or actions concerning the parent.

Fear and beauty seem to be concepts Lynch loves to explore. In The Elephant Man, the public fears the absence of beauty, and in Blue Velvet, the lure of beauty is something to be feared. There is an obsession with beauty, especially of the beauty of Merrick's mother and Mrs. Kendall, in The Elephant Man. In Blue Velvet, Jeffery Beaumont is torn between his lust for the seductress Dorthy Vallens, and his affection for the sweet and pleasant Sandy Williams. His passion for Vallens drives him into the mystery surrounding her, and causing him to witness the situation of her captured husband and son by a wild villain named Frank. Beauty leads to fear in Blue Velvet, and once Beaumont is overtaken by fear he starts to see Vallens as something less than a dream. Fear leads to beauty in a climactic, poignant moment towards the end of The Elephant Man, when a scared and angry mob surrounds Merrick, who breaks down and screams, "I am not an animal! I am human!" The astonishment of the crowd and the desperation passion of Merrick, displays a raw desire to be accepted.

Dogs serve as an omen in Lynch's films. In the Elephant Man, and in Blue Velvet, a dog is seen before a life-changing moment in the film. In the Elephant Man, before Frederick Treves approaches the Elephant Man, he is seen walking in a gritty street while a dog zigzags across. In Blue Velvet, a dog is seen biting at the water hose stream and standing on the body of Jeffery's father. Both scenes that depict the presence of a dog, indicate that this is a crucial moment in the story arc.

Lynch's characters follow a pattern: there is the anti-hero, the "good" character who you sympathize with, the character you find repugnant, and an erotic character, usually a woman. For Blue Velvet, the anti-hero is Jeffrey, the "good" character is Sandy, the repugnant character is Frank, and the erotic character is Dorothy. In The Elephant Man, the anti-hero is Treves, the "good" character is Merrick, the repugnant character is either the night porter or Bytes, and the erotic character is Mrs. Kendall.

The idea of duality is reflected in Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man. Duality recognizes that there are two different worlds or societies operating in the same physical realm. In Blue Velvet, Lincoln St separates the "good" part of town from the "bad" part of town. On the "good" side, you see daylight and bright colors, family diners, students smiling on the school's front lawn, a friendly firefighter, and suburban houses that depict the 'American dream'. On the "bad" side, there's smoky bars with shady people, gangs with loud cars, brothels, drag queens, drugs, alcohol—anything that challenges the picturesque idea of polite society. In The Elephant Man, 'polite society' faces the darker parts of society. The Elephant Man, John Merrick, is extremely deformed and travels with a Victorian freak show. In both The Elephant Man and Blue Velvet, the utopia and dystopia collide. In The Elephant Man, the realms collide on two occasions: when Dr. Frederick Treves first discovers John Merrick and places Merrick in his care and after Merrick is introduced to the upper class after a famous theatre actor pays him a visit and the story leaks to the newspapers. In Blue Velvet, the duality shatters when Sandy Williams—the typical "good girl—and Jeffery Beaumont—who operates in both realms—are dragged into the underworld because of a sultry club singer and the mobster who has taken her family hostage. In both films, conflict occurs when this barrier between cultures is breached.