Eraserhead

[Psynema]

finally got around to seeing it -

Not that wierd - cryptic, but for the most part easy to grasp 1/2 of the metaphor at least.

But I keep hearing how Pi was similar to it - frankly I don't see the connection, aside from 16mm BW, but really they are completely different.

Frankly I think it has a lot more in common with Barton Fink

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Didn't find the least connection in either one of the aforementioned, except maybe the strange hair in Barton Fink. If anything it's closer to Tetsuo The Iron Man, But hey It's it's own movie, I'm glad it's so original.

[ullanta]

I think it's closest to an old Afterschool Special...

[MOVIE STUNTS]

LOL, that close huh...

[Psynema]

afterschool special???

anyway - anyone have any interpretations - hell Lynch could just be f'n with us too.

The only tidbit he's said about interpretation is it's based on his day living in Philadelphia, during it's low period of urban decay - Lynch HATES Philly.

So, the factory imagery = blue collar Philadelphia/decay. I'm guessing there may be this Left Wing/anti-corporation slant. The Man in the moon, with the lever, is the corporation mechanically controlling biological humans - also explaining the imagery w/ pipes/fog/industrialization and I guess the fact his head is sold to a company that mass produces pencils could also contribute to that. Not an esoteric interpretation and pretty self explanatory watching it, but it's not really mentioned among articles, which usually talk about the obvious sexual/sin metaphors.

Also I'm guessing it's about the squashed american dream and isolation and that low self esteem feeling that nothing we do is right - Harry always faces rejection - through his wife, that woman he kissed, and his deformed baby = he can't even start a family and anything he tries is doomed with his tainted sperm. I guess that's maybe a spin on Philadelphians in the 70s ghettos, having poor marriages, premarital babies and families that just can't gel like normal.

But I see no similarities to Pi at all, aside from the 16mm black and white.

Barton Fink, while in color, has similar themes IMO and just was wondering if anyone else had the same thinking - he's a failed writer and obviously has rejection issues and there's this consistent imagery of pipes that relate to sexual sin.

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Yeah.. Lynch is pretty deep... I wonder what kind of afternoon specials ullanta is watching. Haven't tried to decifer his code yet, though i think he has his own rosetta stone. The scene whare he has dinner with the girls family is fairly creepy.

[ullanta]

Well I just have memories of afterschool specials, do they still have them? Maybe my memory has warped 'em. Maybe a cross between an afterschool special and WWII army anti-sex/anti-drug/anti-drinking reel...

While there's a lot of fun in trying to interpret and dereference Lynch movies, I think it's the thought process rather than the end result that matters. I don't think Lynch is sitting around dreaming up metaphors and analogues - he's telling stories that we can twist to our own metaphors if we want. Building a subconscious sediment that makes something big and powerful - but unknowable...

[MOVIE STUNTS]

I miss afterschool specials... I wish Lynch would do one... Kids would be scarred for life.