Post

I have no interest in virtual games, but I’m following you for this skeet and thread alone. You are one of those rare people who makes a point of empowering others. Thank you!

The takeaway is that Lynch even refrained from making analyses public because he truly thought there is no correct answer about what you're supposed to take away from his movies. It could be anything you want, even if it sounded stupid to him.

Yeah, have faith in your experiences, but some of the explainer videos are actually quite good because they enhance your experience. It’s not like understanding the film better annihilates a piece of your life.

idk, i've seen some people voice their experiences and it was very concerning, but i generally agree lol.

Lynch always had faith in the audience as a whole. Even if you don’t have the vocabulary to articulate what you saw (which is Fine!!), his work will resonate with you.

People do that? Fuck! That's whyI watch things with my cat. We don't want anyone to tell us what to think.

WILD AT HEART. ❤️ Goddammit im still pissed

Yes! You absolutely have to take anything Lynch as you see it. He sparked the imagination like no other. A true, unique genius. 😭

Because otherwise you will simply go mad…

Amen. Literature courses add depth to our understanding, but they kind of kill the experience and associated passions. Live it!

I sense a deeper meaning in this post

I spent several days in late August/early September 1992, starting as soon as I walked out of the theater, trying to parse out the meaning behind every shot in "Fire Walk With Me". That film messed with my psyche. I still mourn Laura Palmer's stolen childhood.

Which is why David refused to ever explain himself.

Agreed

Honestly, if you come away from your first viewing of any of his work without thinking at any time to yourself “what the fsck did I just watch?” you probably did a disservice to yourself at some point. The absurdity is the point. The art is to be observed and understood on an individual level.

I love to watch analysis videos to see what's going on with other people. But yeah, if you're influenced by other people's opinions, you should steer clear.

Definitely!

Some of my favorite people are full of errors. It’s not about following them, as I don’t follow anyone specifically as a way of thinking, living or loving. I think it’s important to take in others views. See what makes sense and challenge yourself with what doesn’t make sense.

He was fascinated by dreams and a number of his films don't have a linear plot.

Just found this, and agree. Especially where Lynch is concerned. He would call it dreaming.

the only good Lynch analysis is this guy trying to solve the central Twin Peaks mystery episode by episode youtu.be/PDaSdAspEjw

I mean this is absolutely true, but on the other hand, after you're done, it's really fun to hang out with other people and trade insights. Videos and other analysis are great, but find the people that share your enthusiasm and play with ideas ... on thc

Lynch is on record to advise people to find meaning in the negative space of his work. He would endorse looking at other's thought as long as you keep your critical lens towards them.

This is the way

Beautifully stated!

Indeed. Lynch did it for your dreams.

YES! This is great advise. Always go in blind and enjoy it.

Anyone who was around when Mulholland Drive was released on video and got the postcards with the 'hints' knows that Lynch gives zero f***s about explaining his work to you 😂

In the early 80s in the UK Eraserhead was one of the readily available rental videos . We rented . We were baffled and intrigued in equal measure.

Wise words

Lynch refused to interpret his work, with good reason.

This is so true.

David Lynch is a mystery until we stop trying to make any "sense" of his art form. It's not meant to make any sense whatsoever; it's about impressions (defying logic to get your mind out of it) and what those impressions evoke.

Well reasoned!

If you're going to watch his version of Dune read the book 1st because Dino D'lerauntis edited the fuck out of it and it won't make sense

I've only watched Eraserhead once, and I hated(positive) it. I refuse to re-watch, but will re-watch other Lynch stuff.

hold on *shredding script about *the* scene from mulholland drive* rip in pieces, my analysis

GREAT ADVICE!!! Drives me nuts that 80% of media is stating their personal interpretation of things then telling people that’s what they should think.

I watched Mulholland Drive without reading anything about it and it was an insane experience

People can give you insights to Lynch's work, ways to look at it. But anyone who will break it down and tell you what it means is 1. wrong and 2. doing you a disservice Lynch's work is not meant to be solved, it is meant to be contemplated

But i want big brother to tell me what to think

The higher the better though.

My roommate turned me on to Twin Peaks...what a ride!

Also recommending people check out "The Straight Story", an under appreciated Lynch film.

I always saw that as a beautiful thing about Lynch's works. Surreal and abstract art is meant to be a personal experience and there's no "correct" way to interpret it. If it feel right to you than it is right and no one can take that away from you.

However Lynch's stuff makes you feel, that's the correct answer

That the same thing i tell trump supporters.

Like William Hurt's character in The Big Chill said, " Sometimes you just have to let art wash over you. "

I also think they do it to feel "accepted" in society, under the idea they would have the "right" taste and "right" opinions about media, it sucks Watch things by yourself! Build your own opinions! Be and accept yourself!

💯

One of my favorite memories is sitting with the love of my life in a car outside a diner in Seattle, unable to get out because we were both too busy unpacking and talking about the movie we’d just seen, Lost Highway. Diner analysis is the best of all analyses.

I recently recorded a commentary for Piotr Szulkin’s decidedly Lynchian film ‘Golem’, and dug out an interview in which the interviewer kept trying to pin Szulkin down to pat “explanations” and Szulkin politely but firmly refused every time, saying that that was the critic’s job and not his.

I’m just going to buy a pie to commemorate him.

@foldablehuman.bsky.social did a great video about these kinds of videos: www.youtube.com/watch?v=URo6...

I 100% agree.

I disagree, seeing how people interpret things is fun! just don't take it as gospel.

Same with so many things! We are obsessed with reactions and reviews. Always visit the primary source first and note your own observations :)

Shitty thing to say when he's barely cold

wild take. does cinema need to be easy and conventional to be good? he always gave viewers all the pieces, it was just on us to put them together. which to be fair is not for everyone but that in no way means it's bad.

I feel like that is true of all art. Just experience it.

Great advice. Art should be experienced not discredited.

Yeah. His stuff is all about jungian dream logic and the more of it you watch, the more you see the same themes and topics from different angles. He was also a prolific painter who approached making films like a painter. Finally, his audio mixes and editing are world class.

💙

Well said!

100% agree. It is the experience. Your own.

As someone who REALLY enjoys analysis videos, yeah, when it comes to artist like Lynch, you really just have to experience his work as blind as possible 😅

This is the most important thing that Lynch taught me. Art speaks for itself. You shouldn't let things as crude as words taint your experience with it.

Will Twin Peaks fulfill a similar purpose that Chrono Cross does for me? (a wonderfully convoluted work ripe for me to overthink, eventually leaving me unable to differentiate between mistakes and conscious, calculated worldbuilding decisions)

Yup I have never done that, just watched everything he ever filmed

I think it's interesting to hear and discuss how others think and feel about a piece of media (even in the form of an analysis video, or a reddit post), but I don't think anyone should be telling you how *you* should think and feel about it. (I obviously don't recommend analyses *before* watching)

That's honestly such a great take. There shouldn't be a "correct" interpretation of art, just an honestly experience of it.

I agree, and what’s more, I think he would have agreed too.

The message is the art itself.

Or just watch “The Straight Story” and have a nice cry. Unbeknownst to all, Richard Farnswarth a stunt man who played Alvin Straight was battling cancer throughout the shoot and a year after it was released was in so much pain he committed suicide.

The point of Lynch is your experience not others.

Oh no of course not. He clearly abhorred it himself. Lynch’s work is all about feeling. Go with that.

Ok, but can people with autism get a free pass on this one? There are tons of films I would never be able to understand without a handful of hints.

Not immediately, but watching analysis later can bring up things you never would've noticed, I think it's okay to watch some after you've had time to sit with it. Now a LORE style video on Lynch stuff, avoid like the plague.

I do that. I don't like to know too much about a movie or book or album. I like to go in with a blank slate, no expectations, then see how I go. Love it. Then when I learn more later, a revisit is all the richer. 😊

Well said!

That is the definition of how to appreciate art in it's many forms.

And eating shrooms won't hurt either. 🤷‍♀️

The works of David Lynch should be watched the same way the works of James Joyce should be read

nope, it's totally fine to just not like something!

Apple & Vudu need to get smart about running heavily discounted movies when celebrities depart us. It would give them a huge spike in revenue and give us a taste of something from their lifetime's worth of work. #RIPLynch

And maybe save Eraserhead until after you have watched some of the others.

Read the analysis, you'll still not be able to understand it. I've read hundreds of theories about Twin Peaks, and I still have no idea what happened and want to watch it again.

Exactly. Blue Velvet to me was just a Pabst Blue Ribbon ad.

The cigarettes were the point!!

Inland Empire is a masterpiece.

If you’re “getting through” it, give up. It’s supposed to be entertainment, not a chore. No one is smarter than you or dumber than you for watching all the way through (although some have questioned my sanity for watching it so many times).

So. Much. This.

Absolutely. Lynch’s work isn’t a puzzle to be solved—it’s a dream to be felt. Let it wash over you, get lost in the mood, the sound, the weirdness. Meaning isn’t something you find in his films, it’s something that finds you.

Then loose your shit via your own perspective!

This is my favorite part of Lynch. It’s simply “how does it make you feel?” How do YOU interpret it. He made art that was meant to be felt, not explained. A true one of one.

Amen

The Mulholland dumpster demon was dead the whole time

Right? Just enjoy art for arts sake!!!

As a general rule, this ^ is the way to proceed

I’ve talked to people about Twin Peaks, yeah, I know, TV. The best part is how everyone has their own interpretation & how they all meld together.

100%. Some people just want to 'know things' vs. experiencing them, and Lynch is very much an experience! There's one set of analysis videos in particular about Twin Peaks which I feel misses the point in how they seem so sure they 'cracked the code' ahaha.

It's exactly what David wanted people to do. A film's meaning should not be converted into text, it loses it's language there. It should just be experienced

My hot take, spoilers do ruin stories. They remove mystery, suspense, surprise, all extremely important elements of storytelling. Too many of us get bored when we feel confused or lost, or when we linger in a moment or feeling. But those things are the cadence and pacing of storytelling.

But if you are going to watch any analysis videos @maggiemaefish.bsky.social and adam ganser’s ‘lynch pins’ is the only one you should watch

Yes!!!!

Amazing movie. It's the only one I had in a long time where your first instinct is dafuq I just watched and then it all falls into place the second time around.

I'm watching Lynch's Duran Duran Unstaged (2011). I just couldn't choose what to rewatch.

🙉

Exactly. That’s what makes great movies great. We each have our own reactions and interpretations.

Just watch Muholland Drive.

David Lynch was, first and foremost, an artist. When you view anything Lynch, view it as his artistic expression and let it take you wherever it goes. Draw your own conclusions as though you were examining a painting.

I disagree with this. I think trying to find an answer is what makes Lynch's experiences so fun personally. Watching analysis vids after my rewatch of the return expanded my experience of it massively.

The less you know about Eraserhead the better. Actually the less you watch of it maybe the correct answer.... 😜

What the hell is lynch??

That why I listen to NPR

In other words, raw dog it. Totally agree on checking any sort of pre-chewed “analysis” at the door when venturing into a Lynch “experience” (because that’s what it is, essentially; more so than just a film, TV show, or whatever).

Exactly. Art is meant for you to experience and interpret. Not just to regurgitate someone else's perspective.

My first exposure to his work was coming across an episode of Rabbits on YouTube, and boy howdy heck would that experience not have been as powerful and weird and interesting as it was if I had had any idea what I was getting into.

I've always told people to approach a Lynch film as if they’re looking at a painting. It’s complex. You don’t need to understand it—just experience it.

We have become too relyent on critics and professionals to judge our media choices. we should make our own choices👍