Blue Velvet opens in the American dream, a suburban paradise. White picket fences and roses line every street and the fireman with the dalmatian is always waving at us. What Lynch then does is bring us into the underworld of this paradise, showing us that not only good exists in out world, but evil as well.
Because of the motif that Lynch sets up from the beginning, the evil can be seen as a pack of bugs, squirming underneath the dirt, unmoved by the world above. We often do not see these bugs and they do not see us. They are separate worlds, above and below. And this is how everyone prefers it, even the detective in the beginning is smiling and cheerful as Jeffrey shows him the human ear he found. Nobody wants to see these bugs, besides, what good is the American dream if it is shattered by imperfection. What Lynch then shows us is this imperfection, or the American nightmare.
Jeffrey has a duality about him. He has his foot in both the doors of the American dream and the American nightmare. The nature of the events in the nightmare world are very sexual. Frank is dealing with sexual tendencies that involve Dorothy and Dorothy, longing for any intimacy outside of an abusive one, finds it harder to disconnect the two. We see this in the sex scene between Dorothy and Jeffrey where we see Jeffrey first start to take steps into this dark world of the unknown.
I think it is very important to realize the sexual aspect of the nightmare side of the American dream. Jeffrey, although not a virgin per se, he is entering a new world where events take on different sexual meanings. When sex is first introduced to people, it is very intimidating and has a dreamlike quality, both beautiful and unsettling. We see Jeffrey navigating this world both confused and intrigued and some things do draw him in for more. We see that when he succumbs and hits Dorothy during sex. Although, Dorothy does not represent the evil, she represents a victim of this evil that has trapped her.
I am not saying that this movie is about sex. I don't think that is what Lynch is trying to say. I think that Lynch uses sex and the unknown qualities about it as a metaphor for the dreamlike presence the entire movie has. And it works, the movie is very realistic, yet surreal quality about it. By presenting sex as a metaphor it lets the audience relate because it is something that almost everyone in their lives experiences. He opens up the movie to a surreal experience showing the pure evil lying just underneath the paradise.
Jeffrey returns from this world as a hero, a robin, as seen with the robin near the end with the bug in it's mouth. At first glance it looks like good has won. Looking closer we see that the robin is fake. The good is fake, the bug is still alive. Maybe one evil person is gone but did it create another? Is Jeffrey willing to live in this fake paradise or does the evil draw him underground? I think it is genius to wrap this movie up with an ambiguous ending under the mask of a happy ending. It is fitting for a movie about the evil hiding underneath a fake paradise.
I really never thought about the bugs in the way that you mentioned. It makes perfect sense though. They represent the evil and the world of darkness, hidden beneath the ground. Although they are usually out of our sight, we know that they still exist, but prefer not to really think about them. We perceive evil in the same way. I agree with you that Jeffrey is stuck in-between two worlds, or "two sides of the same thing", as we discussed in class. Sandy belongs to the American dream lifestyle whereas Dorothy belongs to the dark underworld. It was really interesting to watch his relationship unfold with each woman. My favorite scene was when Jeffrey and Sandy brought Dorothy back to Sandy's house. So unbelievably weird! I also agree that the movie is extremely sexual. You're right when you say it is not necessarily about sex, but Lynch uses sex to reflect the dreamlike presence that the movie has. I also think that the movie can be associated with Freud and many of his concepts regarding sex. Weird movie, but pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteSeduction is a big thing with lynch as is rejection. I'm curious as to how Jeff would fare after the film in his plastic world like you mentioned. Blue velvet is a weird slice of life for something that has never existed. I think lynch is asking us to question our embellished history to see if we accept or reject it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the good and evil living in separate worlds. I think the points you about the movie having a dream like quality that shifts into a nightmare is interesting. The whole film is very surreal and Jeffery is going between both worlds. When I was watching the film I wasn't sure if the robin was supposed to be fake or just bad animation. I think showing that the robin is fake but the bug is real is interesting. Also that the aunt says should would never eat a bug but everyone is accepting the robin is real. So is everyone's peace and happiness real or just an illusion?
ReplyDeleteThis is really, really good, Rob. Terrific analysis. I like the idea of sex as metaphor (and a complex one at that). That's original, and I hadn't entirely thought about it that way either (which is odd, because I usually do). There's no work with the reading though, sadly.
ReplyDelete