Another Eraserhead/TP crossover!
Marc Plainguet
I have just realized that there's another crossover idea between these
two Lynch works (besides that weird flooring). :-)
In Twin Peaks, that special oil was the gateway into the Black Lodge (or at
least the waiting room to either or) in a little puddle by the trees.
In Eraserhead, Henry is on stage and a little tree wheels out onto the stage.
Henry stands back from it and oil starts seepingout of it and forms a
puddle on stage which Henry's head falls into. His head then sinks into it
into another "world" where the kid finds it and brings it to the pencil
machine operator. :-)
Neat. Oil as a gateway. Maybe Lynch was hiking one day and saw something
like this and thought it would be weird for it to be an entrance to something
else and he's just used the idea a couple of times.
--
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* Marc Plainguet aka Zazatik E-mail is great...but you *
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Digital Samurai
] In Twin Peaks, that special oil was the gateway into the Black Lodge (or at
] least the waiting room to either or) in a little puddle by the trees.
] In Eraserhead, Henry is on stage and a little tree wheels out onto the stage.
] Henry stands back from it and oil starts seepingout of it and forms a
] puddle on stage which Henry's head falls into. His head then sinks into it
] into another "world" where the kid finds it and brings it to the pencil
] machine operator. :-)
I noticed that, too. Glad to know I wasn't just insane (the usual).
] Neat. Oil as a gateway. Maybe Lynch was hiking one day and saw something
] like this and thought it would be weird for it to be an entrance to something
] else and he's just used the idea a couple of times.
Urm...I dunno. Oddly, ever since I first saw Eraserhead...I always have
felt like it was set in like Twin Peaks "after the bomb" The whole place
looks very post-catastrophe...kind of Twin Peaks meets _Brazil_. I don't
know what exactly it is that makes me think of twin peaks...probably the
manufacturing sounds and smokestacks reminding me of Packard Sawmill.
Also...I figger this thread has gone around before, but did anyone else
find Eraserhead to be a highly sexual film? Maybe I'm just a
pervert...but even the opening credits represent intercourse (at least to
me.)
One other thing....anyone know exactly -where- eraserhead was filmed?
D. Samurai
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Rich Haller
Samurai) wrote:
> Also...I figger this thread has gone around before, but did anyone else
> find Eraserhead to be a highly sexual film? Maybe I'm just a
> pervert...but even the opening credits represent intercourse (at least to
> me.)
Sexual? Certainly you jest. To quote Tom Lehrer "A things a phallic symbol
if its longer than it's wide."
> One other thing....anyone know exactly -where- eraserhead was filmed?
Los Angeles, over a very long period (like 5 years), but the inspiration
was Philadelphia.
> D. Samurai
--
Rich Haller <rha...@ns.uoregon.edu>
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR USA
P.S. :-) I've been know to hang out in soc.culture.british, don't tell
them I put a smilie in here, even in a postscript.
AP20...@brownvm.brown.edu
Lynch supported himself as a paperboy!). The setting was inspired
by the Philidelphia neighborhood he lived in while attending art
school.
--John B.
Marc Plainguet
If I remember correctly Eraserhead was filmed near Philadelphia.
Yes, the setting is sorta like TP after the bomb. No trees. Lynch
used much of the same atmosphere in his next film Eraserhead.
Oopps, I mean The Elephant Man!
No, you're not crazy. Eraserhead is VERY sexual. It's (as was previously
stated) about his fear of becoming a father, which gives it an odd twist
of sexuality...like sex is NOT something you really wanna do unless you
can live with the possible consequences. :-)
Marc Plainguet
Oh, so it WAS L.A. (my hometown)!!! I'd like to know what parts since
none of it seemed familiar at all. :-)
Digital Samurai
] No, you're not crazy. Eraserhead is VERY sexual. It's (as was previously
] stated) about his fear of becoming a father, which gives it an odd twist
] of sexuality...like sex is NOT something you really wanna do unless you
] can live with the possible consequences. :-)
Good....glad I'm not the only one. I was watching it with some friends,
and made a comment about how sexual the opening credits were...with his
head sliding back and forth on the screen, then he opens his mouth and
the sperm-like thing comes out and drops into that pool at the bottom of
a pit. My friends told me i was sick for thinking that represented
intercourse...but it did...i really think it did.
Dean Carlson
> Good....glad I'm not the only one. I was watching it with some friends,
> and made a comment about how sexual the opening credits were...with his
> head sliding back and forth on the screen, then he opens his mouth and
> the sperm-like thing comes out and drops into that pool at the bottom of
> a pit. My friends told me i was sick for thinking that represented
> intercourse...but it did...i really think it did.
I see it as a very sexual film as well. What do you think that
white "sperm-like thing" represented?
Dean
Digital Samurai
] I see it as a very sexual film as well. What do you think that
] white "sperm-like thing" represented?
Well.in the obvious sense, I think it represented a sperm. That was a
visual interpretation of him getting her pregnant. Oddly enough (and you
may -really- think I'm sick for this) it also seemed (to me) to represent
vomiting. Knowing how Lynch is about that...along with the abhorrence
and fear of fatherhood...it seemed appropriate. I mean, you see him open
his mouth as if to scream and out this thing comes (bad choice of words,
I know).
My question is, what do -you- think the 'man in the planet' has to do
with all this? I have opinions...wondering what y'alls are.
Marc Plainguet
Well, initially I would say the Man In The Planet represents FATE or
possibly a GOD figure. You imagine Henry may have asked himself "Why me?" upon
finding out Mary was pregnant. WHy? Because FATE deemed it so, or SET IT
IN MOTION (i.e. the pulling of the levers) Note that the scene we have been
discussing as sexual and the MITP scenes are at the same time. It is like
he is controlling the circumstances. The reason these scenes come across
so sexual is that they are an abstract representation of the sexual act
happening between Mary and Henry. Remember, we don't ever see that, but we
learn later that it happened.
Dean Carlson
> In a moment of insanity, Dean Carlson wrote...
>
> ] I see it as a very sexual film as well. What do you think that
> ] white "sperm-like thing" represented?
>
> Well.in the obvious sense, I think it represented a sperm. That was a
> visual interpretation of him getting her pregnant. Oddly enough (and you
> may -really- think I'm sick for this) it also seemed (to me) to represent
> vomiting. Knowing how Lynch is about that...along with the abhorrence
> and fear of fatherhood...it seemed appropriate. I mean, you see him open
> his mouth as if to scream and out this thing comes (bad choice of words,
> I know).
>
> My question is, what do -you- think the 'man in the planet' has to do
> with all this? I have opinions...wondering what y'alls are.
Well, it obivously didn't get across very well, but I was trying
to state a question rhetorically. The "sperm-like thing" was a symbol
for the sperm, and Henry's spontaneous behavior with his girlfriend. He
was trying to express his love for her, in any way he could, and what
came out was the sperm. He was showing affection in a new way, other
than words.
The "man in the planet" is the Devil, or some controlling, evil
influence in the world's events. He had three levers that (pardon the
pun) set things in motion. When things worked out well for Henry (with
him being absolved and reaching heaven), the "man in the planet" was
angry and his levers started to spark as if something had happened not
according to plan.
Plus, there were three levers. Three has always been a mystical
number and it usually represents fate.
Dean
Dean Carlson
>
> Well, initially I would say the Man In The Planet represents FATE or
> possibly a GOD figure. You imagine Henry may have asked himself "Why me?" upo
> finding out Mary was pregnant. WHy? Because FATE deemed it so, or SET IT
> IN MOTION (i.e. the pulling of the levers) Note that the scene we have been
> discussing as sexual and the MITP scenes are at the same time. It is like
> he is controlling the circumstances. The reason these scenes come across
> so sexual is that they are an abstract representation of the sexual act
> happening between Mary and Henry. Remember, we don't ever see that, but we
> learn later that it happened.
You're the first person to agree with me, Marc. Thank you.
Dean
Rich Haller
Carlson) wrote:
> mal...@acca.nmsu.edu (Digital Samurai) writes:
>
> > In a moment of insanity, Dean Carlson wrote...
> > My question is, what do -you- think the 'man in the planet' has to do
> > with all this? I have opinions...wondering what y'alls are.
[deletions]
> The "man in the planet" is the Devil, or some controlling, evil
> influence in the world's events. He had three levers that (pardon the
> pun) set things in motion. When things worked out well for Henry (with
> him being absolved and reaching heaven), the "man in the planet" was
> angry and his levers started to spark as if something had happened not
> according to plan.
hmmm. I would have to watch again and decide if I agree with you. My
inclination is to regard him as neither god nor devil, but the working of
the world system ala machine that has no concern for us or knowledge of us.
For example, to think that the volcano that devours a village is anything
more than a simple physical event is simple a feeble attempt to control
natural forces. That human societies have feebly attempted to do so,
sometimes by sacrificing their members, says something not particularly
attractive about the noble savage.
> Plus, there were three levers. Three has always been a mystical
> number and it usually represents fate.
>
Dean
I don't know about that, but you are obviously thinking of the 'three
fates'. I leave it to an ethnologist to comment on its universality. For
example, there are also the three graces.
Three is certainly a special number, being the first non-trivial prime.
In re the levers, they suggest Metropolis.
Also, Lynch uses the a similar image in FWWM when the Electrician throws a
switch in the Convenience Store scene.
Dean Carlson
> > The "man in the planet" is the Devil, or some controlling, evil
> > influence in the world's events. He had three levers that (pardon the
> > pun) set things in motion. When things worked out well for Henry (with
> > him being absolved and reaching heaven), the "man in the planet" was
> > angry and his levers started to spark as if something had happened not
> > according to plan.
>
> hmmm. I would have to watch again and decide if I agree with you. My
> inclination is to regard him as neither god nor devil, but the working of
> the world system ala machine that has no concern for us or knowledge of us.
> For example, to think that the volcano that devours a village is anything
> more than a simple physical event is simple a feeble attempt to control
> natural forces. That human societies have feebly attempted to do so,
> sometimes by sacrificing their members, says something not particularly
> attractive about the noble savage.
>
> I don't know about that, but you are obviously thinking of the 'three
> fates'. I leave it to an ethnologist to comment on its universality. For
> example, there are also the three graces.
>
> Three is certainly a special number, being the first non-trivial prime.
>
> In re the levers, they suggest Metropolis.
> Also, Lynch uses the a similar image in FWWM when the Electrician throws a
> switch in the Convenience Store scene.
Well, I saw him as being more on the evil side because he got
angry when Henry found absolution.
He *did* seem very low and apathetic throughout most of the
movie, though.
The three fates certainly apply. I remember numerous rites that
involve things in threes (do you read SANDMAN?). I forgot about the
three graces.
All I remember about the Electrician in FWWM was how he looked. I
have only seen FWWM twice (it is more than liko{ly the best movie ever
made so I try not to overkill it), so I believe you. Fine, you made me
think more about my own slightly concrete theories. Interesting.......
Dean