Why Is David Lynch the Way He Is?

There is perhaps no filmmaking name that elicits more reactions than when you tell someone, "It's from David Lynch." His name is synonymous with "weird" and "unusual" storytelling that challenges viewers. Lynch is also funny, unique, exciting, and emotional. He's one of the most gifted visual storytellers of his generation, with talents that stretch across movies, television, and many other mediums. 

But why is Lynch the way he is? And what can we learn from him?  

Check out this video from Thomas Flight, and let's talk after the jump. 

Ever since the public saw Eraserhead, we've been talking about Lynch. He's a modern-day explorer, willing to dive deeper into human nature than many filmmakers. He's a guy who loves dark corners of the soul as much as he loves innovating bright spaces. He's a worker, someone who's creating not only in movies and TV but with artisan things like a cell phone holder and harvesting his own coffee brand. He's a genre-breaker, someone who's not concerned with tropes and moods, only with where his characters are going and their own material reactions. 

Above all else, Lynch is an auteur. His work is so singularly him, so a part of his voice, and so skewed for the audience. When his name appears in the opening title, it changes our perception of what we watch. 

When speaking about his early life, Lynch has said, "I found the world completely and totally fantastic as a child. Of course, I had the usual fears, like going to school... for me, back then, school was a crime against young people. It destroyed the seeds of liberty. The teachers didn't encourage knowledge or a positive attitude."

That attitude and dichotomy between his perception of life and life as we know it became a feeling we describe as Lynchian, a sort of magical realism that is both macabre and mundane.

So what makes Lynch who he is? Is it his transcendental meditation, his artistic endeavors, or is it a combination of everything? 

Of course, we are not one thing, we are an amalgamation of everything. For Lynch, his point of view on the world is what I think defines him as an artist. That point of view is openness. While other filmmakers confine themselves to one genre or one way of life, Lynch wants to talk about every aspect of the human condition. He wants to make funny things, horrific things, thrilling things. He wants to explore the whole range of everything. And there are not many filmmakers, and even fewer who succeed, taking the leaps he does. Few people have that kind of creative courage. 

From Blue Velvet to Mulholland Drive, Lynch looks at the American dream through a lens, unlike his contemporaries. There's always something lurking just outside your door. Whether it's suburban banality interrupted by a severed ear, or the rich, Hollywood Hills lifestyle where people are unable to feel safe or happy, Lynch is always pushing us just a little bit further. Making us a little more uncomfortable. That doesn't work for all audiences, but it is always worth mentioning and worth dissecting. 

What are your favorite things about Lynch? Let us know in the comments. 

Source: Thomas Flight