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Reader comments on
Subject: Re: David Lynch's 10 Clues redux
Date: Mar 13, 2003
regarding the red lampshade scene. I think this could be a brief flash to reality from the dream world.
have you ever had a dream where events were you were, say, in a resteraunt having lunch... a stranger (or even someone you might know) comes up to you and starts talking about the benefits of Cheer laundry detergent, they leave and the waiter comes up trying to sell you an isuzu trooper... then you wake up and there was a commercial on the TV for said trooper.
or more specifically I once had a dream that I went to a concert, and the woman on stage started screaming in short, regular bursts... then after a few minutes of that I woke up to find it was actually my alarm clock beeping.
I think the same thing is here... she hears the phone ring (presumably her neighbor who also wakes her up by knocking) and it filters into the dream in a rational way.
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David Lynch's 10 Clues redux
Tim brought up the ã10 Cluesä on this site back in June (they are printed on the inside sleeve of the DVD÷I donât know if theyâre on the VHS). Given all the analysis of Mulholland Drive offered here, much of it very insightful, Iâm a bit surprised none has been devoted to these ãclues.ä I suppose thereâs a legitimate fear of being duped by what might actually be 10 Red Herrings, but I believe the risk is merited and will thus attempt to address the clues Mr. Lynch has so generously provided. What follows is a fair mixture of facts lifted directly from the film and my own speculations about them, though I engage in the latter as little as possible and it should always be clear when I am doing so in any case.
ãI just came here from Deep River, Ontario, and now Iâm in this . . . dream place!ä öBetty Elms
1) Pay particular attention in the beginning of the film: at least two clues are revealed before the credits.
At least two, huh? Thanks. Ok, there are young people jitterbugging. There are the two weird old people she gets off the plane with who terrorize her in the final scene. Thereâs a 1st person shot of someone wearily lying down on a red-sheeted bed. That is all I see clue-wise in the pre-credit montage÷if thereâre more, theyâre so obscure I just donât even want to know about them.
The jitterbugging people are consistent with Dianeâs dinner party conversation with Coco near the end of the movie wherein she explains that her quest for fame in Hollywood began with winning a jitterbug contest back in her hometown. This dinner party scene is, by the way, one of the two most significant in the movie with respect to clarifying the ãactualä story (the other being her audition in the producerâs office with director, casting agents and various others present÷read further below and see if you donât agree).
The old people: Judges of the jitterbug contest, later reincarnated as far more severe judges of Diane herself? Her parents, so proud of her initially, whom sheâs now failed in ever so many ways? Minions of Satan himself, who chortle demonically with supernatural foresight of things to come in the limo leaving the airport? Your guess is as good as mine. Roger Ebert made the resigned remark that even after days of analysis with an auditorium full of film students, no single explanation accounts for everything in MD. In my view, the presence of the two old people is among the pieces that defy the best of such explanations. I can only fall back on the moderately satisfying rationalization that they were fragments left over from the intended-but-never-realized television series that would have been better developed had it been made.
Finally, Diane (presumably) wearily lying down (perhaps crying? certainly exhausted and distressed) in a bed we deduce must be hers since itâs covered with the same red sheets we see on her bed later. One possible (in my view, likely) interpretation: the whole thing is a dream. The movie is actually in perfect chronological order from that lying down scene before the opening credits to the Cowboy waking her (ãTime to wake up, pretty girlä) right up to the first flashback (second lesbian scene). That is, if you subscribe to the it-was-all-a-dream interpretation. For the purpose of being able to speak with some semblance of clarity, not to mention in a manner most consistent with the ãclues,ä Iâll say yea, I subscribe.
As long as Iâm committing to an interpretation, I take back what I said about the old people being unexplainable÷Iâll now state unequivocally that they were judges of the jitterbug contest. They laugh in the limo because to Dianeâs mind, theyâre evil for inspiring her to come to Hollywood in the first place and are thereby at fault for the hardships she finds there. Remember, the laughing-in-limo scene is part of Dianeâs dream (if youâve committed to that interpretation with me), and peopleâs roles and identities get switched around in dreams all the time. Also keep in mind that David Lynch is clearly, decidedly, a big dream junkie, and has demonstrated this repeatedly in his movies. The old couple ãjudgeä her in the end as described above, and also, to her mind, set her suffering in motion in the first place. Itâs all consistent. I swear.
2) Notice appearances of the red lampshade.
In the beginning when the series of phone calls is made informing unknown, unseen, various, nefarious people that ãthe girl is still alive,ä the last phone to ring is the one under the red lampshade. In that scene, thereâs a cut before the phone is answered. When the scene repeats later, Diane answers. Itâs Camilla telling her the car is waiting. I wonât attempt to articulate any thoughts regarding these particular events for the very genuine fear that my brain will melt and ooze out my ears.
[cont]
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Comment index:
wow from Rosanna, Jun 10, 2002
Re: wow from Joshua (editor of Offoffoff), Jun 12, 2002
Re: wow from Tashtigo707, Jun 17, 2002
» Re: David Lynch's 10 Clues redux « from Jeremy, Mar 13, 2003
PCP from Kilgore Trout, Sep 1, 2002
Aunt??? from HugeElvis, Oct 14, 2002
wow from Rosanna, Jun 10, 2002
Re: wow from Joshua (editor of Offoffoff), Jun 12, 2002
Re: wow from Tashtigo707, Jun 17, 2002
» Re: David Lynch's 10 Clues redux « from Jeremy, Mar 13, 2003
PCP from Kilgore Trout, Sep 1, 2002
Aunt??? from HugeElvis, Oct 14, 2002
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