I've come up with my own ideas about what this film is about. To confirm my theory I've read countless reviews and interpretations and I'm pretty sure every last one of them is completely wrong (confirmed by Lynch himself).

Most seem to link it to sex, society, etc. But I think its about film. Plain and simple. Its about Lynch's early nightmares about his film career.

Let me explain in slightly more detail:

The man in the planet image:
A producer or studio. Controls the levers.

Henry:
Carries around a bag. This is his idea for a film.

His girlfriend/wife and on having a child so soon:
his film idea wasn't even ready and already people were pressuring him (or he was pressuring himself) to make something of it. "Premature" and not ready to be developed. From then on the child represents his film. It needs constant attention to the point where he does what he does at the end. Causes his wife to leave.


I could go on scene by scene but I don't have the time.

Do you think I'm right? wrong? What do you think its about?

__________________
---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

I'm not instantly sold on the theory, but it is interesting and I would like to hear more.

I do believe the baby is simply Jennifer. David found himself in the unwelcome position of becoming a father by a woman he did not love, and when she was born she was deformed. Only very slightly deformed - club foot rather than no limbs, a snakelike neck, birdlike head and covered in bandages which turn out to be you-know-what - but certainly something that fuelled his anxieties.

The flashing lamps near the end are slightly reminiscent of the ending of Sunset Boulevard, I suppose.

But there's too much of the film that does not fit the theory, as far as I can tell.

My own belief is that it is "merely" a follow-your-unconscious trip.

It's in my hold queue. When I see it (in a couple of weeks, probably), I'll give my opinion. (I have The Elephant Man sitting in my "to watch" pile; the letter "E" probably has more Lynch than any other.)

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I really llok forward to your take on it. I was rather impressed with the soundtrack. Much more nuanced than i ever would have expected.

__________________
---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

Okay, the library's copy is sticking a lot, so I'm not sure if I've gotten everything, but I really don't think it's about film. Lynch has said that no one interprets it correctly, right, so Gods alone know what it's really about. Then again, I don't really like looking for what films are "really" about. In most cases, that gets you too far away from the film and into your own head.

So.

I think maybe the closest interpretations are the ones that indicate it's about a young man's nightmares about growing up--getting married, having a baby, and so forth. I think Lynch is trying to show us a person who's not sure what he wants out of life--and I don't think it's any great coincidence that he looks not unlike Lynch. Obviously, this was a deeply personal film for him, as indicated by how hard he struggled to get it made in the first place. I don't think he'd fight for five years over just some thing that came into his head, though it is how the movie feels a lot of the time.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

At least LotusExcelle cares about your thoughts about the film, Gillian. Mine didn't even get an acknowledgement.

Well, I care, Paul!

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Sorry Paul - I wasn't sure if you were offering up a new theory on it or if it had ben a while since you had seen it, etc etc.

__________________
---"Why do things have to suck so bad?" a friend once asked me.
"Because space is a vacuum and that's a lot of suck." I replied.
(Actual quote)---

I try not to analize films that much - just sit back and enjoy them (2001: A Space Odyssey excepted). As to Erasehead, I just thought it was weird, but enjoyable in a strange way, but if I remember right, there was an industrial humm throughout the film? I felt very much an observer and not attached to any characters really - it was a show of 'weirdness' to me.
A movie about people that were monsters in some way.
Funny, his next movie - The Elephant Man - was just the opposite, in the sense that the 'monster', John (really Joseph) Merrick was pure humanity.

I watched and reviewed both of them today.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/j...66&view=public

__________________
Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"