Monday, February 23, 2009
Richard Schickel
After all the discussions about Blue Velvet, I still don't like it. And I don't really agree with what Schickel has to say about it. He seems to be saying that Blue Velvet is a commentary on reality, and a way to oppose the majority of falsely idealistic 50s-style movies. He says that Blue Velvet shows us that life isn't just convertibles and soda shops, that there is more going on. I agree with this as I think anyone would. But this movie goes so far beyond 'realism'. Personally I don't think any of the characters are believable or realistic, and though I found the movie disturbing, it's not something that is going to make me question society in any way. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that movies are just movies; they aren't 'real'. So so what if some movies are the generic "fifties teen romance"? I understand that there is a real world outside of movies, I don't need an overly dramatic, overly hyped up, 'daring' movie to make me realize this. If I had to choose a 50s era movie to watch, I'd sing along with Grease instead of Blue Velvet.
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When you said that you didn't think any of the characters are believable or realistic, to me, I think maybe that's the point. They are so extreme on both sides of the spectrum, that they are meant to represent a fantasy.
ReplyDeleteIn my humble opinion, I think this whole movie is a dream, Jefferey's dream, so the characters are somewhat fanatical. They are not realistic or believable because they are of Jefferey's skewed imagination. He has never before encountered true evil, so when he finds the ear he begins to fantasize about the whole situation behind the ear. All the people he creates in his mind (Dorothy, Frank, Paul, Ben, etc.) are sooooo incredibly weird and crazy because that is Jefferey's idea of weird and crazy. Those good wholesome people like Jefferey don't think that evil can be less extreme and more discreet.
I've been thinking about it since the first time I watched the film, and I think my dream theory is a pretty good one. Jefferey's dream starts when the camera zooms in on the ear and goes deep into the ear canal. Then, at the end of the movie, the dream ends and the camera zooms out of Jefferey's ear. It may not be a complete, solid dream, but I think Lynch wanted it to represent how good, wholesome people fantasize about evil criminals and their lives in the underbelly of society. So, I agree that the characters aren't believable, but I don't think that believability was the goal.