For the most part books about film directors are biographical in nature, using the director’s life and experiences to explain their movies and running themes. Todd McGowan’s The Impossible David Lynch does not fall within this category. Instead, McGowan eschews almost completely Lynch’s personal life and focuses instead on the content of his films. David Lynch has been a controversial filmmaker since his startling debut feature, Eraserhead, toeing the line between mainstream and avant garde with a proficiency that either delights or annoys. But love him or hate him, David Lynch and his films raise a lot of questions. In The Impossible David Lynch, McGowan has used Lacanian psychology to interpret and critique these films.
It’s important to note that what McGowan offers here is not a ‘skeleton key’ to Lynch’s films. Both Lynch and McGowan would be quick to note that there is not a single correct explanation for what happens in the films. Rather, Lynch’s films follow a kind of dream-logic, a subconscious, autochthonous chain of events and symbols that are open to a wide variety of interpretation. Instead, McGowan uses the substance of David Lynch’s films to introduce readers to Lacanian psychological concepts. The real power of this book is how it can open the door for the layperson into the notoriously difficult world of Lacanian psychoanalysis.
The book is structured by film, chronologically. The first real chapter deals with Eraserhead, perhaps Lynch’s most complex film, and moves through The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (for an in depth look at the TV series, Twin Peaks, read David Lavery’s collection of essays Full of Secrets), Lost Highway, The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive, followed by a summary chapter at the end. It also includes an excellent bibliography throughout its copious footnotes for readers who wish to dig deeper on any particular topic.
Lynch’s films are an important point of study, because they live in both the world of pop culture, being, for the most part, American movies made in the Hollywood system, and also the world of high art, containing complex scenarios and characters, absence of simple chronology and plot, and glimpses into the human condition. More than any other English speaking “auteur” except perhaps Stanley Kubrick, Lynch offers viewers cerebral and emotional content to dwell on long after the film is over. Many of his films require multiple viewings to fully grasp. Lynch is often criticized for “being weird for weirdness’ sake” or being “Lynchian,” but McGowan’s book might make people rethink those statements. There is method in the madness, whether you accept McGowan’s explanations or not, there is more connectedness to these Lynchisms than first meets the eye.
Using “pop-culture” to explain Lacanian psychoanalysis is nothing new. Slavoj Zizek, in his Enjoy Your Symptom! uses films and fictional characters to help the reader wrap their heads around the complex, almost algebraic formulas of Lacan. Zizek himself wrote The Art of the Ridiculous Sublime on David Lynch’s Lost Highway. What makes McGowan’s book stand out is its accessibility. Even if the reader knows nothing of Lacan, they will not be left behind as they read. McGowan offers clear and concise explanations of Lacanian terminology, while noting that to truly understand Lacan, a more in depth analysis of his work is required. But McGowan’s book bridges an important gap. There are many fans of (or at least people interested in) David Lynch; there are far fewer people who on their own break into the world of Lacanian psychoanalysis. McGowan offers an entry point for those people, not only to explain Lynch’s films, but any story or character, fictional or real.
There are other, more academic, introductions to Lacan. Bruce Fink’s A Clinical Introduction to Lacanian Psychoanalysis is an excellent read, a good jumping off point for more serious study. But McGowan’s use of a well-known body of work, allows the reader to quickly connect with and be interested in the psychoanalytic material.
All this begs the question, why would someone want to learn about Lacanian psychoanalysis? Much in the way that physics, chemistry and biology explains the natural, physical circumstances of our existence, psychoanalysis attempts to explain man’s conscious experience as well as the much more difficult subconscious, that other, unknown part of the self that has a huge effect on our conscious decisions and understanding. Psychoanalysis, and Lacan in particular, can help laypeople understand themselves, those around them, and offer them entry points into criticism of fiction. Overall, it helps to explain human behavior, human interaction and the social customs that we take for granted.
For fans of Lynch’s films, this book will offer insight into their complexity. For those interested in the world of Lacanian psychoanalysis, this book will offer an excellent first step. It sets the bar for film criticism and is an enjoyable and compelling read. McGowan doesn’t solve the mysteries of David Lynch, but he does elucidate the importance of cogitating on them, and leaving readers with the desire to learn more is the most any book can hope to do.
Can pop culture be used as a method of explaining real issues, or is the disconnect between fantasy and reality too broad to judge real life experiences by their filmic counterparts?
Mark Brendle is a writer living in Oregon. His short fiction is available on the web at http://brendlewords.blogspot.com
