Will Love Win Out: Good and Evil in Lynch’s Filmography

“What do you fear most in the world?” Windom Earle demands of Garland Briggs. His response, “The possibility that love is not enough” indicates a major theme of Lynch’s.  From Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, and Lost Highway, to Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire, and The Return, Lynch wrestles with a central question: between the darker and lighter spiritual and human forces in the world, will love prevail?

Why Are There People Like Frank?

From where does evil derive? Is it from the hearts of men or some external source? Many of Lynch’s works feature spiritual beings that seem to have some influence on the many protagonists.  However, the ultimate choice to follow love or the path of evil rests in the hands of the individual.

In Lost Highway, The Mystery Man haunts Fred and Pete. He certainly has malicious influence, as he hands Fred the knife which he uses to slit Laurent’s throat. He later shoots Laurent, leaving Fred with the murder weapon, implying that Fred is the murderer. But even though The Mystery Man does persuade Fred to enact the deed, Fred must take ultimate responsibility. The Mystery Man tells him in the party scene, “You invited me, it is not my custom to go where I am not wanted.” He is in Fred’s “house.” The Devil resides in his soul.

Inland Empire’s Nikkie Grace also retains culpability for the supernatural curse that traps her. The visiting old woman tells Nikki a tale. In the story, a young boy passes through a doorway, giving birth to an evil that follows him. In a variation, a young girl does the same, creating her evil. The “unpaid bill” the woman mentions that needs collecting is recompense for a sin that Nikki has not yet committed. The sin, the door that Nikki walks through that creates this evil, is her affair with Devon, and her punishment is the fracturing of her identity.

Doubles also explore the evil within Lynch’s characters. Blue Velvet’s Frank Booth tells Jeffrey Beaumont “You’re like me.” Wild at Heart’s Bobby Peru is a representation and a lure for Sailor’s darker impulses. And Mr. C. represents the same for Dale Cooper. But the strongest indicator that man is the primary source of evil comes from that all-too-famous quote from Albert Rosenfield: “Maybe that’s all that BOB is, the evil that men do. Maybe it doesn’t matter what we call it.”

Indeed, BOB’s emergence into our world comes from the creation of the atomic bomb, as shown in “Part 8” of The Return. The weapon is so deadly that it creates a rift in reality, allowing demons to filter into our world. It looms over the rest of The Return, reminding us of what evil humans are capable of.

Don’t Turn Away From Love, Sailor

This evil leads to some of Lynch’s films ending in despair, with the snuffing out of the light that struggles in the darkness.  Lost Highway finishes with a collapsing of worlds and/or identities. Mulholland Dr. ends with a murder and a suicide. Eraserhead arguably concludes likewise. Yet, there are also stories in Lynch’s oeuvre in which love triumphs.

Lynch has described Wild At Heart as “a love story in Hell.” Our two protagonists, Sailor and Lula, defy forces stronger themselves to fight for their love.  In a moment of weakness, Sailor’s penchant for darkness wins over, and his attempted robbery of a bank lands him in jail. Years later, he is released, and although he is initially reluctant to return to Lula and his son, a visit from Glinda the good witch gives him the courage to rejoin his family and propose to Lula while belting Elvis’ “Love Me Tender.”

In Blue Velvet, Sandy’s “There will be trouble till the robins come” monologue foreshadows the movie’s happy ending. In one of the last frames of the film, a robin clinches a bug in its beak, symbolizing love triumphing over evil. As Julee Cruise sings “The Mysteries of Love,” the film bookends with a shot of the white picket fence and the passing fire truck, and finally, we see Dorothy Vallens reunited with her son.

Laura Palmer receives her happy ending as well. The concluding scene of Fire Walk With Me focuses on Laura’s relief in finally meeting her angel, the one that vanished from her picture not too long ago. We can assume that Laura’s next stop is The White Lodge.

Or can we?

Love Undone?

For all of the scenes just mentioned, there are alternative readings and/or additional information that undercut what seem to be perfectly sound triumphs of love.

Wild at Heart’s ending appears as a celebration of unbridled passion and the union that Sailor and Lula share, but many viewers consider the scene ironic; overtly unreal in its depiction of love between two damaged individuals. Is this a statement on the impossibility of violent people to find true love? Lynch did indeed alter the original ending of the novel, to give audiences a hopeful one. Still, opinions persist.

The Blue Velvet “robin” scene, in which Sandy comforts Jeffrey with her vision, can also be read ironically.  Sandy’s character is a wholesome, admittedly naive, young girl.  Can her dream be trusted? Is the scene, with its church organ playing in the background, a satire of overtly religious values and the belief that all evil will be vanquished? It certainly can be interpreted that way.  It’s also interesting to note that the robin seems mechanical and fake. Is the peace that Jeffrey and Sandy have acquired just a facade?

The most vexing example, however, comes from The Return’s denouement. Cooper rescues Laura from being murdered, but she is whisked away from safety, into another dimension. She lives there as Carrie Page, an alternate version of herself, bereft of memories from her previous life. Coop’s attempt at returning her to her old home only resets the cycle. Laura hears her mother calling and responds with a hideous scream. All the memories have flooded back.

Fans question Laura’s angelic ascension in Fire Walk With Me. Does this scene occur after the film’s epilogue? Or has it been entirely erased due to Cooper’s mingling in the events of the narrative?  Has Laura been robbed of her happy ending?

Some argue that the ending is a victory.

I disagree. Although there is a certain intellectual (dream) logic to many of Lynch’s films, any fan will tell you that Lynch operates just as often through mood. From the overly positive schmaltzy saturation of Blue Velvet’s ending to the haunting Blue Haired Lady’s “Silencio” from Mulholland Dr. to the celebratory singing of “Sinner Man” in Inland Empire, I believe it’s key to examine how a particular closing scene of a Lynch film makes us feel.

Cooper stammers, “What year is it?” while he stumbles around in a daze. Carrie hears Sarah Palmer yelling Laura’s name. We get an ear-splitting scream, and then we cut to black. The initial feeling is one of disorientation and horror, not one of victory. We should trust our first impression.

Lynch, The Man, The Artist, The Meditator

So what does that leave us with? In Lynch’s concluding work, Light cannot bring darkness to a final halt. Instead, those who choose love must continually fight back.  As seen through reviewing Lynch’s earlier films, there is a mixture of dark and light elements within each character.

However, Lynch “loves seeing people come out of darkness.”  This statement is a cinematic technique (the one in Blue Velvet with Sandy emerging out of pitch blackness comes to mind), that is also a commentary on the human condition and the possibility of redemption. His characters bear this out, as both Sailor from Wild at Heart and Bobby from Twin Peaks eventually find goodness, away from their violent and troubled pasts. Nikkie Grace also confronts her phantom self, subduing the darkness within her soul.

In our world, Lynch practiced Transcendental Meditation, a form of meditation whose primary goal is to promote wellness and world peace. He also created the David Lynch Foundation in 2005, specifically to teach the meditation technique the world over.

So it seems, at least as far as the man was concerned, Lynch was a fervent believer in the power of love to overcome the troubles that ail mankind. His films may express doubt in that power, but isn’t it natural to believe and hold doubt simultaneously? Acknowledging the dormant darkness within us all does not disqualify Lynch from being a true believer in mankind’s possible redemption.

If Lynch were still alive today, he’d continue his fight in the real-world struggle between rage-filled villains and flawed heroes. He’d encourage us to reject the former and hope for the betterment of the latter. He’d urge us to see through his character’s journeys and realize that although the fight for love may seem never-ending, every step towards peace is worth taking.