Eraserhead Written and Directed by David Lynch, 1976 By Zach Douglas (Zachd@fc.net / http://www.fc.net/~zachd ) 1998
(Note: I highly recommend reading Ray Wolf's excellent web guide for his insights on Eraserhead. I left out a lot of information because I couldn't bring myself to regurgitate all the things I read on Ray's page and instead tried to bring forth a few new elements that I didn't find there or elsewhere. Other recommended readings on the subject is Danny's Pearry's review in his book Cult Movies. Here is Ray's web page:
http://members.aol.com/RayWolf1/eraserhead/index.html
It's been a long time since I have watched a film as intricately detailed, thought provoking, and scary as Eraserhead. While my opinion of David Lynch was was somewhat mixed after having seen all of his films except for The Lost Highway, it has become apparent to me that having some understanding of the meanings of his films is of up most importance to the enjoyment of them. Many will say Lynches films are "visually entertaining" or "bizarre" enough to be entertaining but don't fully endorse the films because they can't fully embrace just what the hell the film meant. That is understandable. Lynch himself says that people should not try so hard to understand his films in absolute terms. I will agree with him so far as saying that precise interpretations of films such as Eraserhead are impossible. However, I refuse not to give up that easily and not attempt to grasp at an interpretation and contribute my thoughts, regardless where it leads, how misguided it might be, or how much time on a nice Saturday afternoon it might take me to do so.
I've read a few different ideas on the meaning of Eraserhead. I can for the most part agree with them, but I must seek to fill in some crucial and what seems to me - obvious elements that seem to me missing from many interpretations. To add to the popular theories concerning Eraserhead I (like others) have turned to the Auteur theory (1.) for insight. With what understanding I do have of Lynch's other films and also with a general knowledge that many of our greatest film makers continually made autobiographical works wherein they cast leading men who resembled themselves. Another aspect in Eraserhead of which I am not sure exists in his other films are visual puns to be explained later. Going back to leading men; Lynch would later utilize Kyle McGlaughlin as his alter ego, it is Jack Nance in Eraserhead who is Lynch. If we imagine Lynch telling his own story of troubled days in a hellish area of Philadelphia when he was 21, then this is what I believe Eraserhead is saying:
As Henry lies prone at the first of the movie, we see him yawn and from his mouth he emits a sperm-like worm. The yawn is the first pun - Henry has had intercourse or "slept" with a woman who turns out to be Mary. We see the man at the window looking down. The man pulls the levers of the great machine and we see the sperm head toward a swirling black pool and enters. Yes, it's God. >From here see Henry's life. We don't know much about it but know he is a depressed, sad man. Henry then meets his girlfriend Mary's parents and they declare he is to be married because he and Mary had intercourse. It's notable that Henry doesn't have any say in the matter and just accepts his fate as if he has no control over it. Henry's premature mutant baby comes. Henry looks at the radiator and sees a funny puffy cheeked woman. This woman is death, and Henry is contemplating suicide when he thinks of her and sees her singing her happy tune, "In heaven, everything is fine". Mary leaves Henry. Henry takes care of the baby when it gets sick. But Henry soon wants to leave but baby won't let Henry leave. Henry has sex with the bad lady across the hall. Things then get really bad for Henry as his head falls off. From Henry's neck comes the head of the child. Henry later kills the baby and goes on to be with the puffy cheeked lady (and embraces death).
Now, a smaller point of interest before getting to what my main point is what Lynch is saying about old people. From Blue Velvet we can see that Lynch likes to poke fun at American traditions such as family, religion, teen romance, and the like. In Eraserhead we see a strong contempt for the family of Mary X and perhaps for the elderly in general. Lynch says they are are stupid, frightening, and useless. "Grandma" sits motionless, posed as Whistler's Mother, except with a cigarette dangling from her mouth reinforces her pathetic pose. Her uselessness is shown by her "helping" mother X make salad as Mother X puts the bowl in her lap and then tosses the salad herself, reaching her arms under Grandmother's to toss the salad. Father X is near senile and beats his arm which he tells Henry he has lost use of and lost feeling in. Lynch obviously finds it disgusting, yet somewhat comical that old men often are overly eager to relate their physical infirmities to others. Once Henry and Mary are "married" the in-laws are removed from the picture.
The new focus is on the "Baby" that enters their lives. Another key is the statement that the baby is premature which is important later. Mary can't stand the baby and leaves. Henry begins to look toward the radiator (suicide) as an option. He tries to take care of the baby. Finally, he steps on the stage with the woman from the radiator and it's at about this time that Henry loses his head. I find it easiest to apply the most basic of visual metaphors (the puns) to the following key sequences after Henry's head falls off. First, Henry has "Lost his head". Equivalent to Lynch thinking that he is crazy to have been married (or living with someone) and having a child in the prime of his life. When his head is found by the boy, he takes it in to the shop. Before they use the material in Henry's head the proprietor of the shop first drills in to the head to get a core sample of the material inside. He says that it is "OK". Lynch is saying that someone in their prime should "have their head checked" if they become shackled by wife and child. This is backed by the proprietor's findings: That the material in Henry's head is grade A material for making pencil erasers. It is now confirmed that Henry (Lynch) must have been very stupid to make the decisions he made. It is this point that seems to have gone unspoken in deciphering Eraserhead's meaning. Perhaps we are too sympathetic toward Henry (because he must endure such a hellish life and appears like a scared boy) or toward Lynch (because he is an artist we respect) to make that statement to say that being an Eraserhead means being an idiot. That's my main point.
To further iterate, we see that from Henry's body has sprung the tiny head of the baby. Remembering now that the baby was premature, we again see now that it is also Henry/Lynch himself who was premature in their decision (or lack of a decision) to take on a wife and child.
Now, of course there is a lot left unexplained that I won't go in to, or perhaps can't go in to. Does Henry die? Why is the lady behind the radiator so grotesque if she represents a beautiful way out of the hellish life? Why does she kill the worms? Is she like an angel? Does that make the lady across the hall a demon? There are many other questions, but once you have a tiny grasp of what might be happening in this film, it becomes really fascinating to dig deeper and deeper as Eraserhead is so intricate that new aspects will surface with each viewing. I think I have done about all the digging in to the film and my mind that I can do on this viewing, so perhaps when I watch the film again someday I will return with some more thoughts on Eraserhead.
Postscript: Do I like Eraserhead? Yes. I think it is one of the most monumental achievements in modern film history. I really don't know of any other full length, live action film that so fully creates such a singular, visceral, and personal world as Eraserhead. The closest works I can think of might be films such as Fellini's 8 1/2 or La Dulce Vita and the works of Louis Bunuel who's nightmarish surrealist films might be Eraserhead's only equals. I take that back, one other film that I can think of is Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Check that out some time if you dare. Also, I don't know of many other films who's soundtrack (consisting of what Sounds like saws, grinding metal, and other various industrial noises) has been so carefully constructed. Only the Kubrick films such as 2001 and The Shining come to mind. The only thing more disturbing than watching Eraserhead might be to listen to it.
1. - Auteur Theory. Critical theory on films originated by Francois Truffaut. The theory focused on the director's of the films rather than stars, plot, or production company. The theory states that by becoming more familiar with all the works of a director, that familiar themes would arise from the filmmaker's personal visions, desires, and sensibilities. These themes can then be used to explain individual films which might, when viewed as singular works, be hard to explain otherwise.
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