Postmodern Cartographies

[Dave Monroe]

>From Brian Jarvis, Postmodern Cartographies: The
Geographical Imagination in Contemporary American
Culture (New York: St. Martin's, 1998), Ch. 13,
"Cherry-Pie Heaven: David Lynch," pp. 168-83 ...

"Lynch's sexual politics combine New Age science
fiction's virulentr anti-feminism with thec
self-conscious manipulation of a pop psychoanalysis."
(p. 169)

   "In terms of their corporeal cartographies Lynch's
films clearly intersect with the mappings of body
horror.  Bodies are regularly severed and split open
to reveal their sticky interiors ....  Bodies which
transgress physical 'norms' are displayed frequently
....  Bodies consume other bodies ... or are fused
grotesquely with machinery ....  Representation of
bodyspace is dominated by images of mutation,
dismemberment, deformity and decay.
   "Lynch's mapping of the corporeal, as JohnAlexander
has suggested, is organised around a structural
opposition between a 'closed' perfect body and an
'open' abject body (Alexander 1993, pp. 24-5).  The
Lynchian closed-body hero always diplays a decidedly
conservative sartorial preference--dressed formally in
dark suit and tie and juxtaposed with the degeneracy
of the ungroomed open body...." (pp. 169-70)

   "The fear that accompnaies this structural
opposition is twofold: homphobia (the fear that the
closed body might be 'open' to a man) and gynophobia
(the fear of the feminine as the mot 'open' of
bodies).  Lynch's (mis)understanding of homosexual
desire is best described as a form of heterosexual
hysteria...." (p. 170)

   "A virulent homophobia is apparent in both the
literal and the symbolic co-ordinates of Lynch's
corporeal cartographies.  However, it takes place
against the backdrop of a far more pervasive dread, a
fear of the 'dark continent' that is the open body of
Woman.  The range of roles offered to Women in Lynch's
cinema is botn restricted and reactionary.  Women are
portrayed as Bad Mothers ... or, less conspicuously,
as Good Mothers ....  Alternatively, women are
portrayed as predatory femmes fatales, or innocent,
small-town, all-American Girls.  These archetypes are
frequently represented as prone to psychological
disorder and their madness provokes varying degrees of
hilarity ... or horror ....  Finally, there is a cast
of extras that includes wholesome secretaries and
wiatresses, obese prostitutes and angelic singers. 
Whilst they are typically central to the plot these
figurines are largely passive and function primarily
as a catalyst to the actions of the male hero ... who
battle[s] to rescue women, body and soul.
   "As with the open/closed body hero these
stereotypical personae are usually paired off within
each film....  The absence of psychological depth to
such flagrantly one-dimensional roles restricts th
possibilities for chracater development in a
conventional sense, but Lynch is consitently
uninterested in such qualities.  Inmstead he explores
the landscapes of female corporeality and in
particular the 'mystery' of reproductive sexuality.
   "Lynch's aversion to the mother;s body is most
striking in ... Reaserhead ...." (p. 171)

   "Lynch's gynophobia results in a predilection for
punishment and photography.  The monstrous feminine is
laternately confined within the comparative safety of
a picture frame, or subjected to extremes of sadistic
violence and ritual humiliation.  The most disturbing
aspect of this tendency is that, simultaneously,
Lynch's films intimate that this is a pain that women
secretly desire (and thus deserve).... simultaneously
reinforces one of the grossest of misogynistic myths:
women have no control over their sexuality, they
secretly desire, provoke and enjoy sexual assault. 
Lynch's own commentary upon the brutalisation of
Doroty Vallens [Isabella Rosselini, Blue Velvet] does
little to challenge such pernicious fictions:

There are some women that you want to hit because
you're getting a feeling from them taht they want it,
or they upset you in a certain way. (Lynch, cited in
Borden 1986, p. 62)

   "Acts of violence towards women form the narative
backbone of both Fire Walk With Me and the Twin Peaks
series.... " (pp. 172-3)

"The self-conscious play that Lynch indulges in with
teh archetypes of Madonna and Whore ... trads a line
between classical sexism and the camp critique of
classical sexism so fine as to be practically
invisible." (p. 174)

And see as well here ...

Alexander, John.  The Films of David Lynch.
   London: Letts, 1993.

Borden, Lizzie.  "The World According to David
   Lynch."  Village Voice, 23 September 1986.

But to continue ...

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