"Lynchian" – and a call for sharing thoughts on David Lynch (RIP)

I rarely get emotional about a famous person's passing, but man this one hit me. David Lynch is one of those artistic lights that has burned so bright in his time and in my consciousness, and in the consciousnesses of so many people I know. There are very few filmmakers whose names have become adverbs like his did. "Lynchian" had to be invented because there was no other way to describe what he did. Sure, "Felliniesque" and "Hitchcockian" are terms, but who else of Lynch's generation has received the adverb treatment? Spielberg, maybe? But when I think of something as "Spielbergian" I just end up thinking, "Well, that sure does seem a lot like Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, or David Lean, too, doesn't it?" And that's okay; Spielberg amalgamates his influences in exciting ways.

Lynch has his influences, too, to be sure, but I guess if I'm being honest, I feel like he overcomes his influences more than any of his contemporaries and fabricates works that seem wholly his own. I never really find myself thinking, "Well, that sure reminds me of Federico Fellini or Jean Cocteau or Ingmar Bergman," or any other filmmaker who you could loosely group him with. Now, I may find myself thinking of Bob's Big Boy or Woody Woodpecker or a million other pop references that may be churning below the surface of his work (yes, including The Wizard of Oz), placed there intentionally or unintentionally by his unique psyche, but that's because he sees more/different things in those cultural sign posts than was ever intended.

Before I go on...

I'm working on setting up a podcast discussion with someone who literally wrote a book on David Lynch, so I'd love to hear from anyone who wants to share their thoughts on Lynch and his work.

You can email me at stereoactivemedia [AT] gmail.com or, if you have my number, feel free to send a voice memo or anything like that. Tell me how you're grieving Lynch... What's your favorite work of his? What's the first Lynch film you saw and what'd you think of it? Anything along those lines... and maybe we'll include it in the show.

Personally, I've been listening to the Soundtrack From Twin Peaks while I work today and I'll probably watch the 4K Criterion Edition of Blue Velvet that's been sitting on my shelf. I've also been perusing the outpouring of remembrances on Bluesky; here are some things I came across, mixed with some moments from his films:

And here's the scene from The Fablemans when the Steven Spielberg stand-in visits John Ford, played by David Lynch, and gets memorable advice on how to compose a shot:

Along with the story of how Lynch came to play Ford, via Vanity Fair.

And here's an anecdote for you... a dozen years ago now, my friends (Hi, Marta!) asked me to produce a music video for them. They had several ideas for vignettes they'd come up with and my job was to piece them together into a loose narrative "with David Lynch vibes." I was happy to oblige and hope the influence is recognizable: