Again, just fragments here. So I can "reflect" on "the page."
I'm about a third of the way through Martha P. Nochimson's The Passion of David Lynch, and just love the way she's found to look at and interpret these works. She doesn't seem to be concerned with... something. I'm not sure what to call it. Solidifying? Pinning down. Hang on.
I re-watched Twin Peaks: The Return a few weeks ago. I'd watched it as it aired in 2017, and mostly left it sitting off to one side since. 5 years. I felt lots of things about it, had conversations with friends, but in the end honestly couldn't tell if I "liked it." I mean, I liked it — I think it's one of my favorite things I've ever watched, and way better than the original series for my own personal taste. But what was it for? What was its heart? There was intense negativity portrayed, alongside a bizarre approach to the possibility of joy. What did David & Co think the story was for?
I've been really hung up on the artist's intent for many many years. I could only feel confident about my feelings on a work when I thought I understood what its makers were "really" going for, and how that aligned with the object. I'm trying to stop doing that. I do want to know, but I also think that most massive works exceed their makers. Not in a "death of the author" way. It's hard to say what I mean, and hard to say that it's "hard to say." I think intent matters a lot. But it's not the endpoint, it's an ingredient. I also don't think all interpretations of a work are valid. That might be unpleasant to hear. But I sort of think it's important that we be reminded that people can be and often are incorrect in the way we see things.
"Let the reader decide" about the ending of most media is weasel wording! It has risen to prominence as a capitalist excuse for making works that refuse to ultimately challenge the audience. If you tell the audience they're wrong, you don't make as much money. If you imply they might be wrong, but ultimately give them an opening to avoid that conflict, I think you de-fang a work while also making it more palatable and profitable. "There's no one answer" is literally killing us politically, as the people who are supposed to be broad-minded and open-hearted on our behalf instead refuse to resolve. Quantum morality that refuses to be observed.
So then what to do with David Lynch? His works aren't "open-ended" in that capital-driven way. They are maybe, instead, "unresolvable," and that has a very different effect and reception. It's deeply upsetting and off-putting to most people. It doesn't make a ton of money. DL obviously has plenty of money, but none of his movies have done well in the big picture of Big Pictures.
...
I just got distracted looking up how much money the movies made, and then thinking about buying them on Blue Vel— I mean, Blu-Ray. Ha, ha.
...
oops I got tired of thinking
...
"Let the audience decide" about climate catastrophe