enviousdominous
Behold my diction
In putting together a puzzle of odd clues, I try to remember that every piece might not fit perfectly as a means of reaching a full conclusion. This movie was directed by David Lynch, a man who I believe loses track of his own artistic purposes through the process of creation if he even bothers to imagine a purpose for his art.
I believe that Mulholland Drive is a movie that presents itself as pieces of two separate stories, one depicting reality and another depicting the mental wanderings of the main character who had committed suicide. For the reality story-line, we’re given forms of explanation as to what events inspired the bizarre occurrences from the dream state of the main character.
The main character is represented as “Betty” in the dream world and “Diane” in the real world.
Betty starts the movie as she embraces a blissful scene of people dancing, guided to this very happy place by two elderly individuals who are never identified. I believe that this was Diane experiencing her fantasized interpretation of what life would become when she moved to Hollywood.
I’d like to fast-forward to an often debated concept of this movie, The Blue Box. I believe that the box is where Diane’s soul went after she died. While this might jeopardize the ability of some to take it as a moment that could have occurred in reality, I must remind myself that this is a David Lynch film. It’s a supernatural occurrence with no explanation. The dream world that Diane experiences is controlled while she remains captive inside the blue box, this being her punishment for the evil deeds she committed.
The Blue Box, I believe, is indicative of the usual jewelry box that often contains a wedding ring. An idea I saw as being foreshadowed when the director of the film within the film -- that Diane had hoped to be cast as the lead actress -- discovers his wife has been cheating on him. A small object that contains a world of ideas.
In the dream world, “Betty” (Diane’s alter-ego) meets Rita. The two form an instant friendship and work together to aid in the process of being successful in their acting endeavors. Rita, I believe, is there because she also perished. Rita is the alter-ego of Camilla, a woman who Diane had murdered by a hitman for robbing her of the lead role in an upcoming production. Betty and Rita have no knowledge of their past selves, and bond over their common goals.
Governing the dream world is an entity known as “The Cowboy”, likely an interpretation of God. The Cowboy appears to be a type of mafia kingpin with an eccentric adoration for the old west. To ensure that Diane is sufficiently punished for her ill deeds, The Cowboy must govern the actions of the people he’s allowed to play a role in the dream world’s scenario. That is, Diane must relive the horror of her deplorable circumstances into eternity.
The Devil is represented as a man covered in grime and wearing a hooded gown that likely is made of refuse. Through The Devil, the blue box is passed to Diane through a third party who would serve as the hit-man who killed Camilla. The idea being that for the right price Diane was able to have Camilla killed, though Diane couldn’t have ever imagined what the full price of that kind of contract would entail.
For my interpretation; the Devil exists in the real world while God only exists in the dream world. This may be a controversial opinion, but again I’m interpreting David Lynch.
Betty and Rita attend a play at a theater, where behind the curtain is a seldom seen man named Mr. Roque. I believe that Mr. Roque is a result of Rita’s influence on the synthetic world, that is he was in reality Camilla’s means of becoming successful and now as a figment of her blissful perspective can only communicate to her through performances occurring on the other side of an impassible (unto Camilla/Rita) curtain.
The performance in question involves a woman who appears to sing, until she passes out and the singing never stops. This appears to be an indication of a dream state as often in dreams a catalyst for what would be an obvious reaction in the real world doesn’t always translate to that same reaction in the dream world, trying to turn lights off and on in a dream for example. This also appears to be an ominous sign directed at either Rita or Betty (I believe that Betty was the target) to suggest that their assumption of vanity doesn’t equal the talent that is necessary to succeed.
Diane orders the death of Camilla, an action that is shown to us after being shown what I believe was the reliving of the event that inspired such action from within the dream world. Camilla is chosen for a part over Diane, to eliminate the possibility of random chance The Cowboy takes direct action to ensure that Rita is chosen instead of Betty. Diane is given the blue box, which is locked, with the assurance that she will know when to open it and will have the capability to open it at that time.
Confronted with the horrors of the end result of her failures and evil deeds in the dream world, Betty commits the same action that took Diane’s life and shoots herself. This sequence involved the opening of the blue box, which resulted in miniature holograms of the unidentified elderly couple from the beginning of the movie to emerge and terrify Diane/Betty. After killing herself, Betty is taken into the box to engage in a more blissful retelling of her horror. Every time the story ends, it begins again. This being Diane’s hell for allowing her rage to disrupt the sacred expectations of Hollywood.
I believe that Mulholland Drive is a movie that presents itself as pieces of two separate stories, one depicting reality and another depicting the mental wanderings of the main character who had committed suicide. For the reality story-line, we’re given forms of explanation as to what events inspired the bizarre occurrences from the dream state of the main character.
The main character is represented as “Betty” in the dream world and “Diane” in the real world.
Betty starts the movie as she embraces a blissful scene of people dancing, guided to this very happy place by two elderly individuals who are never identified. I believe that this was Diane experiencing her fantasized interpretation of what life would become when she moved to Hollywood.
I’d like to fast-forward to an often debated concept of this movie, The Blue Box. I believe that the box is where Diane’s soul went after she died. While this might jeopardize the ability of some to take it as a moment that could have occurred in reality, I must remind myself that this is a David Lynch film. It’s a supernatural occurrence with no explanation. The dream world that Diane experiences is controlled while she remains captive inside the blue box, this being her punishment for the evil deeds she committed.
The Blue Box, I believe, is indicative of the usual jewelry box that often contains a wedding ring. An idea I saw as being foreshadowed when the director of the film within the film -- that Diane had hoped to be cast as the lead actress -- discovers his wife has been cheating on him. A small object that contains a world of ideas.
In the dream world, “Betty” (Diane’s alter-ego) meets Rita. The two form an instant friendship and work together to aid in the process of being successful in their acting endeavors. Rita, I believe, is there because she also perished. Rita is the alter-ego of Camilla, a woman who Diane had murdered by a hitman for robbing her of the lead role in an upcoming production. Betty and Rita have no knowledge of their past selves, and bond over their common goals.
Governing the dream world is an entity known as “The Cowboy”, likely an interpretation of God. The Cowboy appears to be a type of mafia kingpin with an eccentric adoration for the old west. To ensure that Diane is sufficiently punished for her ill deeds, The Cowboy must govern the actions of the people he’s allowed to play a role in the dream world’s scenario. That is, Diane must relive the horror of her deplorable circumstances into eternity.
The Devil is represented as a man covered in grime and wearing a hooded gown that likely is made of refuse. Through The Devil, the blue box is passed to Diane through a third party who would serve as the hit-man who killed Camilla. The idea being that for the right price Diane was able to have Camilla killed, though Diane couldn’t have ever imagined what the full price of that kind of contract would entail.
For my interpretation; the Devil exists in the real world while God only exists in the dream world. This may be a controversial opinion, but again I’m interpreting David Lynch.
Betty and Rita attend a play at a theater, where behind the curtain is a seldom seen man named Mr. Roque. I believe that Mr. Roque is a result of Rita’s influence on the synthetic world, that is he was in reality Camilla’s means of becoming successful and now as a figment of her blissful perspective can only communicate to her through performances occurring on the other side of an impassible (unto Camilla/Rita) curtain.
The performance in question involves a woman who appears to sing, until she passes out and the singing never stops. This appears to be an indication of a dream state as often in dreams a catalyst for what would be an obvious reaction in the real world doesn’t always translate to that same reaction in the dream world, trying to turn lights off and on in a dream for example. This also appears to be an ominous sign directed at either Rita or Betty (I believe that Betty was the target) to suggest that their assumption of vanity doesn’t equal the talent that is necessary to succeed.
Diane orders the death of Camilla, an action that is shown to us after being shown what I believe was the reliving of the event that inspired such action from within the dream world. Camilla is chosen for a part over Diane, to eliminate the possibility of random chance The Cowboy takes direct action to ensure that Rita is chosen instead of Betty. Diane is given the blue box, which is locked, with the assurance that she will know when to open it and will have the capability to open it at that time.
Confronted with the horrors of the end result of her failures and evil deeds in the dream world, Betty commits the same action that took Diane’s life and shoots herself. This sequence involved the opening of the blue box, which resulted in miniature holograms of the unidentified elderly couple from the beginning of the movie to emerge and terrify Diane/Betty. After killing herself, Betty is taken into the box to engage in a more blissful retelling of her horror. Every time the story ends, it begins again. This being Diane’s hell for allowing her rage to disrupt the sacred expectations of Hollywood.
