In 1977 David Lynch, a new face in the cinema game, released his shocking debut film: Eraserhead. Like most directors, he has stayed relatively silent on what it all means, only stating that he has a preferred interpretation, and no other details. Still, it remains one of the best modern horror films, a surreal noir masterpiece that could take years to unravel.
For a spoiler-free summary before I dive into the very much spoiler-y symbolism, Eraserhead is a body horror film starring Jack Nance as Henry Spencer, a man living in a nightmarish town in which giant industrial machines are constantly working, producing smoke, and making an inescapable droning noise. Henry lives like most other people in the town, and his only distraction from the dystopia outside his apartment is Lady in the Radiator, who sings about finding happiness in heaven. Henry has a girlfriend, Mary X, who gives birth to a child, or some terrifying version of that, an inhuman worm-like baby (who was actually made of an embalmed calf fetus) with painful sores all over it. The screams of the newborn child are unbearable, and eventually drive Henry to insanity.
Though all art is subjective, the most popular theory about Eraserhead's meaning is that it represents David Lynch's fear of parenthood. True symbolism aside, the similarities between Spencer and Lynch are clear. They are both awkward, weird guys, who live in places they feel uncomfortable in, mentally escaping to fantasy worlds. Little details thrown in like the tiny artificial chickens help to reflect the nuclear family era of the 50's and 60's that Lynch grew up in. Lynch has also mentioned when his daughter Jennifer Lynch was a newborn, she would scream unbearably like Henry's baby. But the resemblance becomes even more uncanny- Jennifer was afflicted with a severe case of baby acne, and was born with club feet. As an infant she was placed in a cast from the waist down, and, unable to crawl, dragged herself around with a metal bar. Both of these things are explicitly shown in the film, making sure that it is all more than a coincidence. Jennifer Lynch herself also commented on one occasion that the film is hard for her to watch, as it hits too close to home for both her and her mother Peggy Lynch, who remained on bad terms with Lynch for quite some time.
Of course, the most shocking scene is where Henry finally lets his rage go and begins to stab his terribly real, terribly alive child in the heart with a pair of scissors. Though it may not be as extreme as this, any parent has had some version of the "escape fantasy" where they are free of the unendurable screaming, crying, and hunger that comes along with a newborn. The scene is hard to watch, and I'm not suggesting that the people who watch it condone infanticide, but there is some weird sentiment that accompanies that part, a feeling of wanting it to happen. Lynch exploits the audience's desire for the escape fantasy by playing up the extreme sense of guilt that inevitably comes along with it.
For a spoiler-free summary before I dive into the very much spoiler-y symbolism, Eraserhead is a body horror film starring Jack Nance as Henry Spencer, a man living in a nightmarish town in which giant industrial machines are constantly working, producing smoke, and making an inescapable droning noise. Henry lives like most other people in the town, and his only distraction from the dystopia outside his apartment is Lady in the Radiator, who sings about finding happiness in heaven. Henry has a girlfriend, Mary X, who gives birth to a child, or some terrifying version of that, an inhuman worm-like baby (who was actually made of an embalmed calf fetus) with painful sores all over it. The screams of the newborn child are unbearable, and eventually drive Henry to insanity.
Though all art is subjective, the most popular theory about Eraserhead's meaning is that it represents David Lynch's fear of parenthood. True symbolism aside, the similarities between Spencer and Lynch are clear. They are both awkward, weird guys, who live in places they feel uncomfortable in, mentally escaping to fantasy worlds. Little details thrown in like the tiny artificial chickens help to reflect the nuclear family era of the 50's and 60's that Lynch grew up in. Lynch has also mentioned when his daughter Jennifer Lynch was a newborn, she would scream unbearably like Henry's baby. But the resemblance becomes even more uncanny- Jennifer was afflicted with a severe case of baby acne, and was born with club feet. As an infant she was placed in a cast from the waist down, and, unable to crawl, dragged herself around with a metal bar. Both of these things are explicitly shown in the film, making sure that it is all more than a coincidence. Jennifer Lynch herself also commented on one occasion that the film is hard for her to watch, as it hits too close to home for both her and her mother Peggy Lynch, who remained on bad terms with Lynch for quite some time.
Of course, the most shocking scene is where Henry finally lets his rage go and begins to stab his terribly real, terribly alive child in the heart with a pair of scissors. Though it may not be as extreme as this, any parent has had some version of the "escape fantasy" where they are free of the unendurable screaming, crying, and hunger that comes along with a newborn. The scene is hard to watch, and I'm not suggesting that the people who watch it condone infanticide, but there is some weird sentiment that accompanies that part, a feeling of wanting it to happen. Lynch exploits the audience's desire for the escape fantasy by playing up the extreme sense of guilt that inevitably comes along with it.
But just because the film is centered around Henry Spencer's fear of his own child, Lynch doesn't seem to blame the child at all. Despite its horrifying appearance, the baby isn't actually a monster. It never does anything a real baby wouldn't do, but it has been stripped of its adorable large eyes, small nose, and cute chubbiness, the things that make most people adore babies. This further expresses anxiety with the whole idea of being a father: Henry/David knows that he is meant to feel love and attachment for this child he has played a role in creating, but he is only being able to see it as a screaming, naked being.
So though Lynch will probably never come forward with his intentions when making this film, the general public has come to a consensus that it expresses his fear, and at times disgust, in becoming a father, and his guilt in reaction to those feelings.
So though Lynch will probably never come forward with his intentions when making this film, the general public has come to a consensus that it expresses his fear, and at times disgust, in becoming a father, and his guilt in reaction to those feelings.