A random Lynch-inspired video I saw on YouTube.

TW rape, incest

I don't think the baby was premature. I don't think that's even Henry's baby. I think it's Bill's, Mr. X. I believe Henry was groomed by this family into raising a product of incest between Bill and his daughter, Mary. It was Bill's numb left arm that got me thinking (numb left arms are often prevalent when evil is lurking in Twin Peaks). One you look at the film from this angle everything changes. Mary is mad at henry but it's not because of anything he did, it's because she's completely delirious with guilt and shame. I think about the scene where she's holding onto the bars of the bed and shaking them, it's like she's begging Henry to realize that she's been imprisoned by her awful family and that she needs help.

In his entire career Lynch seems very concerned with abusive family dynamics and incest. I think this theory perfectly fits into eraserhead being a movie about being terrified of fatherhood. I'm sure plenty of paranoid fathers have had the fear of

what if I've been tricked? What if that's not my baby?

I think eraserhead is taking that fear to the absolute extreme.

Not only is that not my baby but it's very existence is a constant reminder of an incomprehensible human atrocity

Eraserhead also presents a large focus on the uncontrollable constant noises that come with living in modern America. It's so abrasive and loud and distracting and scary. You're not really able to sit quietly with your own thoughts because you always trying to tune a part of your surroundings out. When Henry is out in the world walking around, a soundtrack follows him and it almost feels like you're watching a silent film. I take this as Henry walking to his own beat, his own daydream perception of reality. Then he walks past a factory and his music is tuned out by the machinery. With all of the constant noises it becomes nearly impossible to sit with your own thoughts because your brain is constantly working on tuning it out. The noises force you to stay grounded in reality rather than daydreaming.

The radiator is constantly emitting an awful noise in Henry's apartment and as a result he doesn't have a single moment to think for himself. So the pipes start thinking for him. They show him terrifying and disturbing things like a world where children are encouraged to trade in decapitated heads for money. A world where his head is reduced to an insignificant dust to be wiped off of a table.

In the dinner scene Mr. X reveals that he has built all of the pipes in this entire neighborhood. He is the one responsible for these constant noises torturing Henry. If the man on the planet is the Wizard of Oz, pulling levers and controlling the narrative, then Mr. X is the one who installed the levers. He's the one really pulling all of the strings.

This is definitely not an all encompassing theory and it doesn't explain everything but I think it makes sense. What do you guys think? I'd love to hear your own interpretations of Eraserhead.

My personal favorite Lynch movie… my friend is a huge film buff and has always wanted to dive into David Lynch’s work. Hasn’t seen a single thing he’s done, however he’s weirdly enough read “Catching The Big Fish” so he’s at least familiar with some of David’s philosophy.

I don’t think anything can prepare him for this though!