On David Lynch
It's been a while now and I think that I can finally put into words what I was feeling in the wake of Lynch's passing. As anyone aware of his work in more than passing can tell you, his stuff has a deep vein of anxiety, often quite freudian in nature that runs through it. There's also elements of cosmic horror by way of the modern shape of America, really impactful stuff in our modern era that continues, much like a lot of his other contemporaries, to merit re-examination over time.
The character though that sticks out in his entire body of work is FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole, played by Lynch himself. There's a pile of moments that I could single out (the "Change their hearts or die" one seems particularly relevant in the current political climate), but the overall air that his character lends to this series of suburban anxiety and stress is one that I think reveals a lot about the man himself.
Gordon Cole is kind. In the face of a world we see to be strange, at times nightmarish in its vision of small town America and the media we create about it, he is overwhelmingly decent. At the core of what always drew me back to Lynch's work is for all it's anxieties and neuroticism and baffling filmographic techniques, the man looked it all in the face and wrote stuff like "Every day give yourself a gift".
Rest in peace old timer, I never had the pleasure to meet you but every time I get a second cup of coffee or a little pastry at a cafe, I'm remembering you.
Remember to thank your Town Manager for a job well done!