• 30Dec 04

  My ongoing fascination with the surreal (post) world of Eraserhead.

  Eraserhead. What comes to mind when I hear those words? Well, for one, I think of pencils, but on another note, I think of David Lynch's masterpiece. In the movie, Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) and Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) have a baby that is a mutant looking thing. The way Henry's life unfolds is so crazy and it all leads up to an ending that blew my mind. Henry's view of the world is a mix of dealing with the cries of the baby and his suicidal thoughts as he stares at a radiator next to his bed. This leads to a dream where the Lady of the Radiator sings to Henry "In Heaven, Everything is Fine." As she sings this, she steps on worms that represent sperm, which is meaningful to Henry because of the baby.
  
  Where does the title come from? Well, it actually is pretty literal. Henry's, when he is in a dream with the Radiator Lady, head pops off and drops to the ground. Then blood comes from a tree that rolls out and the heads sinks into the blood and drops onto a street. A kid comes along and picks up the head and brings it to a pencil factory where the pencil maker takes Henry's head and turns it into Erasers. This brings up the main point of the movie: If you can create life, you can also "Erase" it.
  
  • Posted Dec 30, 2004 3:59 am GMT
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