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Tuesday Report
Jun. 1st, 2021 01:59 pmThis morning Andrew had the last of his assessment video interviews with the CAMH doctor. Her advice: tweak his meds (comparatively easy, with her say-so); try and get him more social interaction (trickier), and psychotherapy (she’s going to get us a list of psychotherapists covered by OHIP, and with video sessions becoming the norm, this may be easier).
Afterwards I walked up to Bloor and Runnymede to do some grocery shopping, only to discover the area closed off and evacuated due to a bomb threat at the local TD bank branch. Had to walk back down and take a bus to the Sobey’s near the Humber Loop. Decided that after all that we deserved pre-cooked sweet-and-sour pork and lemon chicken from the deli there, which wasn’t superlative, but it was a meal I didn’t have to prepare.
Yesterday I continued my current David Lynch hyperfixation by rewatching Blue Velvet; it was only the second time I’ve seen it, and the first time was back in the ‘90s for a Cinema Studies course. One thing that struck me this time is that most recent takes I’ve seen on the “idyllic small town has a seamy underside” trope really overplay the initial “idyllic”impression, often to the point where it’s scarier than the eventual reveal— the manicured lawns and identical colour-coordinated houses owe more to gated suburbs and tv advertising than they do to Norman Rockwell.
Meanwhile Lynch and his crew, by the looks of it, go find real small towns and do location shoots without exaggerating or prettying things up. Those famous opening shots of “Lumberton” show a sunny neighbourhood, but also one that looks genuinely lived-in, and despite the soundtrack it’s very definitely the 1980s, not the 1950s— the school crossing guard is an older woman in a hi-vis vest; she, the kids, and the fireman waving from his engine are probably actual local locals hired as extras. As a result I kept having flashbacks to my late-childhood/early-teens memories of Sackville, New Brunswick and Amherst, Nova Scotia, which was likely not the intended effect, but then with Lynch you never know.
I also found a pdf online of what’s said to be the original script, which differs from the finished movie in giving a lot more backstory and explanation. I think Lynch was right to pare this down (we all know by now he’s more interested in the mystery and atmosphere than the explanations), but I was sorry he didn’t leave in this bit:
Jeffrey leaves and Aunt Barbara moves about tapping on the walls. She moves into a dark area and taps. Something falls. She reaches down.
In EXTREME CLOSEUP we see a termite walking by her shoe on the thick carpet. Then in EXTREME CLOSEUP we see Aunt Barbara's fingers pinch the termite and bring it up in front of her thick glasses for a look. She looks at the termite, then looks back at the walls.
and this:
The house is very dark and quiet. Jeffrey finds a note by the one table light is on.
The note is from his mother. It reads, "Jeffrey hope you enjoyed yourself. See you at breakfast. Love Mom." A postscript is written on the note by Aunt Barbara. "Jeffrey, honey, I found these. Love, Aunt Barbara."
Jeffrey sees that Aunt Barbara has left him two dead termites. He picks one up and studies it.
Again we see a huge CLOSEUP of a termite in the half-light. Jeffrey shakes his head in amusement.
because not only would it have fit in thematically, it would have made Aunt Barbara’s line “I could never do that. Eat a bug, I mean,” while looking at the robin even funnier and weirder. (As it is, it turns out my takeaway from the movie and its ending is basically “You CAN and SHOULD Eat Bugs” and I’ve been smiling at that.)
Afterwards I walked up to Bloor and Runnymede to do some grocery shopping, only to discover the area closed off and evacuated due to a bomb threat at the local TD bank branch. Had to walk back down and take a bus to the Sobey’s near the Humber Loop. Decided that after all that we deserved pre-cooked sweet-and-sour pork and lemon chicken from the deli there, which wasn’t superlative, but it was a meal I didn’t have to prepare.
Yesterday I continued my current David Lynch hyperfixation by rewatching Blue Velvet; it was only the second time I’ve seen it, and the first time was back in the ‘90s for a Cinema Studies course. One thing that struck me this time is that most recent takes I’ve seen on the “idyllic small town has a seamy underside” trope really overplay the initial “idyllic”impression, often to the point where it’s scarier than the eventual reveal— the manicured lawns and identical colour-coordinated houses owe more to gated suburbs and tv advertising than they do to Norman Rockwell.
Meanwhile Lynch and his crew, by the looks of it, go find real small towns and do location shoots without exaggerating or prettying things up. Those famous opening shots of “Lumberton” show a sunny neighbourhood, but also one that looks genuinely lived-in, and despite the soundtrack it’s very definitely the 1980s, not the 1950s— the school crossing guard is an older woman in a hi-vis vest; she, the kids, and the fireman waving from his engine are probably actual local locals hired as extras. As a result I kept having flashbacks to my late-childhood/early-teens memories of Sackville, New Brunswick and Amherst, Nova Scotia, which was likely not the intended effect, but then with Lynch you never know.
I also found a pdf online of what’s said to be the original script, which differs from the finished movie in giving a lot more backstory and explanation. I think Lynch was right to pare this down (we all know by now he’s more interested in the mystery and atmosphere than the explanations), but I was sorry he didn’t leave in this bit:
Jeffrey leaves and Aunt Barbara moves about tapping on the walls. She moves into a dark area and taps. Something falls. She reaches down.
In EXTREME CLOSEUP we see a termite walking by her shoe on the thick carpet. Then in EXTREME CLOSEUP we see Aunt Barbara's fingers pinch the termite and bring it up in front of her thick glasses for a look. She looks at the termite, then looks back at the walls.
and this:
The house is very dark and quiet. Jeffrey finds a note by the one table light is on.
The note is from his mother. It reads, "Jeffrey hope you enjoyed yourself. See you at breakfast. Love Mom." A postscript is written on the note by Aunt Barbara. "Jeffrey, honey, I found these. Love, Aunt Barbara."
Jeffrey sees that Aunt Barbara has left him two dead termites. He picks one up and studies it.
Again we see a huge CLOSEUP of a termite in the half-light. Jeffrey shakes his head in amusement.
because not only would it have fit in thematically, it would have made Aunt Barbara’s line “I could never do that. Eat a bug, I mean,” while looking at the robin even funnier and weirder. (As it is, it turns out my takeaway from the movie and its ending is basically “You CAN and SHOULD Eat Bugs” and I’ve been smiling at that.)
