Jourdain Searles reflects on the power dynamics at play in David Lynch's seductive 1986 thriller.
Blue Velvet is perhaps one of the most tragic and dangerously erotic films ever made, melding melodrama and neo-noir to create a wholly original vision that explores the complexities of darkness and desire. Each step Jeffrey takes into the underbelly of his beloved Lumberton leaves him fundamentally altered. About a third of the way through the film, Jeffrey sneaks into Dorothy Vallens’s apartment. He and Sandy had just watched Dorothy perform “Blue Velvet” at the nightclub and Sandy is waiting in the car while Jeffrey plays detective. But Dorothy comes home sooner than he expected and when she enters, he’s forced to hide in the closet.
Dorothy undresses and makes her way to the closet, but suddenly Frank calls and she answers hurriedly. Her voice is tense and shaking as she asks after her husband and son, making sure to call Frank “sir” as she desperately tries to talk to her husband Don and calm her son Donny. Once the call ends, she pulls out a family photograph from under the couch and crouches down to stare at it. Then she puts it back in its hiding place and stays on the floor, crawling around in silent despair.
Eventually she gets up, gets dressed and finally notices someone else is there. Dorothy grabs a kitchen knife and approaches the closet, forcing Jeffrey to come out and explain himself. It’s in that moment that we as viewers realize why he’s really there – he wants to be near Dorothy. Even as Sandy and by extension a normal life waits for him outside, Jeffrey can’t help but want to see the other side. When Dorothy holds the knife to him and demands he strips, what she wants is for him to level with her. She already has Frank lording over her – this time it’s her turn to be in control.
Writer and director David Lynch was always exploring power in his work, accepting its allure and interrogating its darkness. Lynch knows that you cannot simply look at the underbelly as an impartial observer. One has to experience the darkness, allow it to overtake them, before they can truly understand what it is. This tense encounter between Dorothy and Jeffrey is the beginning of a strange courtship that changes the course of both of their lives.
As an audience watching Blue Velvet, we are all Jeffrey in that closet, unable to watch without participating ourselves. Later, when Frank arrives in all his monstrousness, Jeffrey can’t believe what he’s seeing. But isn’t that what he wanted – needed – to know? To experience Blue Velvet is to confront our own sexuality, and the contradictions that drive our desires. Once we’re made aware, it’s impossible to look away. Even when retreating back into the light, the darkness is never really gone. Lynch understood that we must confront and accept the darkness within us in order to grow and be whole. Jeffrey needed Dorothy just as much as she needed him. They liberate each other from the binaries of American life – it’s a release just as satisfying as an orgasm. For them, and for us.
To commemorate the life and creative legacy of the peerless filmmaker David Lynch, Little White Lies has brought together writers and artists who loved him to create ‘In Heaven Everything Is Fine‘: a series celebrating his work. We asked participants to respond to a Lynch project however they saw fit – the results were haunting, profound, and illuminating.
Published 12 Feb 2025
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Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.
