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Director David Lynch’s 1980s surreal cult classic Blue Velvet involved peeling away the veneer of suburban normalcy to reveal the seedy underbelly below. Set in an idyllic small town, the film begins with an iconic opening sequence of blue skies, white picket fences, red roses and neighborhood cheer before burrowing deep into the earth to the unnerving buzzing of bugs underneath. Suburban darkness is a theme Lynch returns to throughout his career, notably elsewhere in Twin Peaks.
Discovering the extraordinary behind a veil of normalcy comes through in Blue Velvet’s thematic touchstones, production and legacy, ultimately cementing Lynch’s place among the pantheon of all-time great American directors. It provides businesses with a framework through which they can put fresh eyes on the familiar and find new solutions and innovations.
It’s a Strange World
In Blue Velvet, the discovery and subsequent investigation of a severed ear in a field lead the protagonist, Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan), into the suburban underworld. It speaks to a recurring motif in Lynch’s work where the ordinary is not always what it seems and the mundane often contains multitudes, including the macabre. Jeffrey’s curiosity leads him down a psychosexual rabbit hole, home to a hedonistic gas-huffer and a traumatized femme fatale, all scored to the most uniquely unpleasant Roy Orbison karaoke performance you’re likely to find this side of a college dive at closing time.
Similarly, businesses can benefit from assessing the surface level of day-to-day operations and probing them for new angles. This could include identifying new and expanded market avenues for existing services or innovations. Companies in which executives encourage endeavors into uncharted territories and side projects or scrutinize existing operations to identify new tacks can catapult to the forefront of market trends.
Now It’s Dark
Duality and contrast are everywhere in Blue Velvet, from its literal presence in the lighting and staging of the film to the battle between good and evil and the idyllic town and its corrupt underground. In the world of cinema where antagonists so often possess complex motivations for their actions, Dennis Hopper’s Pabst Blue Ribbon superfan and Freudian nightmare fuel, Frank Booth, is a capital-V villain. Jeffrey and Sandy Williams, portrayed by Laura Dern, on the other hand, at times deliver dialogue that borders on saccharine goodness. Contrast exists too in the film’s objective as by turns sincere and biting satire, much to the chagrin of critic Roger Ebert, who panned the film in a one-star review upon its release. Ebert was not alone in his scorn of the film, which was the subject of widespread controversy.
Duality is present in business operations as well as the behaviors of customers or the markets. When businesses operate, cognizance of complex customer behaviors or motivations, it can lead to more effective business strategies. Businesses also wrestle with their public-facing brand and their operations behind the curtain (to borrow a turn of phrase from The Wizard of Oz, which Lynch professes to think about every day). Transparency is integral to public trust; as a result, the alignment of principles of operation, the actual happenings and public perception must be harmonious. In addition to maintaining transparent practices, this involves the handling of public relations hurdles or misconceptions that businesses must contend with.
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And I Still Can See Blue Velvet Through My Tears
To call Blue Velvet a cult classic may be understating the cultural impact of a film that helped usher the term Lynchian into popular vernacular. The film, along with Lynch’s other works, continues to introduce all manner of film enthusiasts to places both strange and wonderful to this day. Its production and subsequent ascendance among film buffs hold lessons for business owners as well for unearthing the extraordinary from unexpected places.
Following the commercial failure of Dune in 1984, which Lynch felt was compromised by studio interference, the director set out to film Blue Velvet, the screenplay for which existed for years and was balked at by major studios for its graphic content. The casting of Dennis Hopper is often credited with revitalizing his career, and a lesser-known Isabella Rossellini, as the tragic Dorothy, was her early entry into showcasing her dramatic chops. Lynch was even returning his leading man from Dune in MacLachlan. For his part, the actor has later admitted he felt like a pariah in Hollywood following the sci-fi epic’s lukewarm reception.
With an unexpected cast, a rejected script and questions around his commercial viability, Lynch crafted a film with an indelible imprint on pop culture. His resolve reflects the kind of uncompromising vision sometimes demanded of business owners to succeed. While some campaigns and strategies may be immediate successes, others require a degree of stick-to-it-iveness from the visionaries in charge. This can involve trusting ideas and trusting your people, allowing slow starts and believing that a good idea well executed will win out. And just because an idea does not pay immediate dividends, it can be rejigged.
Final Thoughts
Lynch would eventually finance Blue Velvet with independent studio De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, which helped him reclaim a greater level of creative control he lost with Dune and the ability to film his controversial script. Hopper’s casting, which would lead to a period of prolific work for the actor, speaks to identifying the strengths of team members and appropriately “casting” them even if it’s in a new role.
Businesses can find the extraordinary in the ordinary and explore new and innovative avenues to success so long as they stay true to their core principles and pursue their vision with total belief. Or as Mr. Lynch is fond of saying, “keep your eye on the donut.”
