'Blue Velvet'

In honor of the late, great Dennis Hopper.

Typical David Lynch here. I don't get shocked at anything, but I would bet the rape scene was pretty hardcore for 1986. Along with the bugs and the robotic robins.

At what point will modern audiences not be shocked any longer? I think that threshold is closer than we think.

One motif of the film that I caught -- and that I haven't read about further -- is that of the human senses. Essentially how the five basic senses of touch, taste, hearing, sight and smell are taken away and all we are left is some alternate, odd reality.

For example, the body part Jeffrey finds in the field is an ear. Jeffrey's father employs a blind man at his hardware store. The way Frank vehemently inhales nitrous oxide through his nose (thus altering his existing reality). Jeffrey mentions the kid that had the enormous tongue. And I would interpret Dorothy's desire to be hit during sex as a sign that it's hard for her to feel anymore.

Then consider Jeffrey peering through the closet slits during the rape scene. Or when he can't hear Sandy honking the car horn when Dorothy returns. Or Jeffrey repeatedly commenting on how much he likes Heineken beer. All deals with the senses.

All of this had to be on purpose. Lynch in an interview mentioned that the film started in his brain with the lopped off ear in the middle of the field. Don't know if the other junk I noticed is real or just a coincidence.