Beyond the Vapor with Robert Stark

Podcast recorded August 2018.

Robert Stark and Mattp969 discuss the work of David Lynch and the parallels between the “Lynchian” and “Starkian.”

Topics:

-Intro: The Northern Lights – Falling (feat. Lucy Black)-Lynch’s Politics: Admired Ronald Reagan and supported The Natural Law Party-Lynch Endorsed Bernie Sanders and later proclaimed that ‘Trump Could Go Down as -One of the Greatest Presidents’-Lynch as an Alt Centrist-Lynch’s interest in Transcendental Meditation which taps into one’s sub-conscience-Lynch as a lone Aristocratic Radical in Hollywood-How capitalism creates faux cultural elites-Lynch’s entry to Hollywood via connections through Mel Brooks which solidified his role in Elephant Man-Lynch’s cinematographic basis as a visual artist and the theme of Neon Nationalism-The Lynchian aesthetic vs. the Starkian aesthetic and defining what is “Lynchian” and “Starkian”-Lynch and Stark’s self indulgences in their work-Lynch’s interest in Retro aesthetics: Film Noir, animated neon, Mid-Century Modern, and 80’s Vaporwave-Lynch’s affinity for small town Americana and the theme of a dark underbelly to small town life-How the first Twin Peaks portrays a romanticized image of the town, while the new one portrays a more realistic image-The Great Northern as a model for creating aesthetically pleasing suburbs that implement the romanticized image of the small town-Lynch should design a theme park or Las Vegas casino-The soundtrack of Twin Peaks includes a wide variety of genres ranging from 80’s Synth, Old Western, Film Noir Jazz, and 50’s Rock-How the fusion of genres makes it somewhat vague as to when it takes place-Ben Horne as an Old School capitalist who does things that are ethically wrong yet is rooted in his community-The Black Lodge: it’s symbolism and aesthetics-The philosophy that fear is the opposite of love rather than hate-Mulholland Drive: the themes of Hollywood power and paranoia due to insecurities-Dune: the aesthetics of Dune are more important than the plot-Retro Futurism in Dune: Middle Eastern Archeofuturism, Steampunk, and 80’s aesthetics-Blue Velvet: Sadistic male figures, eroticized rage, and establishing hierarchy through sexual dominance-“Lynchian” themes and references to Twin Peaks in Robert Stark’s novel Journey to Vapor Island