10 Theories That Help Explain The Works Of David Lynch
8. Kyle MacLachlan Is The Cinematic David Lynch
This is another common theory that has come to be accepted by most Lynch fans. Kyle Maclachlan has starred in three of Lynch's most important cinematic universes: the flawed big-budget science-fiction epic Dune, the critically-acclaimed Blue Velvet, and the televisual masterpiece Twin Peaks. While Lynch has employed many actors on multiple occasions (see, as just a few examples, Jack Nance, Laura Dern, Grace Zabriskie, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, etc.), there is little doubt that MacLachlan is the figure most associated with the director. MacLachlan's long association with Lynch has been analysed at length by fans, with the overwhelming belief being that MacLachlan has been selected to play characters that Lynch has written based on himself. There are several reasons for this. The first is the visual resemblance. MacLachlan absolutely resembles a young David Lynch: just look at the facial structure (that pointed chin), and the slicked back hair of Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks. There is also the curious heroism that defines MacLachlan's characters. In Blue Velvet, Jeffrey is a young innocent detective, investigating the dark underworld to which he does not belong. This could just as easily be a description of what Lynch is doing as the film's creator. In Twin Peaks, Cooper is the image of goodliness, always doing the right thing. He is a city boy that is utterly captivated by both the beauty of the town of Twin Peaks and the ugliness of its secrets. Watch any interview with David Lynch and you'll see a man that shares these exact traits. In Dune, MacLachlan plays the hero Paul - the fantasy idol that Lynch, as director, wishes he could be. In all of these roles, MacLachlan seems to hold unique spiritual insight beyond the comprehension of other characters, as if he has been bestowed with a third eye by the narratives' creator (famed, of course, for his love of transcendental meditation).Plus, on top of all of that, there's the mirroring between the master and his apprentice. This is particularly clear when Lynch, as Special Agent Gordon Cole, visits Twin Peaks personally. His clothes, his mannerisms, his spiritual understanding, his bizarre quotes... They are all eerily similar to those of his protégé.
