Identity construction in David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive

It'll be just like in the movies - we'll pretend we were someone else

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Film Science, grade: 1,2, University of Modena e Reggio Emilia (Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia - Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia), course: Border Crossings: Constructing Personal and Social Identity in Film, 13 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In the two selected David Lynch movies a shared motif becomes apparent: the question of identity. Therefore I define border crossing as the crossing of a psychological border within a person making possible to live out different (part-) identities. Jeffrey in Blue Velvet as well as Betty/Diane in Mulholland Drive have two different identities, i.e. they are presented to us in two different roles, a psychological border crossing takes place. In either case the concepts of identity and identity construction which were current at the date of the movies' origin are represented. Framing these concepts in relation to the time they were made it becomes clear that we are dealing with innovative groundbreaking ideas. Thus I compare the films relating to how they express identity construction and the therewith combined border crossing. Hereupon I will relate this analysis to the history of identity to make clear in which sense the dealing with the identity discourse is innovative in both of the films. Finally I will discuss the question if the presented border crossings are still border crossings today or if they have already become habits. To find an answer I will classify the movies within the film history and explain how the film socialization determines the spectators' readings. I suggest that both films despite all their differences actually tell the same story, only that there are sixteen years of (film-) history between them causing the different ways of narrating. A second border crossing becomes apparent, a border crossing between the two films.