You see the same reaction to lots of uncomfortable art sadly. My dad is always desperate to tell me how funny he found a horror movie that is sincerely horrific and frightening. He needs to feel better than the movie, so refuses to engage. I think laughing at a rape scene is that insecurity on show
A similar experience was had during the PANIC AT NEEDLE PARK screening where one dude lost it laughing during an OD scene, and when we had to literally walk out of a screening of POSSESSION because of dudes knee-slap cackling at all the abuse scenes...
I’m really really sorry to have to tell you this, but I saw the movie when it came out, and people reacted pretty much exactly the way you describe here
I've had similar experiences with this movie several times, and my own conclusion is that it makes people really uncomfortable in ways they don't see coming and can't quite make sense of, and laughing is primarily just a defense mechanism.
i can see why Lynch actually took the criticisms of the movie to heart. i think those criticisms were wrong when looking purely at the text of the film, but obviously it eliciting these kinds of reactions troubled him.
you know, i kind of expected that actually, because back then people really would not have had any context, but in the year 2025, when you're going to a cinematheque??? people will always be people, i guess
yeah, i wanted to be fair in the blog about the fact that the movie does have those wild tonal swings. at some point i do just question like... why is the mere sight of a naked, battered woman funny to you?
Comments
it's BAD
Better arts education would be a solution, but I’m not holding my breath