“It was part of the art life for me”
August 6, 2024 11:58 AM Subscribe
Having recently broken a months-long silence on his YouTube channel with another collaboration with Chrystabell, David Lynch reveals in an interview with Sight and Sound that he can no longer direct films in person, due to emphysema contracted after years of cigarette smoking.
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long, and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. I can’t go out. And I can just only walk a short distance before I’m out of oxygen.”
“Smoking was something that I absolutely loved, but in the end, it bit me. It was part of the art life for me: the tobacco and the smell of it, and lighting things and smoking and going back and sitting back Andy having a smoke and looking at your work, or thinking about things; nothing like it in this world is so beautiful. Meanwhile, it’s killing me. So I had to quit.”
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long, and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. I can’t go out. And I can just only walk a short distance before I’m out of oxygen.”
“Smoking was something that I absolutely loved, but in the end, it bit me. It was part of the art life for me: the tobacco and the smell of it, and lighting things and smoking and going back and sitting back Andy having a smoke and looking at your work, or thinking about things; nothing like it in this world is so beautiful. Meanwhile, it’s killing me. So I had to quit.”
Filmmaker David Lynch clarifies he will not retire despite illness
posted by kliuless at 12:25 PM on August 6 [2 favorites]
posted by kliuless at 12:25 PM on August 6 [2 favorites]
Heartbreaking. I'm glad that he's not planning to retire. He's one of our most aesthetically and morally rigorous filmmakers. I'll add that according to Sight & Sound, at least as reported in Variety and elsewhere, Lynch added that "because of COVID, it would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold."
It's hard not to wish that we'd make it possible to leave the house, to work, to function, without risking so much. Would cleaner air, indoor masking, access to outdoor space make it more possible for people to live their lives?
posted by Il etait une fois at 1:27 PM on August 6 [9 favorites]
It's hard not to wish that we'd make it possible to leave the house, to work, to function, without risking so much. Would cleaner air, indoor masking, access to outdoor space make it more possible for people to live their lives?
posted by Il etait une fois at 1:27 PM on August 6 [9 favorites]
It...probably wouldn't make it possible for Lynch to work in public, safely or otherwise. Emphysema at his age is incredibly debilitating. I know because that's how my dad died. Fortunately, David Lynch is very rich, and medicine has advanced a good three decades since my dad died, so I'm hoping Lynch can live many more very happy years, but I can't imagine that he can do the leg work of making a movie. That does not mean the end of a creative life, though, and I hope he continues to express himself for a long time to.come.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:15 PM on August 6
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:15 PM on August 6
A friend of mine said on Blue Sky about Lynch being an unrepentant (now ex) smoker that when people chimed in with shaming Lynch for smoking and enjoying smoking at all was that:
I mean, this is a man who refers to sugar as "granulated happiness." He knows the things that make him feel good, and he likes doing them. That's not stupid in itself, nor is it a sign of low moral character. We all do it; he simply refuses to apologize for it, and that drives people nuts.
posted by Kitteh at 4:37 PM on August 6 [12 favorites]
I mean, this is a man who refers to sugar as "granulated happiness." He knows the things that make him feel good, and he likes doing them. That's not stupid in itself, nor is it a sign of low moral character. We all do it; he simply refuses to apologize for it, and that drives people nuts.
posted by Kitteh at 4:37 PM on August 6 [12 favorites]
It's hard not to wish that we'd make it possible to leave the house, to work, to function, without risking so much. Would cleaner air, indoor masking, access to outdoor space make it more possible for people to live their lives?
A few articles referred to Lynch as having a "fear of Covid", which seems to slant it like it's some personal quirk. That there's an element of the irrational involved. Because, you know, "Covid is over." As if we would describe people who wear seatbelts as having "a fear of crashing." "Why do you wash your food? Do you have a fear of illness?"
Yes, it would be amazing if there was public and political support for making indoor air cleaner and safer. Not just to help those currently most at risk, but for the obvious value of helping prevent another Covid from decimating so many lives.
Unfortunately, a certain demographic prefers to politicize these things. And long-term planning seems not to be a big thing in America.
posted by Ayn Marx at 4:17 AM on August 7 [6 favorites]
A few articles referred to Lynch as having a "fear of Covid", which seems to slant it like it's some personal quirk. That there's an element of the irrational involved. Because, you know, "Covid is over." As if we would describe people who wear seatbelts as having "a fear of crashing." "Why do you wash your food? Do you have a fear of illness?"
Yes, it would be amazing if there was public and political support for making indoor air cleaner and safer. Not just to help those currently most at risk, but for the obvious value of helping prevent another Covid from decimating so many lives.
Unfortunately, a certain demographic prefers to politicize these things. And long-term planning seems not to be a big thing in America.
posted by Ayn Marx at 4:17 AM on August 7 [6 favorites]
Lynch is an icon, and I wish him well. Nearly a decade on, I remain fairly traumatized by the death of a friend from throat cancer in his early forties.
I remember enjoying cigarettes once upon a time, and I don't judge or begrudge people their indulgences. But folks, there's better ways to pass the time.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:18 AM on August 7
I remember enjoying cigarettes once upon a time, and I don't judge or begrudge people their indulgences. But folks, there's better ways to pass the time.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:18 AM on August 7
"I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire."
posted by heteronym at 6:46 PM on August 7 [1 favorite]
posted by heteronym at 6:46 PM on August 7 [1 favorite]
Mod note: One deleted: Refrain from making light jokes in a serious discussion, yes, even if you see yourself out afterwards.
posted by loup (staff) at 12:46 PM on August 8 [1 favorite]
posted by loup (staff) at 12:46 PM on August 8 [1 favorite]
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posted by chavenet at 12:23 PM on August 6 [5 favorites]