From: bmrosen@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian M. Rosen)
Subject: Re: Eraserhead
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 23:04:20 GMT

In article <1992Aug07.215930.265281@cs.cmu.edu> tmohler+@cs.cmu.edu (Tim Mohler) writes:
>In article <1992Aug7.134726.8116@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> cb366@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mark B. Bendiksen) writes:
>>
>I don't know for sure, but I think her name was Jennifer.
>I think yes she was interested directing.
>
>>>Another thing to think of:  what are all those pieces of flesh
>>>doing floating around? You know, the one that singing girl
>>>squishes? (that scene gave me the creeps, by the by). I thought
>>>they were sperm at first. I don't think so now, though...
>>
>>I also thought they were sperm. What else do you think they
>>might be? (That seen really gave me the creeps, too.)
>
>I'm not sure, but if they were meant to be sperm, they could
>have looked more uh, realistic. Also, I'm not sure sperm
>really fits in with the rest of the film.
>
>What would be said by them being squished, for instance?
>
>>>How about the woman from across the hall? She looked like
>>>an evil temptress sometimes, sometimes not. I thought perhaps 
>>>she was supposed to be tempting him to leave this nightmarish
>>>life with the horrible child and the awful wife.
>>
>
>Both scenes with her were very dream-like and creepy.
>Perhaps she is a "dream woman?"
>
>Tim

	It seemed pretty obvious that it was indeed sperm that the radiator
lady was destroying.  It also seemed obvious that her stepping on them was
a blatent disreguard for our hero's sex.  The radiator woman was always a
promise ("in heaven...everything is fine" etc.)  These promises were invariably
hollow.  The sperm scene occurred right around the time when either his wife
left him or when the next door neighbor jilted him (it's been a few years).
Either way, the destruction of his sperm by a shy, smiling blonde girl in a 
baby dress seemes quite appropriate to the movie.
	As I recall, sperm show up throughout the movie: in the very
beginning scenes, in one of the scenes in bed when huge spermatazoa were pulled
from under the sheets and thrown against the wall, and the baby itself grew 
into an enourmous spermlike nightmare in it's last scenes.  It seems that sperm
is an essential image in this film.
	I don't believe for a second that one should simply dismiss this
movie as pointless.  I believe it focuses on man's (and I do mean male) 
inherent inability to parent.  It also depicts man as being victemized by
women and betrayed by an unfeeling, unsupportive society.  After a few viewings
the symbolisms pop out and things click together.  For me at least.
121q	One more note on sperm...as I recall, in the first five minutes, sperm
was set flying across the scene when the man with the levers (pronounced GOD)
pushed one of them.  At the very end, when the baby that that sperm created 
was... well...you know, GOD himself was unable to fix things (stuck lever).  
The universe itself was without control or direction.  Seems like a point to 
me.  Then again, what do I know.  I'm just an engineer.


-- 
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| Brian Rosen                    |   " Toto, I don't think we're in           |
| Princeton University           |                Interlochen anymore"        |
| Department of Pretty Pictures  |                                -Me         |
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