RUNNING HEAD: A JUNGIAN ANALYSIS OF DAVID LYNCHS BLUE VELVET,

WITH A HINT OF FREUD.

A Jungian Analysis of David Lynchs Blue Velvet, With a Hint of Freud

Author Note:
This paper was prepared for Professor Millers Argument and Persuasion in Arts and Humanities
class.

A JUNGIAN ANALYSIS OF DAVID LYNCHS BLUE VELVET, WITH A HINT OF

While some individuals may contest David Lynchs Blue Velvet was a film of sadistic
relationships and liberal use of profanity, it highlights some very important psychological
theories and puts them into an obscure yet understandable context. For Jungs pupils it is a must
watch since it highlights the archetypes extremely well as well as using the illustration of color
and a mix of Freudian symbols. Veiled by the plot of a young adult whos curiosity gets him into
questionable sexual relationships, situations, and also introduces him to a few interesting figures,
the story is less about the boy, Jeffery, and more about the slightly hidden aspects of
psychological theories. Jung theorizes that there are 3 archetypes that make up all people, the
shadow, anima/animus, and the persona, all of which are portrayed in the film by the various
characters. In Blue Velvet Lynchs depiction of Jeffery, Dorothy, and Frank are the most
interesting examples of the archetypes, his use of color and Freudian symbols also contribute
greatly to the impact and depth the film has to offer.
In Blue Velvet various cinematic elements combine to illustrate a brutally obscure, yet
intelligent film, Lynchs use of color and symbols are some of the most prominent and more
readily identifiable elements. For starters, the title itself Blue Velvet implies something soft and
holy, this is likely alluding to Dorothy since she sings the song Blue Velvet and wears a blue
velvet robe multiple times throughout the film. Another piece of imagery used was darkness;
through out the film a majority of the scenes were at night or located in dimly lit buildings,
giving the implication of despair, death, or evil. These two frequent uses of color and lighting
signify two of the main characters, Dorothy, and Frank. Red, a color of passion, is quite
frequently seen when Jeffery is in frame, and pink when sandy is in frame, this hints at their
relation ship later on in the film since Jeffery is passionate and Sandy is loving and innocent.

A JUNGIAN ANALYSIS OF DAVID LYNCHS BLUE VELVET, WITH A HINT OF

Through out the film Lynchs use of color and lighting has strong foreshadowing characteristics
and help Identify characters and incite emotions.
Of all the scenes in the movie, the cut scene of Jeffery going up and down the stairs of the
building in the dark are repeated quite often. Jeffery going up the stairs, is a yonic symbol in
itself, however, the darkness also implies the despair he is ignorantly flirting with. Jeffery early
on hides in Dorothys closet to spy on her and determine her involvement in a murder
investigation. Although his original intention was one driven by his curiosity it turns quickly to
fear driving him to help Dorothy. While Jeffery is in the closet he witnesses Dorothy being raped
by a man named Frank, who repeatedly calls Dorothy mommy and refers to himself as baby.
This is a clear example of Franks archetypes. His persona is a vagrant who disobeys all
authority, however, his shadow is the side the Jeffery saw, a small child, potentially a small
female child, and his anima is clearly female since he has a strong and abusive sexual attraction
to Dorothy. Oddly Enough Just before the scene where Dorothy is dehumanized we see her
shadow come out, which appeared to be a masculine and dominant figure bossing Jeffery around
and making him become a subordinate figure to Dorothy. This is a major theory of Jungs that
Lynch executed flawlessly within a single scene.
Another scene that illustrates Jungs concept of archetypes is where Jeffery later returns
to Dorothys apartment and they engage in sexual relations. While in the act Dorothy comes on
to Jeffery and starts to hit him, pushing Dorothy away he pushes a little too hard and hits her
head (Lynch, 1987), this is Jefferys shadow, a dominant and abusive male figure which he tries
to subside from his persona of an intelligent and polite individual. The viewer later finds out that
Jefferys shadow is in line with franks persona and vice versa when Frank finds Jeffery and
Dorothy in her apartment and takes them on a joy ride (Lynch, 1987). Here we also see another

A JUNGIAN ANALYSIS OF DAVID LYNCHS BLUE VELVET, WITH A HINT OF

version of Dorothy, a young and innocent personality she has yet to show in the film, this
archetype may have been brought out by the passionate intercourse between her and Jeffery,
which would make sense given that Dorothy was wearing a red robe when Jeffery arrived at her
apartment. The red robe and childish personality trait, potentially a second shadow, signal a
change in the story as well as the viewers understanding of Dorothys archetypes. Here Lynch
has used colors along with archetypes to signal a change in the story as well as a change with in a
character, all the while exposing Jefferys archetypes.
One of the scenes that stood out to me the most is when Jeffery finds the severed ear in
the field on his way home from visiting his father in the hospital. While the ear itself has minor
significance in the film its what the ear does to Jeffery that has the most significance, and as
Jaehne states Jeffery wants to solve the mystery of a severed ear he finds in a field...which leads
to kidnapping, a drug ring, extortion, and sexual abuse. It is, predictably, the sex which most
intrigues Jeffery. (Jaehne, 1987). This quote sums up a large portion of Jefferys personal battle
faced within the film, curiosity leads him to initially find Dorothy, and his persona wants to help
her, however, his shadow takes control at points leading him to lust for Dorothy and this gets him
more entangled in the intricate web of relations with Dorothy. This is also where we see an
archetypal shift in Jeffery as he becomes more in touch with his shadow and slightly more
dominant and masculine. Oddly enough this initial scene of the ear also is revisited at the end of
the film where the camera pans out of Jefferys ear as he is sleeping on a chair in Sandys
backyard, which can be interpreted as a dream sequence, a Freudian concept. Although not a
Jungian theory, this ideas has merit since the stairs Jeffery frequently traverses are a yonic
symbol, while Franks canister and Dorothys knife can be considered phallic symbols. As
Lindroth explained The Slow Club with its of dream rather than literal time...the free standing

A JUNGIAN ANALYSIS OF DAVID LYNCHS BLUE VELVET, WITH A HINT OF

corpse of the Yellow man in the climactic shoot-out in Dorothys apartment [are both
representative of a dream sequence]. (Lindroth, n.d.). While in the beginning of the film we
never see Jeffery go into a dream state, we do see him sleep in mid film, however, he awakes
form both bouts of rest. I think this dream sequence is more a mere scene of Jeffery reflecting
on his archetypal shift that occurred in the film rather than him awaking from a dream.
Overall, the imagery, archetypal shifts, and quasi dream sequence illustrated in Lynchs
Blue Velvet are of strong Jungian influence. While some Freudian symbols and references can be
detected this is likely due to influence from Freud to Jung, through Jungs early teachings from
Freud. While Blue Velvet is certainly a nightmarish film, it is most certainly not a dream making
avid references to a strange world we live in in a time where party and other drugs were a
common place activity and this type of crowd was easy to get mixed up in through just one
wrong experience.

A JUNGIAN ANALYSIS OF DAVID LYNCHS BLUE VELVET, WITH A HINT OF