David Lynch was profiled/interviewed in The Guardian (the article is by Rory Carroll and you can read the whole dang thing here) and, though the article focuses mostly on the man behind the camera, a look at his work and Twin Peaks in particular, it went on to other things.

Strange things.

Controversial things.  To put it… nicely.

From the article:

Politically, meanwhile, Lynch is all over the map. He voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary and thinks – he’s not sure – he voted Libertarian in the presidential election. “I am not really a political person, but I really like the freedom to do what you want to do,” says the persecuted Californian smoker.

He is undecided about Donald Trump. “He could go down as one of the greatest presidents in history because he has disrupted the thing so much. No one is able to counter this guy in an intelligent way.” While Trump may not be doing a good job himself, Lynch thinks, he is opening up a space where other outsiders might. “Our so-called leaders can’t take the country forward, can’t get anything done. Like children, they are. Trump has shown all this.”

The second paragraph is the one that really hit sour to a lot of people (Harron Walker over at jezebel.com offered one of the funniest, IMHO, takes in her very brief article which, of course, focuses on that second paragraph presented above).

My take?

While it is tempting to take these paragraphs and say something along the lines of “David Lynch is such a brilliant filmmaker… how could he?!”, I suggest one read the whole article instead of focusing on this one element.

The article paints a portrait of a man who is, at the age of 72, essentially isolated in his own world and has been, one can surmise, for quite some time now.  His studio is described as a “bunker”.  He is asked about going out to see movies (you would think, as a filmmaker, he’d be interested in seeing other films) and he says he doesn’t go out to see movies.  How about seeing them at home?  Not interested.

Look, I’m no David Lynch apologist.  I love some of his works, especially the film Mulholland Drive (a brilliant work which doesn’t seem to get the love of Blue Velvet or Twin Peaks).  I think he is an important figure in the film/TV industry.

However…

I’ve always said people should separate the person from the work.

There are works by many people that I absolutely love, but when one looks at the person behind the works that I love so much, I’ve come to realize that some of them may be fascinating while others… not so much.  Some, I would even say, were people I would want absolutely nothing to do with had I encountered them on a personal basis.

I, someone who cannot stomach Donald Trump and feel he’s a plague on this country and, by extension, the world, don’t feel David Lynch is some kind of an idiot or wacko.  Based on the article, it strikes me he is a man who is so isolated and seems to have so little interest in things outside his world, that it shouldn’t be surprising he would say something like that about Donald Trump.

I feel his statement reflects his ignorance of general events more than anything else and its freaking sad to read but, seriously, what can you do about it?  Tell Mr. Lynch to read more?  To immerse himself in current events?  If he did, I suspect he might develop a more nuanced –perhaps!– understanding of things going on outside his world and -again, perhaps!– his opinion might change.

Having said all that, it ultimately doesn’t matter all that much.  Perhaps as a fan of David Lynch you may be disheartened -to put it mildly- with his opinions.  If they impact you greatly, you can certainly choose to not follow him and his works anymore.  That is within your ability to do.

Otherwise, take it for what it is: The depressing reality of one artistic person.