Mulholland Dr. as a Narrative about Dissociation

crossposted from discord.

hi everyone it's 1am and that means i am Once More thinking about Mulholland Dr. and themes of dissociation. i AM having a hard time actually wording it as opposed to just chewing on it mentally but uhh idk bear with me.

anyway i Might have talked about this before but: operating under the theory that betty is a mental construct of diane's, the 'dream self' to her reality - really an idealized version that's almost a coping mechanism, she could be likened, especially considering the theme of duality, to an alter of someone with DID. in that case, that would leave diane as the main/host/etc part - however, since diane is the one who's dangerous and erratic, not betty, that reading/comparison would present an (imo) really interesting reversal of the 'evil alter' trope. i want to think on this more but im not sure to what end. just an observation really!

HOWEVER more to the point, what i am thinking about this wonderful October night is how Diane's behavior + emotions, to me, read as less specifically related to Hollywood, her relationship with Camilla, etc. and more like those are aggravating deep-seated trauma; severe abandonment issues, obsession with one person who she alternates between idolizing and demonizing, a tenuous grasp on reality - things that generally don't go hand in hand with the average depressive episode. and these experiences often come with dissociation, but we don't see that in the movie proper. she can't keep her feelings inside herself, she's a fucking mess, so instead, this particular trauma response/symptom is projected onto the narrative itself, with an unsustainable separation of the first two hours from the unbearable reality of the last half hour.

my point here is uhhhhhhhh. i don't think i have a point LOL i just sure do love Lenses 🫀