I was deeply saddened when I read that David Lynch had passed. Like Bowie, I used to think something interesting was always just around the corner with David Lynch on our planet. Now that he’s gone, I will greatly miss his unique vision.

I was so saddened by his loss that I could not post anything on Facebook straight away. Somehow that felt too crass – too rushed, too soon. So I’ve decided to take my precious time and post here and, since my feelings about Lynch are so strong, I’ve decided to return and add bits to this post over time. That will allow me to truly dive deeply into this career (catching the big fish!) and the affect it has had on me and my autism. Why mention autism when speaking of Lynch? Well, for me, his films were full of themes, visuals and characters that I interpreted as being neurodiverse. It led me to believe that Lynch may be on the spectrum himself.  There are several reasons why I feel this way.

To begin, cultural portrayals of autism are of special interest to me. I’ve often said that characters that are openly and purposely autistic rarely resonate with me. It is those rare characters who remain ambiguous – who I can read a lot into, including autistic tendencies – that are the most relatable and exciting for me. This is perhaps the main reason I’ve always loved the character of Agent Dale Cooper. While not written to be autistic, I can see many traits and behaviours that I can relate to, thus endearing him to me. In fact, a girlfriend once commented that the character reminded her of me, because “everything he said was an essay”. So, even though I was not diagnosed with autism when Twin Peaks premiered, I guess I was destined to have a special affinity for this character – and for Lynch’s cinema overall. May he rest in peace. He is greatly missed.

Watch this space for more on how his outstanding contributions to culture resonate with my autism.