Filmmaker David Lynch has thoughts on the “tricky business” of sexual misconduct accusations, specifically the ones posed against fellow Hollywood heavyweights, Louis C.K. and Roman Polanski, and how “what we know about about an artist’s life affect our attitudes about the artist’s work.”
“I would hope it doesn’t,” the “Twin Peaks” creator told Vulture in an interview publish Monday when asked that very question. “Louis C.K.’s done a lot of really funny stuff. It would be a shame for people not to experience those things anymore. There are probably thousands and thousands of examples of people who had screwed-up lives and didn’t do the best things but did great work. And Roman Polanski: People were writing things about him when he went to Switzerland and got arrested — things like he should be hung. Things get a little out of hand. You feel terrible for anyone who’s been a victim. This subject is tricky business.”
Lynch had a recurring role on the third season of the comedian’s Comedy Central series, “Louie,” in which he played Jack Dall, a TV production master who was brought in to help C.K.’s character land an appearance on the “Late Show.”
“And political correctness came in,” Lynch continued. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing. You can’t make laws to change people. Transcendental Meditation is the only thing I know of that over time would change people for the good on the deepest level.”
Lynch has been a Transcendental Meditation practitioner since the 1970s, and founded the David Lynch Foundation in 2005 to promote the technique, which consists of silently focusing on a one- or two-syllable mantra for a set period of time.
“Transcendental Meditation is the only thing I know of that over time would change people for the good on the deepest level,” Lynch said. “But when you have it where being politically correct means you can’t say certain things anymore but people still think them — like, there’s still plenty of racism, and I don’t know if it’d be good to have racist jokes that get things out in the open so we can deal with it. I don’t know if that might be better. But now everything is closed in, and people still have strange desires that are not fitting in with today’s life. I feel so bad for those people. It’s “there but for the grace of God go I.” Or pedophiles: They’re born and they’ve got this sickness that they don’t know how to deal with. Instead of repressing it we need to get people help so no one gets hurt.”